Ok, so the prog scene may be already well accustomed to King Crimson followers, mainly when considering their Red era. Ok, so the prog scene is also well accustomed to followers of VDGG styling, emotional and dark, poetically rich and evolving. And why not add that the prog scene is also well accustomed to long instrumental parts (some crescendos) in slow tempo and in a very dark tone, just like Anekdoten so brilliantly have explored in their first 3 albums and especially in their From Within work-of-art?….So what? Aren’t these some of the most sought-after characteristics in a prog album? Aren’t these some of the things that continue to marvel, amaze and addict the prog fan? Well, at least in my case they are!!

When I first listened to this album it really did nothing for me, but as I keep listening I continue finding more and more interesting things and details that have been conquering me with each new listen. And now I have to consider it a very interesting album, with some flaws here and there, but still a good album by a band that shows enormous potentialities to release a dark masterpiece in a near future, should they choose to continue developing and bettering this sound.
While some vocals need to be worked out to better the way they relate with the music and their “entrance angle”, and while the keyboards tend to sometimes exaggerate a bit in the length of their soloing units or the slight dissonant tone and therefore become distractive, these are just the two flaws that I can point out in this album…
But to contra the less accomplished vocals in some tracks, those same vocals work in perfection in the last track of the album, really adding profundity to the already deep emotional and theatrical music.
The base lines of the tracks are kept quite simple most of the times, and the band gets back to them during the length of those same tracks while interlacing them with parts where the musicians are freed to explore more complex or artistic playing. It is especially in these explorations that the music becomes really interesting and sometimes even mind-blowing, like in some of the duets/duels between the Cello and the Flute. As an example I would point out the excellence of one of those Cello/Flute duels in the track Strayed Again which is for me one of the pinnacle moments of the album.
Anyway, the Cello playing is great throughout the whole album, adding extra emotion and interest to the music of Gargamel.