Review by BrufordFreak — Classic symphonic prog of the first order from Ohio's Jeremey Poparad and company, they possess a sound
somewhere in the same ballpark with Germany's FREQUENCY DRIFT, Sweden's INTROITUS and Norway's WHITE
WILLOW due in part to the presence of exceptional female lead vocalist in Amanda Rankin--though her singing style
is more akin to that of THIEVES' KITCHEN's Amy DARBY. The guitar sound is a bit deeper, djenty--probably due to
the presence of composer/producer Jeremey Poparad's 9-string electric guitar and full, deep bass sound. All songs
are incredibly well constructed, recorded, performed and possess wonderful melodic and harmonic sensibilities.
CD1
1. "Prelude I" (6:28) is a classical music composition performed by acoustic orchestral instruments. (9/10)
2. "Euclid" (4:31) opens with harp-like arpeggi before a metal band orients us in a different direction. Djenty yet
melodic, we are quickly introduced to the Amy DARBY-like vocal stylings of singer Amanda Rankin. The song breaks
into several sections, though all continue to revolve around variations of the central arpeggiated chord progression
from the intro. Brilliant! (9/10)
3. "Suspicions" (5:48) again structures itself around variations on a gentle four-chord jazz progression that is
established in the opening--which is beautiful and hypnotic. Amanda's vocals here are her first attempt to get
grungy--which doesn't work very well. Her voice is too pure and crystalline to rough up. Still, the song has many
memorable and haunting elements that make it rise above the mis-matched vocal choices. Nice drumming and
keyboard work on this one. (9/10)
4. "Shattered" (5:58) opens with plucked bass and upper octave piano play setting up for Amanda's delicate vocal.
The song shifts into second gear at the one minute mark, and then into third with full band and orchestral
instruments shortly thereafter. Nice jazz guitar leads throughout the song. The arpeggiated piano chord
progression is quite lovely, quite engaging. Amanda's melody line, as well. At 3:20 things shift into a heavier gear.
Nice! I find realizing that I wish Amanda's vocal had been mixed differently in the sonic field--more full and slightly
forward. Nice electric guitar soli at the end of the fifth minute. This could be a masterpiece! (9/10)
5. "Koan" (3:42) opens with some nice acoustic guitar picking, over which Amanda begins singing in her upper
registers. Quite lovely. As the full band and orchestral instruments join in I am definitely feeling the genius of this
"big band" approach. This is a classy old-time jazz song with some modern instrumental twists. In fact, it is the
orchestral strings and not the vintage and modern rock/jazz instruments that steal the show on this one. One of my
favorites! (10/10)
6. "Eyes" (6:04) for the first two minutes contains some trip-hoppy drum sequences playing beneath the more
constant presence of some floating plucked guitar chords and Amanda's singing. Then the music breaks into a
more jazz-metal flow with lots of picking, plucking of strings while Amanda continues doing her Amy DARBY thing.
At 4:00 the weave begins to sound like a DEVY TOWNSEND wall while Amanda's now treated voice falls a little back
in the mix. Dreamy! At 5:00 things return briefly to the more dynamic, voice forward sound, before falling back into
the dreamy style to the song's end. (9/10)
7. "Erasure" (5:54) opens as a duet with Jeremey's picked electric guitar and Amanda's voice. At the one minute
mark the song kicks into a more poppy, almost Latino style while Amanda continues her story telling in and
interesting alternating middle and low voice style. The instrumental portion of the third minute finds a much more
jazzy Latin-like style with the use of several more complicated time signatures. The final minute of guitar weaving
sounds again like a milder, less processed version of DEVIN TOWNSEND. (9/10)
8. "Postlude I" (7:48) opens with synth strings and orchestra instruments playing a beautiful stop-and-go, flow-
between-octaves song. Glockenspiel and woodwinds take the leads during the first two minutes, but then low range
winds take over before oboe and violins take their turns. In the fourth minute French horn horn-led horn section
next get their say. Bassoons, flutes, and clarinets get a turn around the five minute mark. Beautiful melodies and
harmonies are presented and woven in and out of simple and many-layered weaves throughout the course of this
gorgeous piece of music. (10/10)
Using the now institutional Fishermetrics, the first CD with a total time of 46:13 is alone worthy of the "masterpiece"
status.
CD2
1. "Prelude II" (7:25) continues the previous disc's pattern by opening with a composition that is composed and
performed by a full orchestra. Percussion and pulsing lower strings notes establish the almost PHILLIP GLASS
foundation over which violins and woodwinds play their weave of melodies. A more Baroque sound establishes
itself in the third minute before making way for a more theatric, liturgical sparsely instrumented sound around
3:30. AT 4:20 we are returned to the more modern sounds and structures of the opening. It reminds me of NORTH
SEA RADIO ORCHESTRA's "Berliner Luft" or "Mitte der Welt." Beautiful piece! (10/10)
2. "Silence" (7:23) opens with warmly picked electric guitar with accompaniment of trilling strings. The melody
established feels quite theatric--as if we are getting ready to see an emotional love scene from Brigadoon or The
King and I. Amanda's entry and presence confirms this as she gives us the warmest, most emotional performance
of the album (thus far). The Post Rock-like drumming and full strings accompaniment are highlights, again. The
piano solo in the fourth minute is too cheezy--over the top. Luckily Amanda's stunning performance helps us to
quickly forget this. In my opinion, this is the first song in which the instrumental soli have negatively affected the
overall outcome of the song, one in which the vocal could have been left to more sparse accompaniment. Amazing
performance, Amanda. Amazing orchestral arrangement, Jeremey. Maybe that's all you should have concentrated
on. (9/10)
3. "Kronos" (7:35) is my favorite song on the album. It has a WHITE WILLOW-FREQUENCY DRIFT like feel to it with
Kashikura TAKASHI (TOE)-like drumming, CHICK COREA-like keyboard work, James Bond murder-mystery-like
orchestration, and Amanda Rankin's beautiful vocal work (which, again, I find myself wishing were mixed more
prominently into the soundscape). (10/10)
4. "Summit" (8:00) has the musical feel of a good OCEANSIZE song. This may be the best progressive rock song on
the album. The guitar and bass interplay is remarkable for the precision of their 'conversations'. Neither the lyric
nor the vocal add much; this could've been a great instrumental. (9/10)
5. "Keepsakes" (6:40) opens with some delicate percussion play into which a few sparse keyboard and guitar noises
and/or chords are mixed. A delicate, slow, breathy vocal by Amanda Rankin ensues which is mirrored, note-for-
note, by a heavily chorused lead electric guitar. Crazed jazzy electric piano play is going on beneath. Brilliant song!
So unique and unusual! Psychedelic. On display here is yet more of diversely creative genius of everyone of these
musicians and songwriters. Amazing! (10/10)
6. "Kafka" (7:43) is the only song that really doesn't work for me--and this is true on multiple levels. There are so
many things going on, so many different styles and sounds, and, for some reason, they just don't gel as well as one
would hope. A bit like a Dan Britton (CEREBUS EFFECT, DELUGE GRANDER, BIRDS & BUILDINGS, ALL OVER
EVERYWHERE) song: Proggy but a little too esoteric. (7/10)
7. "Eulogy" (4:53) gets the prog back on track with a nice prog ballad in the Bill GILLHAM/CIRRUS BAY style. (9/10)
8. "Postlude II" (8:13) closes the second album out with another classical piece. Performed by orchestra, this one
opens in a kind of DELIUS/ELGAR/BRITTEN pastoral style before detouring into a full-on blues-rock dirge--a folky
version of a Clapton song, perhaps. Beautiful metaphor for the stylistic melange that is the entirety of this beautiful
album. Well done, Ohio! (Nice vocal, Amanda! Nice guitar lead, Ryan! Amazing composition, Jeremey!) (10/10)
A stunningly original and mature album. I consider this a veritable masterpiece of eclectic and/or symphonic
progressive rock and yet I can see where this band and its composer/producer have room to grow. Can't wait to see
what they bring in the future!
Without question this is a five star album; a masterpiece of progressive rock music.