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This album has very quickly leaped into my favourite albums list… Not the typical progressive metal, so don’t be deterred. Read on to know more.

It is thanks to Ruben (Chamberry) that I got to know this band. Listening to their Mysapce samples, I ordered it through The End Records mail order service (The Omega Mail Order) along with their friends and tour mates (and a band that Jackie played with) Giant Squid (look for their band here in PA).

I wish there was something different I could listen to, something to have my brain listen to and get away from all the ruckus of everyday life, the stress and anxieties and drift upwards to some other place… Thankfully, there are bands like Grayceon to help us achieve just that. Obviously there are other great bands that do just that (and I have several favourite bands which so just that), but with Grayceon I get a different experience, a combination of elements from various sounds/influences/sources to create a sound of their own, a marriage of rawness and subtleness, compositions that have freedom to evolve in several directions.

Only 3 musicians here, yet the music in this album is full, rich, filled with a vast array of emotions, delivering mesmerizing musical textures which are at times aggressive and raw and at other times soft and delicate. Grayceon is a talented trio of Jackie Perez Gratz (electric cello, vocals), Zack Farwell (drums) and Max Doyle (guitars, vocals). They have been compared in sound but mostly in spirit to several bands, but it would not do justice with their music to do so, as they manage to be in a position where it’s a difficult task to describe their music. It can be said that it draws influences from several sources/bands, but their sound is all their own.

While only containing four tracks, tracks 1, 3 & 4 are rather lengthy and track 4 can even be considered an epic in length and structure of the track. Track 2 is sort of the antithesis of those other three songs, but it is still very much in line with the album, albeit much heavier, more aggressive and rapid. The other three tracks have a more dominant contemplative spirit, which doesn’t mean it does not get much more energetic throughout the song.

Grayceon offers appealing flavours for different and varying tastes. Some post-rock textures, some sludgy-metal (but of a lighter flavor than others in this field), some good old crunchy riffs of metal (with the occasional drum beat that remind me of the heavier side of metal), and great epics which are amplified in their effect by the magnificent use of the cello by Jackie and the vocal harmonies of Jackie and Max Doyle. The cello and guitar are used both as background and as solo instruments together and alone, which is another interesting aspect of their sound. They have the ability to create compelling music, long epic tracks with mesmerizing textures and vocal harmonies, alternating between a soft sound to a rapid and even raw sounding part in which the drums go wild.

With the tracks in this s/t album, you go on a “Ride” (as is one of the song titles) which passes through different emotional states between tracks and within a track (melancholy, pensive, rage and whatever else the music conjures in your mind). The songs, except for Song For You, start off calmly, with the guitar acoustically feeling the surface, as if testing whether the area is clear and it can begin to get louder, playing seemingly unrelated notes, trying to formulate a tune. And as you listen to the album more times, you realize that it is all pre-thought of, and they pretty much know where they are going, and that these are not totally random played notes, and they lead the way to the main theme or themes (as happens in Ride and Into The Deep). It develops (mostly slowly) into the bigger picture (meaning the main theme of the music) with big emphasis on the melody and the vocals which accompany it at times. This is where the majestic touch is prevalent. If you take Into The Deep, what can be seen as the chorus part is made of the guitar and cello playing together an ascending repetitive pattern later followed by Jackie’s high and delicate voice in a descending pattern that balances the previous part. The guitar has a Crimsonian (as in King Crimson) sound and style here (Red-era) as opposed to the more metallic sound in other parts. I must say this description does not do justice with the music, but it’s the best I can do with my limited verbal skills (or rather lack of them). While the long 3 tracks have this majestic feel when coming to their occasional chorus, Grayceon has a raw and free spirit feel to them, which are probably due to the 3 instrument lineup, their unique sound. This freedom feel, is one attribute I love about their music. I feel that the music is such that it can develop in multiple ways, play in opposite and contradicting manners and cover a vast array of musical “fields”. This is why I am very eager to hear where they will go next in future endeavours. The music goes beyond metal and rock, takes what elements it needs from both and moves on, progresses further. Therefore, the term progressive is most suitable. The end result is compelling, engaging and most of all, beautiful.

The future seems bright for the band, and it is very interesting to hear how their next album will be like. For now, we can rejoice with this excellent release which is more than just an excellent addition to your music and “prog” collection.

This album grew on me in just one day after repeated listening to it during a work day in which I was hooked to phones. At first this sounded as disconnected blurbs of music that were connected to each other by mere coincidence. And then after 4 or 5 listens I started to realize. This is not just aimless jamming. There is a theme for the different track. There is a main idea that drives it and sets it into motion. Then after the idea is presented, the music starts swirling and moving into several directions, presenting more ideas that might be seen as jamming. The music is made up of guitars keyboard and then some more instruments to add to the flavour but the result is so very rich in sound. Those musicians are talented and know their stuff. Besides playing very well, they show their jamming and improvisational capabilities and also their compositional skills, which are not to be disregarded. This might be to you just another psych/space album, but I hear here so much more. The way these guys build their music I find to be impressive. Yes, they rely on improvisations and jamming, but the core of the music is well thought out and planned composition. What is beautiful is that they manage to make their music sound as if they had just written it or are making it up as they are playing. The sounds they produce are exotic (with the marimba, vibraphone and trumpet), psychedelic and rock in nature all in the same track. They take on their main theme and develop it further on (sometimes jamming around it) and on a few tracks deviate at a certain point and play in a new direction. There are some brilliant demonstrations of skills here as can be heard on Modus operand hermetic between 3:55 and 4:10. There is truly exceptional guitar and keyboard playing there and in all other tracks. They know where to put in each instrument so that it creates a different effect. For instance the same second track mentioned above has a trumpet at about 6:30 doing a great moving part and the guitar comes in more furiously giving a heavy rock mood. The music they create has mainly a positive and even happy atmosphere to it. It is sometimes funky, sometimes psychedelic and sometimes even exotic in sound. But it all mingles very well. The drums play an important role here, since they provide the great rhythm of Hidria Spacefolk. While not too creative, they manage to deliver a great tempo that suits the different parts of each track, whether it is a faster, rockier one or a more spacey rhythm. With this album you feel that the guys in the band simply love playing music and love what they create. You can sense they are having fun playing those tracks.

Do not be put off by those comparing them to others such as Ozric Tentacles and stating how unoriginal they are (you can listen to both bands, ). Give this a try (5-6 listens at least) and see if you are not getting carried away by their music and enthusiasm.

For pure energy and an exciting musical journey that crosses several areas of music, listen to Balansia by Hidria Spacefolk. Just imagine listening to these guys live… (you can actually do that by listening to their Live Eleven A.M. album). Essential listening, excellent album.

Their music is dynamic and constantly on the move. And as you can infer from the lineup, guitar driven in which one guitar gives the back up and the other paves the way of the track. There are sharp and fast guitar riffs, energetic and raw drums and creative bass lines. The production on their first album is very clear and allows focusing on each instrument's part, aside from the bass which sometimes gets lost in the mix. Listeners might hear a King Crimson influence in their sound. Moreover, there is a post-rockish element to their sound, and at times they sound like a post-rock band on steroids, as they play pretty fast, and in any case, much faster than most post-rock bands. This is not that surprising, given their label. In general, this is engaging and dynamic music, fast and at times angular and shifting rapidly time signatures, reminiscing math-rock bands.

There is much injustice in this world. In the world of music and particularly in the realm of progressive music one such injustice is the anonymity and lack of appreciation towards this brilliant Quebecois band and its beautiful and excellent albums. Les Porches is an album that should be owned by any progressive music lover, as it is such an amazing album that will surely be adored by everyone who listens to it. Melodies are beautiful and incorporate within them several styles (classical music, jazz, rock). Comprised of two lengthy tracks one of which is a short tune and the other is an ending "regular" length track.

What talent. To create such a beautiful chamber music resembling a small symphonic piece filled with instruments such as flute, clarinet, piano, xylophone, trombone and at the end of the track the guitars, saxophone, drums and vocals join in. Including 5 chapters, this magnificent masterpiece revolves around a musical theme presented at the beginning and which is developed and more layers and musical ideas are added to it. It is not strictly classical music, but also has a folk sound to it as well as more jazz rock at the end of the track when the band resumes modern instrumentation and plays their hearts out. The vocal at the end are powerful and moving, filled with sorrow and make me feel hopeful and sad at the same time. The saxophone solo at the end is a brilliant tour de force accompanied by the rest of the band's exquisite performance. On the second track they create a short but good classical-like tune with their wide range of instruments. The 3rd track is more in the jazz rock field with the clarinet getting in the beginning its rightful place in the center as does the xylophone later on. This track has too 5 chapters and has as well a musical theme that is presented and then taken even further on musically and improvised on. More musical themes are introduced as the music carries on. The choice of instruments here is one of the highlights of this musical piece. The 4th track continues in a way the previous one and shows more of the band's chamber music abilities.

This album has different musical styles and is so rich in sound that you feel as if you've been through a long musical road and experienced a much lengthier record than you actually did. Maneige has an ability to take musical ideas and develop them and do an excellent musical arrangement in terms of instrumentation. I can't praise enough this groups talent and abilities. Therefore it is very regrettable that they are not very known. It is a pity, since this album in particular is one of the finest pieces of music available.

There is something magnificent happening in Argentina
What a great album!
This album has risen to be one of my all-time favourites. What beautiful melodies,
excellent musicianship, clever compositions, good production. They have two guitar
sounds, one crunchy and one slightly "yelling", they have excellent keyboards and they
all intertwine together to create stunning music. 
The first song kicks in with a joyful tune and you can immediately tell who these guys
love - Crucis and ELP and the likes. But this is no clone, not at all. They take their
influences and mold their own sound. Moving from joyful parts to more melancholic
soundscapes, they create a voyage in this track, while maintaining the basic melody all
the time and playing around it and developing it all the time. There is not a single boring
moment in here.
For me tracks 2 to 6 are considered as one. They just blend in with each other. It starts
off with a nice short instrumental in track 2 that flows so nicely into track 3 that begins
with a sudden alarm like keyboards and then guitars and drums, abruptly stopped by a
telephone ring. And then the guitar and keyboards start their dance, setting the scene
for what is to come. I can't really describe this. It is simply a great piece of slightly
dissonant and mostly harmonic piece of music. It ends softly going in to track 4 Tu
Eternidad that starts with a piano and the soft vocals of Agustin Amaya. This track
then gets more dynamic both vocally and instrumental-wise. Sanabria on guitars and
Amaya on the keys do an excellent job here, elevating this song to higher levels thanks
to their performance. Then it ends quite suddenly. Begins track 5 that goes back to
continue track 3. And again we receive a masterful performance of keyboards and
guitars, backed up very good by the bass and drums. It ends in a falling scale back to
track 6- Todo lo que pueda ser that continues track 4. This interplay between the songs
and the breaking and resuming of songs is what gives these 2 to 6 tracks the feel of
one lengthy opus. Even when it resumes the original song, there are variations of the
original tune, so you can still be interested to hear what is being played.
Track 7 Fabulas de un Titere is my favourite song/track here. There is the basic
repetitive keyboard part played at first with the bass giving a strong tone to it. This
basic part is then played over a few times over the track with variations and developed
more and more. The end of this track is simply amazing - there is a change of scale to a
more melancholic sounding key, which contradicts the whole overall cheerful and full of
life sound of this album. I can't get enough of this part. This track exemplifies the great
trait of this band - their ability to create a rather simple tune, improvise and then dance
around it, developing it more and more making it so much more good and beautiful,
complex. This track alone predicts a great future for them.
Desierto humedo is a welcome break from the dynamic predecessors. Calm with an
acoustic guitar, and the mellow voice of Agustin Amaya and the backing voice of Juan
Amaya. Then in 4:20 comes the rest of the band with guitars, drums and keys and give
this song a dynamic assistance, but not fast, only to give it a powerful ending.
La luz y el crystal starts off with a bell chiming and then the short bass line intro and the
songs starts. This is a more heavy song, with the bass being brought more forward to
amplify the effect. There are also some symph prog buts in it to keep things interesting
making it a song with mixed styles in it.
Dislalia is too a heavy sounding song, not metallic, but more inclined towards hard rock.
And then it suddenly changes mood to something light, which you do not anticipate.
This is one of the things that make this band so great. They keep changing things, they
develop everything they create, they do not stagnate, they do not just fill an album
with senseless music. They obviously have an enormous passion for what they do, and
I can hear it very well in all of their songs.
Recluso artista is a Crucis cover. Listening to it, you can get a clue as to how they
influences them. This track is in the same high standard of the other tracks on this
album.

I strongly recommend this album to everyone. Not only symphonic prog fans, or Crucis
fans. This is more than

I have struggled hard about how many stars to give this - 4 or 5.
This was really hard, since as much as I love this album, I can't say this is a pure
masterpiece. Apart from that, I strongly feel this is an album that should be in every
prog fan's collection. It is why I decided eventually to give it 4 stars. A very hard choice for me.
Go get it!

Folk prog from Finland. Songs sway between mellow acoustic songs with acoustic guitar and bass guitar setting the tone and rythm of the songs to more groovy mood songs that borders jazz. Nice inclusion of wind instruments such as flute, clarinet, Freanch horn and trombone and strings like violin and cello. A very relaxing album, with a warm feel to it and a nice touch of happy feel to it, without being too cheerful. Nice debut effort.

There are certain bands which I simply can't describe their albums as I do with others. I can't go song by song and describe what goes on there etc. There are certain bands of which I can only vaguely explain what is their music like and mostly what it makes me feel. Tangerine Dream is one of those bands. Ricochet, performed live in autumn 1975 in France and Britain, is one of my favourite TD releases. For me, this release combines perfectly the compositional skills of TD, their ability to hypnotize me with their instruments, and their undeniable talent of performing live and making it sound as if it were a studio album. You could say that some parts of it are boring, but for me the whole album is a journey, a voyage to another place far away from the everyday life. This is why I prefer listening to TD alone at dusk without any interruptions. Their mesmerizing electronic sound compels me to drift away and start daydreaming. But it would not be enough if it were only this part of their music that existed. They take their music very seriously and don't just rely on simply giving you a standard electronic sound repeated over and over. They build on the foundations of the tune, more and more layers, adding new ideas into it, and creating mysterious and weird scenes and soundscapes. It may appear to be very simple tunes, but it is not the case at all. Listen to it and you will realize what they do in order to create this music. Other reviews here describe the music very well, and there is no need to repeat it. I will just say that both tracks are very good and stand apart from each other. Even though I am not fond of live shows, this is an album in which I made an exception, due to its remarkable qualities.

As with many IE albums, this is a concept album. THe theme is recurring through out Jon's albums - A man striving to redeem himself from past sins and mistakes he has made (In the Dark Saga this will be featured again). The production is "dirty" and fits the music. It has this 80's metal sound, very fast guitar riffs and  high pitched vocals. THe opening and closing tracks are the best and most emotional tracks. IMHO, this is still their best album to date and it still has the old IE sound that began to change on Burnt Offerings and Dark Saga and completely changed on Something Wicked...