A GIANT'S LULLABY

The band improves here on their excellent debut album which had a very retro sound. The 70's influences abound here too, but they sound more refined and the art/jazz rock influence tends to dominate the sound on most tracks. A few lineup changes between albums, but the main core of the band is still here, and the melancholic vocals of Deaya are still here and his range has improved since the first album. The moog has disappeared here in favor of mellotron, piano, and synthesizers. All of the compositions contain complex, tasteful, and highly diverse arrangements that are filled with frequent changes of tone and mood, and the solos and passages of the piano, synthesizer, and organ are however, more diverse and virtuosi than solos of electric guitar, which are mostly fluid. On the other hand, the interplay between solos of an electric guitar and various keyboards, all of which are performed in different tempos, create the effective contrasts and make most of the arrangements on the album very intriguing. I can't put my finger on one obvious influence, most likely because the influences of each band member gets to be heard, no one instrument dominates the sound. The addition of sax on several songs reminds me of those danish jazz rock bands like Burnin Red Ivanhoe, and Secret Oyster, being used in both lead and rhythm sections. The highlights here for me are Flight of the Shamash, Choir of life (nice addition of mandolin and some female vocals), Sometimes(jazz rock), and the title track(nice mellotron use here). Both of their albums are growing on me more and more with every listen. This band has a bright future if they choose to stick together.