INNER FIRMAMENTS DECAY

This is what I call a "headphones" album. Not only because the music is evocative and is better served by a careful listening, it's also because of the production's choice (probably) to keep the vocals volume lower than usual.

The opener, "Art Of The Earth" is a good start. I'm not the first in saying that music has a colour. This song is a "blue-night effect". The sensation that it gives me is like the relax before sleeping after a hard working-day, but at the same time there's something weird emerging from your sub-conscious. I don't find other words to describe it.

"Endless Night" is folky. It's one of the songs on which the vocals are in the background and in this case it's a pity because this is a very melodic song. One that's very close to my tastes. Somewhere between Joan Baez and Linda Perhacs. I have given a high number of listens to this song in particular. I really like it.

"The Shroud" goes back to the athmosphere of the first track, just a bit darker. Like we are now in the REM phase. A dream is begun and the connection with the real world is gone.Effectively the title is dark enough. To be honest I didn't pay much attention to the lyrics as I'm more captured by the music. I think that "Crossover Prog" is a good definition for this band. This song makes me think to King Crimson, but in the same time there are clear classical influences.When the volume is higher it makes me think to Kayo Dot, too, even if not so experimental.

"Honesty" is a melodic song. Slow and relaxing so that even if not in the foreground, the good vocal qualities of the singer can be appreciated. In the instrumental parts driven mainly by strings and keyboards there's a connection with the previous tracks. Some little dissonances are there to remind us that this is a band with its original sound.

"After All The Years": not noisy as Kayo Dot, but artsy and experimental in the choice of sounds and in some passages. Other are folky and in addition the singing is melodic and sweet. Those are contrasts that make it very interesting. This is another track that deserves many listens.

Alternating the most experimental tracks to the melodic ones is probably a choice, not a coincidence. "On A Dark Street" is melodic. Darkness and night are a recurring element. Looking at the album from this point of view the choice about the voice's volume seems to have more sense. It makes the music more ethereal and dreamy.

"Until The Sun Begins To Fall" belongs to the "even" tracks. Even if it has very melodic moments its mood is of the "artsy" kind.

The closer is about an epic, instead. It's the longest track and the most symphonic. An excellent closer with connections to the 70s without being neo-prog. I hear reminescences of Camel, Genesis And King Crimson but made of what is the typical sound of this band.

A debut more than promising. Not easy at the first impact. It requires time to get into it, but it's not wasted time. Suggested to ANY prog collection.