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Review:
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Excellent debut album by this outstanding dutch band.
Oh well, what should I expect from a group of such seasoned
musicians like these? itīs a dream team, really. Drummer
Koen Roozen and guitarrist Eddie Moulder comes from Hollandīs
neo prog king Flamborough Head, while keyboardist Derk Evert
Waalkens worked with King Eider. Peter Stel (bass) came
via Nice Beaver. With a such illustrious members, one can
only expect something extraordinaire, and so is Awaking
The Muse.***
Ok, maybe no great novelties here or anything groundbreaking.
Only fantastic, emotional, well written and perfomed mix
of symphonic and neo prog. And , if happen to know his work
with FH, there are simply wonderful solos by Moulder (who
also shines on the instrumental project Trion). The band
has two keybaords players which gives the a beautiful, multi
layred sound. That might work wonders on live shows. I have
to say that, at first, I did not like Jos Hartevelds voice
very much. After a few spins I changed my mind and now I
think he fits in quite well.***
Of course all this technique would not be enough to
produce a good CD, but those guys proved to be also fine
writers. All tracks are good with no real lows, you can
actually listen to the whole album with the same pleasure
from start to finish. Highlights are surely Moulderīs brilliant
soloing: the guy has a style that reminds me of Steve Hackett,
Jan Akkermann, Andrew Latimer and Mirek Gil. And still he
has a personal way to deliver terrific lines all over the
CD. The rhythm section is strong and versatile, while the
keyboards are varied and tasteful. Production could be quite
better, though (the drums suffered the most damage, as far
as I can hear). But the band does their job with such passion
and skillfullness such potencial problem becomes just a
minor annoying detail.***
Conclusion: greatt first one! I wonīt give Awaking
The Muse a five star rating yet because even if the results
here are brilliant, I still think there is room for some
improvement, specially if you consider the excellence of
their members. Still, a 4,5 rating is quite fitting. A band
to watch for.***
Highly recommended!
"Tszirmay"
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