A-MAZE

A Dutch Neo Prog band from Utrecht,born out of the meeting of drummer Jos Uffing (who had been singer for Cliffhanger a couple of years back) and guitarist Brian de Graeve in 2001.They wrote together material for sometime,before finally deciding to form a regular band.That would come in 2004 along with bassist Gerrit-Jan Bloemink, keyboardist Toine van Riesewijk and guitarist Henny van Veenendaal.However the long distance between home and rehearsal place would make Henny quit (still he made the artwork of the band) and soon Toine followed due to health problems.Keyboardist Erik Laan jumped on board and this four-piece line-up recorded Silhouette's debut ''A maze'',a self-production released in 2007.

An accesible offering in Neo/Symphonic Prog fields,''A maze'' holds similarities with plenty of bands of the Dutch Prog scene like CLIFFHANGER, FLAMBOROUGH HEAD, NOVEMBER, KNIGHT AREA and TIMELOCK.The compositions are based on elaborate melodies,melodic guitars and magnificent flashy synthesizers.Still the keyboard department offers some nice organ and mellotron as well.Vocals are decent but not something outstanding yet the vocal arrangements add some color to the sound.Some tracks have a ballad-like approach,even flirting with AOR,still the symphonic keys and strong guitar work make them far from being cheesy,the rest of the tracks are very energetic and rich with good solos and even majestic soundscapes.Surprisingly for a self-released work,the production is a plus as well,being very clear with a good mix of the instruments.

If melodic Neo/Symphonic Prog is your thing,you should think about adding this work in your collection.Catchy grooves are blended with powerful symphonic keyboards in Silhouette's debut to deliver a more than decent result.Recommended.