Picking an album from 1997 to only review it in 2011 may seem a bit odd and dislocated, but truth be told, some albums really deserve to be picked for review only after a hiatus of some years. These are normally the albums that have really made an impact and that, so many years passed, one considers that have stand the test of time and become real references of a certain style, career or, in an even broader way, a landmark. You may think that this review is close to an hyperbole or, in other words, you may strongly disagree on what I am about to write in my next sentence, but at least give me the benefit of the doubt and listen (read) my arguments…

The year was 1997 and Afterlifecycle marked a transition on the career of an (still) underrated band called Parallel or 90 degrees (PO90 for friends). After two releases where the influences of Van Der Graaf Generator were not only more than obvious but perfectly assumed by the band, this British collective fronted by Andy Tillison released an album that, in my ears, sound some years ahead of its time and (this is something that only now I can fully interpret, for obvious reasons) works like a window in time to what the modern eclectic symphonic prog would sound in the late 00’s.

Well, back in 1997, progressive rock was starting its real revival, primarily due to the advent of the internet and the spreading possibilities that it brought. After a long underground period where a few bands were able to keep the prog-dream alive, like a desert crossing, the late 90’s and early 00’s suddenly became the niche for an increasing number of bands getting back to the essentials of the progressive ideals, some recreating and others evolving it. In this context Parallel or 90 Degrees made their early appearances, many times emulating the vintage classics, but as time passed by, they really created their own style and kept evolving into newer and newer grounds. In a way, the current Tangent success was born and bred in the womb of PO90 (though I still like more the mother than its child).

Getting back to Afterlifecycle, I think it’s easy to agree that its sound is noticeable contemporary and worked out in a modern way. The reminiscences and respect for the classics is there, but the band clearly intended to make a statement on evolution: the rhythm section and the harmonies are inbreeded and created in a sometimes inorganic fashion, which somehow gain life by the layers of guitar, vocals and other instruments that are then conglomerated on top. Everything works in a groundbreaking way, completely re-phormuling the symphonic prog rock standards. This morphing does not, strangely, ever scratches the pure symphonic sense of the compositions, though they seem (sometimes) a bit heavier, bellyful, or harder. The trick is in the way the band incorporates touchy melodies in the mix, slowing down the pace or making harmonies emerge from nothing. Also, the uncountable number of details that are present in the real walls of sound that the band was able to create, not only enrich and enlighten each track, but provide the listener with the need to try and dive into the core of the music so it can swim in the whole ocean of sounds that are constant in the music. The 7 tracks of the album (which are 15 because some tracks are subdivided in smaller sections) flow in a continuous stream that allows the listener to feel the continuity and to gladly follow the path that the music suggests. The music changes and shifts signatures, approaches, rhythms and architectures while keeping a line of procedures, a road to somewhere.

All this in a more philosophical analysis. In terms of the music itself, while some influences from VDGG and Peter Hammill, as well as other 70’s bands, are still recognizable, the way the instruments interact is something completely different. Each instrument makes its appearance and then fades in order to better serve the music, independently if it is a harder part or a mellower, acoustic one. The dynamics are at its peak because the band tried, and did a hell of a job in that, to present an album that continuously flow from start to end and that travels through very different emotions and musical perspectives.          

So it is very clear for me that, almost 14 years after its release, Afterlifecycle is one of those albums that have defined an aesthetic and approach for modern symphonic prog and therefore, is indispensable for any symphonic prog lover that eager to learn about the evolution of his preferred style.

This is an album I haven't (very unfortunately) yet been able to put my hands on an original copy...but I'll get there for sure, for any album I really like must end, sooner or later, in my private Cd collection. This is such a case!