From: davem@uvmark.uucp (Dave Meeks)
Subject: Meeks Review #5 - Egdon Heath "The Killing Silence"
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 92 17:13:29 GMT
Organization: VMark Software, Inc.

Hello Net-Fans, once again I come to you with my latest Review
(Yeah... Rah.. General screaming and fanfare for the common man...)

This weeks edition reviews the album from Egdon Heath entitled 
"The Killing Silence"... 

First, a couple of previous net.thoughts on this group
-> "Very symphonic Dutch bands that borders neo-prog very often.  Some of their
    songs are good, some aren't.  ...  Basically this is mediocre music that
    is just rehashing trite ideas."
-> "...work is finely crafted, very melodic, progressive rock, and has 
   influences of Genesis and other UK rock bands of the seventies."
-> "compares favorably to Pendragon... Heavy keyboards and very melodic 
    vocals give them a somewhat haunting sound"
-> "... good neo-prog rock.  Nothing exception, but <recommended>"

Anyway, I was first introduced to this band from a sampled disk from SI
with a song entitled "Secret Fences".  It was, in my opinion, the best 
song on the album.  So, with that and some other recommendations, I decided
to try it.  What I got was a pleasant, nice album, but nothing extraordinary.
I would call it a symphonic/neo-prog mix, whatever that means.  

The group consists of :
	Jaap Mulder	- Piano, keyboards, backing vocals
	Wolf Rappard	- Keyboard and backing vocals
	Aldo Adema	- Guitar	
	Marcel Copini	- Basses and acoustic guitar
	Valere Wittevrongel - Drums and percussion
	Jens van der Stempel - Lead Vocals

The album consists of 8 songs and clocks in at 54:10.

Looking BRIEFLY at the album (trying to be less long-winded)...
1 - No Second Faust (8:04) - Album starts out on the right note, with a 
	good song, similar in many ways to the song "Secret Fences" I had
	heard, at least in feel.  
2 - Tell Me (8:05) - Very good song, very melodic and definetly
        finely crafted.  Music is fairly textured, but not real complex.  
	Chorus almost makes the song sound as if recorded live.  Upbeat and
        very enjoyable...
3 - T.T.C (5:17) - Simple ballad which reminds me of something that could have
	been a top 40 hit.  Nice, like a lot of ballads, decent music, lyrics
	aren't too sappy, and the vocals are good.  But otherwise, nothing
	worth rushing out to get this album for...
4 - Waiting For The Outburst (8:03) - Beggining of the song starts out very
	moody and sinister sounding in a lyrical sense.  Then, the chorus
	kicks in, and I thought I was watching the movie "Hair" or something:-)
	Not that I dislike it, but it sounds like something from the 
	"Aquarius" era.   Strange sounding, but I can't shake the feeling..
5 - The Killing Silence () - Lyrics describe expedition of Robert Falcon Scott
	and Co. to the South Pole and how they discovered the Norwegians had
	already made it first...  Longest song on the album, and perhaps the
	best all-around.  Kicks off with nice piano piece, and then tells the
	tale.. Very symphonic, explosive keyboards in the beginning... At
	times, the percussion is subdued, but very nice...
6 - Message (5:40)  - Second ballad, with Elly May on Guest Vocals.  Decent
	song, standard ballad, but ok.  
7 - Stand Straight (8:00) - Very full sounding, active song,but I see nothing
	special in it.  There is a couple of musical interludes that are good,
	but the rest of the song is fairly boring.
8 - The Tide is Out (2:50) -  Short instrumental, very new age sounding, 
	complete with sounds of crashing waves and everything.  

Overall, this album is very good, but not great.  A couple of tracks are 
standouts, such as Tell Me and The Killing Silence, some others are good, 
and some are just ok.  The music is best described as melodic and nicely 
crafted, but it is definitely not virtuostic by any stretch.  The drummer 
has some nice moments, but is only decent.  The keyboards are full-sounding 
and rich, but a little too choppy for me, the neither flow like a Tony Banks, 
nor explode like a Wakeman.   At times, they sound very first rate, and other 
times they sound like someone from your local garage band.  The guitars are 
good, much in the Rothery style... I like to call it PowerNotes, as opposed 
to PowerChords.  It isn't that crunchy PC sound, but rather that Rothery 
style PowerNotes, where a single note is played and held, sort of the 
"SlowHand" style.  The bassist is ok, nothing to write home about.  The 
singer, IMHO, is excellent however, and the album benefits from this.  
Additionally, the lyrics are usually very good.  They have the ballads, 
which are all-too common, but some other songs explore some interesting 
stories, notably "The Killing Silence" and  "No Second Faust".  

So, if you like symphonic/neo-progressive music, this is a good addition, but
not at the top of the list.  It compares favorably in style to something like
Pendragon, as mentioned, and somewhat to Marillion/Genesis, but not really.
Another good comparison would be IQ..
-- 
David T. Meeks            || "New shadows tugging at the corner of his eye
VMark Software, Inc.      ||  Jostling for attention as the sunlight flares
uvmark!davem@merk.com     ||  Through a curtains tear, shuffling its beams
davem%uvmark@merk.com     ||  As if in nervous anticipation of another day"