a progressive rock adventure
Reviews - Somewhere in the dark
Movimenti Prog
Daniele Cutali
Helvetian new-progressive
The Swiss band called Deep Thought released two years ago this third work. After Morphios, 1998 demo-cd, and Shadow of the Past, EP recorded in 2000, they reach the world-wide distribution by Galileo Records with Somewhere in the Dark. This disc practically officialize the band work and encloses many songs that were in the two previous works already.
Canonical five members formation made by Martin Altenbach on drums; Patrick Merz at the voice; Marcel Oehler at the guitars, with his blond-curly hair that reminds us Sammy Hagar just a bit; Dominik Pfleghaar at the keyboards and Dominik Rudmann at the bass-guitar and Taurus bass-pedals.
The nine pieces of the disc are made by a symphonic new-progressive matrix that descend from a marillionian-genesisian derivation, with guitar incursions in hard-rock, great keyboards arrangements, and the classical changes of irregular times. However, the musical infuences in biographical notes of the members of the band are obvious. From the band Internet website we can evict in fact that the band main references are Yes, Genesis and Pink Floyd. References we can hear all in amount, even if sometimes just a little mentioned.
The songs that show up more than the others are in fact those that exceeds the abundant ten minutes of duration. Clock and Simple Man over all, with the classical new-progressive styles all at their place. Good ideas for Ice with excellent and bodily staccatos, beautiful guitar solos and one final fast synth cascade. Mud on the Hill possesses a good melody and groove, with the bluesish female choruses, but maybe is too much prolix even in the good inventions to reach 14 minutes and half of length. Healthy and fluid rock-music transudes from the other pieces, with hard-rock moments, new-progressive and good modernistic heights with the voice and its effects.
If there is some note to do it is just about the voice. The timbre is good but sometimes it turns out to be monochord, not aggressive just to the right point when the song demands it, and, very rarely, accuses some dissonance.
After all, it's a honest work and it's above the average of the numerous new-progressive productions of the last years.