UNIKORN ON THE COB

US act from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, formed in 2000 by bassist John Jens and guitarist Brian O'Neill, after they came in contact with Finneus Gauge's drummer Jonn Buzby.Buzby, who was not interested in playing the drums, took over the keyboard/vocal duties and the trio temporarily brought in Echolyn's percussionist Jordan Perlson to play the drums during their first recordings.However these were completed with new member John Germuga behind the drum kit.The debut ''Unikorn on the Cob'' was privately released in 2001, co-produced by Echolyn's Brett Kull.

Land of Chocolate played complicated, quirky and heavy-sounding Progressive Rock with tons of shifting moods and the sound comes actually as cross between FINNEUS GAUGE and ECHOLYN, being less complex and jazzy than the first but also less symphonic than the later.The album combines the Progressive Rock's melodies and sudden breaks with the grandieur of bombastic Prog in the vein of DREAM THEATER and the virtuosity of Jazz-Rock in a cool way, while the vocal work of Jonn Buzby is pretty good, offering even some ECHOLYN-like multiple voices at moments.The music is adventurous, well-structured and highly intricate all the way with numerous changing climates between the melodic parts, the well-arranged vocal lines, the extreme power of Heavy Prog with full-blown synthesizers and the jazzy guitar solos of Brian O'Neill.However the album lacks the memorable still intelligent themes or intense instrumental music of ECHOLYN and FINNEUS GAUGE respectively, but the final result is quite positive with a few cuts being great like ''We Love You Lots'' or the eponymous piece.

For fans of Progressive Rock with a high level of technique this is an excellent purchase.Challenging, powerful music all the way with plenty of virtuosity.Recommended.