MOTH VELLUM

Interesting little prog band from the USA. Their debut (and so far, only) album is quite promising. It is clear by the first notes Moth Vellum´s first and foremost influence: Yes. The guitar lines are very much in the vein of Steve Howe (although not as good as the original, of course), and the bass player´s high pitched vocals do remind a little too much of that of Jon Anderson´s. Overall the sound is much lighter than classic Yes, though. The keyboards are more in the background and the drumming is much simpler. The songs are also not generally as elaborated as one should expect from a symphonic band. But the results are good nevertheless.

Not much more to say about them. If you enjoy the simple side of prog, specially the one of Yes, this CD is a good pick. They have nice melodies and the guitarrist is very good. To me the record´s highlight is Walk It Off, a nice tune that has a quite poignant guitar solo at the end. Salvo is another ttrack that shows the band being a bit more daring in their songwriting and arrangements. The vocals can be a little annyoing at times, but less then I thought initially. I´m really looking forward to hear their follow up, since they seem to have everything to grow into something big if they decide to be a little bolder next time.