ROUND MIDNIGHT

Moongarden

Symphonic Prog

3.60 | 81 ratings

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DangHeck
Prog Reviewer

My first thought is... Post-Post-Progressive Prog?! Sounds like and unlike my childhood from the start. But mostly like what you might hear then.

"Round Midnight", our opener and title track, has a very post-modernist, totally-aware-of-electronica (and, as you'll increasingly find, aware of Radiohead) feel. The bass doesn't sound authentic and that's somehow why it sounds so good to my ears haha! Samples and faux-vibes? I think it sounds great. Is it a tad dated? I think, maybe...? I don't care. Again, sounds pretty great.

Having not only that Post-Progressive lineage from Radiohead, but also, featuring Mellotron, the most classic Prog acts of the late-60s like Moody Blues or (mostly) King Crimson come to mind. "Wounded" is moody and largely minimal. Halfway sees drums enter in. Big, but, to me, static. Well performed, at least. "Killing the Angel" is in this same effect, but feels even more rooted in '90s Alt directly (again, 'Alt' as in the experimentalism of the aforementioned band... I don't want to say it again haha).

"Lucifero" starts off minimal and ambient. Pretty lovely. Unassuming until around the 4 minute mark. I wish the whole song were as such. I really like what they can provide to the table (but from this first impression, almost seldom do). Another low to the ground is "Slowmotion Streets" [How is 'slowmotion' not a word?...]. A tad experimental, but mostly boring...

Then we have not only a mini-epic-length [editor's note: mini-epic indeed] number at 10 and a half minutes with "Learning to Live Under the Ground", but it's also our first taste of dark intent. Quite Crimson-esque, really. Beefy and creepy guitar opener with underlying stringy synth. Now this is [podracing lmao] what they're truly capable of. Progmen rejoice! Is that thunderous... double bass pedal, too?! It falls away, but not to nothingness. Again, I say rejoice. This track does indeed hearken back to at earliest '74 [I'm now cringing at this specific inference...]. Guitar and organ well matched. It does fall away in Post-Proggy feeling and emotion as what came before, but at least it's this song. Really am a fan.

"Coda: Psychedelic Subway Ride": a fine 2-minute interlude. Then "Nightmade Concrete", another low and slow... Not much here for me. Ended strong enough, I suppose--cool little synth solo (where was that before?!). Then lastly, "Oh, By the Way, We're So Many in this City And So Damned Alone" [no, this isn't early-00s Emo]: a lackluster closer. Nothing else to say here.

Hope people hear "Learning to Live Under the Ground", to make that clear... The opener was good too, but... the album itself? Not so much. Good; seldom great.

DangHeck | 3/5 | 2022-1-31

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