DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON

I went to this album without expecting anything special. I didn't read reviews before and all I knew of Phideaux was the high rating of their actual last album "Snowtorch". The fact is that it's some days that I'm not listening to anything else than Doomsday Afternoon.

The piano at the beginning of the first track is intriguing and after few chords, when the vocals start, just before a drum explosion, it was clear to me that I was listening to something that I like. It's rock and symphonic, it has guitar and keyboards, then the stop and the violin with the female choir....There are echoes of all the bigs in this first song: Genesis, Pink Floyd, ELP, plus a non-prog band that the lead vocalist sometimes reminds me to: the Stranglers. All this stuff in a 11 minutes mini-suite.

The album's structure makes possible that there's a concept behind. Recurring parts coming and going plus a song, "Crumble" played twice, first instrumental then with female vocals. Also "The Doctrine Of Eternal Ice" is split in two parts separated by two songs.

But what is more impressive is the use of the orchestra and particularly strings which give a strong symphonic imprinting to the album. The just mentioned Eternal Ice has an Arabic mood like Camel's Nimrodel or parts of Snow Goose, but with a guitar that seems played by Mike Oldfield and a folky piano coda.

There's not a single chord of this album that I don't like. "Candybrian" opens like in the middle of the Snow Goose, then becomes a soft acoustic ballad in Renaissance style...

"Crumble" is a song, specially in the second version, that can generate discussions. I find it fantastic but the version with vocals reminds to Evanescence. Anyway, compliments to the vocalist.

I wasn't intentioned to write a track-by-track review, even if any of this song deserves some lines. The Floydian "Thank you for he Evil" that surely appeals Porcupine Tree fans, the short symphony of "A Wasteland Of Memories", the folk acoustic guitar of "Formaldehyde" helped by a Wakemanian keyboard, with the orchestra behind, to finish with the 14 minutes closer, "Microdeath Softstar", spacey as its title in the beginning which evolves into symphonic with the brasses section playing a melody that Peter Bardens would have been happy to play.

Who loves classic prog can find here everything he/she likes packed into an album made of original songs. All the references that I have mentioned have to be intended as "sensations". If a band can make me think to Camel, Floyd or Renaissance ti means that's for me is a great band and this album gives me exactly this feeling.

Looking forward to buy other Phideaux albums, I rate this one with the maximum.