|
The Texas outfit Supernal Endgame is presenting Touch The Sky and shows their musicianship without sonic ego trips. They are Christians, but aren't preaching. Anyway if you have a problem with religion-based lyrics, then you'll probably dislike this album just for this one reason...
Slowly the album kicks off with Everlasting Fanfare (Pt. 1) and takes you into a prog rock universe of Supernal Endgame. John Eargle and his mates Rob Price and Dan Pomeroy combine AOR with progressive rock / art rock. At the opener they get a bit bombastic... They remind me a bit of Asia at Still Believe... at the beginning. Guess it's the keyboard and the catchiness, but after a break they seem to take you back to the 70's art rock. As Still Believe is more then 10 minutes lasting, there is enough time for twists and turns. Later in the song their are reminiscences to Kansas - the violin passage played by Brad Bibbs - and even ELP. At Fall To My Knees the AOR-ish vocals will hook you up. At Grail they got a helping hand by Flower Kings' Roine Stolt, the song has a symphonic edge, but again shows some 70's prog rock elements and Bibbs violin gives the songs melancholy touch. The song let you drift into daydreaming... At In Your Hands they take you back to the 70's one more time. Again they add violin and keyboards and take you into another sonic world. One of my favorites is the instrumental Gossamer Strings, a beautiful tune which starts with acoustic guitar and then becomes an enchanting tune where Katie Price's violin takes over the vocal line. Slightly melancholy, but simply beautiful! The following You Reached Down is following the chosen path, they continue what they started with Gossamer Strings, just that Rob Price is takes over the microphone again. Again they remind me a bit of Kansas, but it doesn't matter, just enjoy the song. The circle closes with Everlasting Fanfare (Pt. 2), and like the opener the closer had me right away!
Christian prog rock is what Supernal Endgame present and even if you find reminiscences to one or the other band, it's fun to listen to Touch The Sky! Many songs get a slight melancholy touch due to the violin, but it fits well to their sound and builds a nice contrast to the keyboard sounds. Beside the emotional guitar play of John Eargle it's the vocals of Rob Price which make the songs special.
|
|
