CHILDREN

Iluvatar's second album sees them expanding their range of classic neo-prog reference points, adding a welcome IQ influence to their sound (whereas the preceding album more closely resembled Marillion). This is particularly evident in Dennis Mullin's guitar playing; meanwhile, Gary Chambers' vocal and lyrical approach recall Fish's characteristic cadence at points. The end result of all this is an album which once again manages to present standard middle-of- the-road neo-prog, but does so with such confidence and at a sufficient level of quality that they stand out from most of the other Marillionalikes out there. Neo-prog fans will probably find a lot to enjoy about this one, whereas those who can't stand early Marillion and IQ won't hear anything to win them over here.