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Xang

Xsavior

Xystus

Surreal

Dutch rock band Xystus was founded back in 1999 by Ivo van Dijk en Bas Dolmans. Their debut album called Receiving Tomorrow was released in 2004 and all the leading magazines in The Netherlands were quite enthusiastic about this record. On their new CD Xystus cooperated with Ivo Severijns (the bass player of The Wild Romance and Powerplay) and the mix was done by no one less than Oscar Holleman, who is of course “famous” for his excellent work with well-known Dutch bands like Within Temptation, Krezip and After Forever.

All the fourteen new songs were written by Ivo van Dijk (music) and Bas Dolmans (lyrics) and if you compare them with their songs on the debut you can hear that this band has grown a lot in three years time. The music of Xystus is a mix of rock, pop, metal and film music, with typical musical ingredients like industrial drums, fast melodic guitar solos, metal riffs, lots of keys, strings and even dance influences. In tracks like R.O.C. or Brighter Kind Of Light they even remind me of Kamelot. R.O.C., the opening song is filled with guitar riffs, keys, strings and other prog metal characteristics; at certain points it is even a very bombastic song due to the orchestral parts. My Chrysalis – the single – is a kind of pop/rock song with a catchy chorus and lots of melody. The next two songs are rather “heavy” featuring up tempo riffs, amazing vocals and lots of great guitar picking. The piano ballad Holding On To Better Days is not really my cup of tea, as it is rather dull so that even the melodic guitar solo can not “save” this sheer mediocre track.

The musical highlight of this CD is without any doubt the last epic song called Surreal with its playing time of almost twenty minutes. Here Xystus show what they are made of, as this is melodic, progressive rock at its best. The song is one musical highlight beginning with a classical-like intro followed by lots of neo classical rock parts, gothic passages even and finally coming to an end in the last part called It all ends… The latter being a melodic ballad like rock song with amazing vocals and some heavenly musical parts. This is certainly one of the best Dutch prog rock records I have heard in a long time! Check this band out!!

Surreal will also be released as a limited edition digi-pack

Tracklist: R.O.C. (4:54), My Chrysalis (4:03), Whole In Pieces (4:24), Run & Hide (2:10), Holding On To Better Days (3:18), Voltage (4:47), End Of The Line (3:45), Brighter Kind Of Light (3:54), Surreal (19:56) – Part 1 Aenigma (1:13), Part 2 Make It Happen (4:32), Part 3 Mystified (4:30), Part 4 Confusion Collision (1:16), Part 5 My Saviour (4:11), Part 6 It All Ends... (4:55)

XII Alfonso

Odyssees

 XII Alfonso is a French band, which consists of Thierry Moreno on drums and the brothers Philippe and François Claerhout on virtually any other instrument. Their debut The Lost Frontier (1996) was highly praised by the progressive rock scene and gave them some concerts at festivals, at which they gave a complete and sophisticated visual show.

 On this second album they are assisted by no less than 19 guest-musicians for the creation of these 14 delicate tracks. From the instrumental, Alan Parsons-like opener Eclipse, which includes snippets of conversations between Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 during their landing on the moon in 1969, to the live bonus track En Castille. The album takes you on a trip among all the possible musical themes this side of New Age. Truly there is not a bad track on this album.

 Instrumental and vocal tracks alternate, and actually the only shortcoming this album has is the inconsistency. There are so many different styles thrown at you, that it might be too much for one listen. Some of the songs are very simple, guitar-based tracks like Tomorrow or Le Derniere Voyage, or the seemingly simple Tout Passé, which is a true gem in the vein of Mike Oldfield - the Claerhout brothers play an impressive amount of instruments as a two-men band.

Other songs are more straightforward ballads, like the beautiful Où vont les amants? with none less than Mickey Simmonds on keyboards during the vocal part and French legend Dan Ar Braz playing a wonderful guitarsolo at the end.
Then other songs are really experimental, like Lithophonia, which is recorded in a cave, where the Claerhout brothers played the stalactites! Another experiment is the catchy Invisible links part 2 in which the band plays along with a tape send in from Argentina.
Noria is another really experimental track, with Arabic influences, and some excellent drumming by Moreno.

 The 14 tracks are way too much to discuss separately, the main influence comes from Mike Oldfield, although the vocal tracks bear more resemblance to bands like Clannad (a French Clannad, but still). Yet many more references can be pointed out, most notably instrumentalists like Yanni and Jean-Michel Jarre (the vocoder in Message 95) or Camel (the aforementioned Invisible links).

Highly recommended if you are into Oldfield, Jarre or Yanni. You won't be disappointed

 Tracklist:Eclipse (7.25), Odyssée (5.57), Lithophonia (3.11), Message 95 (4.15), Tomorrow (1.44), Où Vont Les Amants? (7.39), La Révolution des Oeillets (8.23), Nil (2.57), Invisible Links Part 2 (4.27), Tout Passé (4.38), Noria (5.06), Le Dernier Voyage (2.12), Dominique Larrey (8.25), En Castille (7.37)

This Is

Nearly four years ago I was pleasantly surprised with the excellent second album by French band XII Alfonso, called Odyssees. The band, which centres around the brothers Philippe and François Claerhout (guitar and keyboards respectively), together with drummer/percussionist Thierry Moreno produces music, which displays a terrifically balanced blend of vocal and instrumental, acoustic and electric, medieval and modern. It certainly hit the right nerve with me.

Much to my delight they announced their next project was to be a three-album long journey into the life of French painter Claude Monet. However, that's where it all seemed to go wrong. The release date of the first installment of the album got delayed a few times, and when it finally got released the band seemed to have disappeared completely. Their website wasn't updated anymore and the album, released through Musea like all their works, disappeared from the store shelves almost instantly and no review copy ever arrived at DPRP, let alone that it got reviewed - much to my disappointment.

 So much to my rejoice this live album suddenly appeared. The album is recorded at various gigs in France and Mexico in 1998 and contains mainly tracks from their debut album The Last Frontier. Onstage, the trio is joined by Caroline Lafue on vocals, Stephane Barincourt on guitars, Lionel Gibaudan on bass and Lionel Fortin on Keyboards.

Besides own compositions, the album features two compositions by the Vital Duo, for which the duo themselves, Jean-Luc and Thierry Payssan joined the band onstage.

Opener Breathing, Scarcely is one of the only two vocal tracks on the album. It is a beautiful ballad of which the opening line gives the album its title. The other vocal track is The Ghost Song, which fits nicely just past halfway on the album to balance out the instrumental and vocal tracks. The original four minute track is extended to an eight minute jam, full of jazzy piano and Gilmouresque guitar solos. The only minor gripe I have is that vocalist Caroline Lafue should stick to singing in her mother-tongue, as her accented English come with some awfully pronounced words that somewhat spoil this great track.

 The instrumental songs range from little acoustic ditties, to full-one rock pieces. Hadrian's Wall Overture and Minstrel's Tale seem more a movie soundtrack to accompany footage that contains chase scenes and love scenes. Back To Northumberland is a piano-piece very much in the vein of fellow Frenchman Cyrille Verdeaux, whereas Heath is a full-on rock song which is based around a bag-pipe melody, but which also includes a terrific guitar solo.
Other tracks have a distinct folkloric flavour, most distinctly the first of the two Vital Duo tracks La Dame de Mantoue and Journey To The Winter's Country. The other track that is performed with Vital Duo, Chanson de Trouvere, is a church organ piece, which would make Rick Wakeman proud.

Lazy Day in Haltwhistle and Another Day In Haltwhistle are serene classical sounding acoustic guitar pieces, which would not have been out of place on the Steve Hackett live album I recently reviewed.

Giverny and Wheels Of Change enter the territory of jazz-rock, while my favourite track of the album, Anthem, rivals the works of Mike Oldfield and Ennio Morricone, with a beautiful vocal melody which is repeated by bagpipes and electric guitar - magical!
The closer of the album, Eclipse is the opening track of the then to be released second album Odyssees, although it is played in a completely different way here.

 As with my previous review of XII Alfonso, I have to conclude that the band covers a vast array of different musical styles. So vast even, that it may be off-putting for some. Not everybody wants to have a jazzy prog-rock piece followed by folkloric bagpipe music. Yet on the other hand, the variation keeps the album from becoming boring - ever!

The performances of the entire band are excellent and especially Philippe Claerhout is a revelation. His virtuosity on acoustic guitar can easily compete with that of messieurs Hackett and Oldfield, but he is equally adept at electric guitar.

 It may be a bit strange that an album, released in 2003, contains recordings from a concert from 1998. It could be that profits of this album are used to finance the recording of the second Monet album. Let's hope the band will soon return to form and release their next album. They certainly deserve a wider exposure.

This is is an excellent album for those who like the work of Mike Oldfield, Steve Hackett, Camel or Clearlight, with excellently composed, playful tunes, a good sound quality and an outstanding performance.

 Tracklist: Breathing Scarcely (5:10), Mist (6:57), Hadrian's Wall Overture (3:54), Minstrel's Tale (5:53), Back To Northumberland (3:20), Heath (5:13), La Dame De Mantoue (4:07), Chanson De Trouvere (5:16), Lazy Day In Haltwhistle (2:49), The Ghost Song (7:50), Giverny (2:25), Journey To The Winter's Country (3:06), Wheel's Of Change (4:38), Another Day In Haltwhistle (2:25), Anthem (8:34), Eclipse (6:49)

Xinema

XINEMA: Swedish band Xinema are to release their second album "Basic Communication" on 1st August 2006 on the Unicorn label. This is the follow up to their debut album "Different Ways" released four years ago.

The band Xinema was formed in Sweden 1999 by three friends: Mikael Askemur (Main vocals, guitar, bass and keyboards), Sven Larsson (Guitar, backing vocals) and Jonas Thurén (Drums, vocals, backing vocals). Their motto being "a good song is always a good song, regardless of genre.

 Xinema - Different Ways

What did strike me almost immediately about this release from Xinema was the overall presentation, taking account that this release came as a debut album, but bore all the hallmarks of a band with several albums behind them. Strengthening this notion were the good production values within the CD and the tasteful cover artwork and encompassed graphics. What Different Ways has in abundance is maturity, thus making this a strongly melodic album both in the vocal and instrumental departments. The band obviously have their roots steeped in progressive rock, but interestingly on their website, offer concerns that the material here may not necessarily display this. Perhaps so, however I have less misgivings as to its appeal to the broader spectrum of prog fans.

Following on from the last remark and in an attempt to give pointers as to where we might find their material within the general umberella of music, might be typified by Canadian rockers, Saga. The music of Xinema exhibited many characteristics to be found therein - strong driving guitar layers embodied within rich keyboard textures and encompassed within melodically powerful rock music. The pleasant and distinctive vocals have a warm timbre, so here we might draw some comparisons to John Wetton and in particular his involvement with Asia. Along side this there were some similarities in the voice and delivery to Peter Gabriel and perhaps even Fish. Finally other references might be Journey, Toto and to a certain extent Rush. These comparisons are merely intended as an aid - Xinema have their own voice.

Enough of these pointers, and so what of these men of Xinema, well although there are only three musicians in the band as previously stated, their sound is distinctly full. Perhaps attributed to Mikael Askemur who not only provides the majority of the vocals, but is responsible for the bass, keyboards and some additional guitar parts. Joining Mikael on guitar and backing vocals is Sven Larsson and finally Jonas Thuren on drums, lead and backing vocals. The band are all from Sweden, although interestingly the album is released on the Unicorn label based in Quebec - Canada. Having played together for some years now and originally in the progressive band Madrigal (noted as influences from this genre are evident in the arrangements and approach to the music), all the musicians display strong compositional skills. Not wishing in any way to denigrate the obvious contribution from the other two members, or the music, but for me Sven Larsson's guitar virtuosity is what made this album. And for those more guitar orientated, you should check out this album. The soloing was always melodic, tasteful as well as containing those more flamboyant elements, certainly a contemporary to perhaps John Petrucci, Steve Lukather, Neil Schon, Jan Cyrka or Joe Satriani.

I don't think there was a bad track to be found on the album, merely those that appealed more than others. So the tracks I have selected are those that struck a chord within me, and/or best serve as good illustrations of the band's music. Blind is the Light is probably the most progressive track to be found, mainly due to the lengthy opening instrumental section and inferred Rush like texture in some of the guitar sections. I would also like to include Across the Styx and Maybe Time as they contain excellent examples of Sven Larssson's melodic and fluid guitar work, one of the great pluses to be found on Different Ways. The opening track In the Scent of the Light as it sets the tone for the rest of the album and showcases the vocals which form a major part of all of the songs. Distant Lights is my last inclusion for this review as not only was it my favourite song from the album but it contained almost all the elements that make up Xinema's music. Mention here that all of the tracks from the album can be found on the bands website (follow the link above) and are well worth checking out.

So what might you need to enjoy the music of Xinema, well a CD player would be useful (only joking). Seriously, an interest in well constructed and highly polished melodic rock songs, with strong vocal melodies and carefully executed harmonies. Mixed in with this is Sven Larsson's finely crafted guitar work, which raises the music above many of it's counterparts and a distinctly polished production. What was also interesting, is that although Different Ways does not fall immediately into the realms of progressive rock, there are obvious influences enveloped within almost all of the material. I feel that a far greater numeric conclusion would have been forthcoming had I been writing for a melodic rock site, therefore it is not intended as a criticism of the material, but rather as an overall view of the encompassed tracks and within DPRP's guidelines. I have made several references to bands, within the review and so just to reiterate, if you have albums by Saga, Kansas, or perhaps Asia, nestling away in your collection, this would certainly make a very worthy inclusion.

Tracklist: In the scent of the night (5:46), Over the sea (3:51), The last flower (4:37), Timing (4:29), One day (3:40), Different Ways (4:50), Maybe time (3:06), Across the Styx (4:42), Distant lights (5:02), How can I believe (4:37), The secret (5:55), Blind is the light (7:04)

X-FILES

 Pirat-CD/DVD det nye dopet!

Piratkopier er lønnsom business og at de nå omtaler bransjen det som «det nye dopet». Hadde enda agendaen vært å skaffe seg super musikk, men den gang ei.

En narkotikamistenkt mann i Virginia ble arrestert i forrige uke etter en lengre biljakt. Politiet fant hundrevis av piratkopierte CD-er og DVD-er i bagasjerommet i bilen han kjørte. Dette har fått filmorganisasjonen Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) til å snakke om det nye dopet.

- Mange av de vi har arrestert har kriminelle rulleblad som inneholder narkotikadommer. Faktisk sier de at «dette er det nye dopet på gatene», sier etterforsker Dennis Supik i MPAA.

Etterforskerne til MPAA har nemlig funnet en forbindelse mellom salg av piratkopier og narkotikahandel. Flere av de organiserte kriminelle som MPAA har etterforsket har også vært involvert i salg av narkotika.

Stor andel
En av toppene i Interpol, Ron Noble, kunne i 2003 fortelle at den globale narkotikahandelen omsatte for 322 milliarder dollar (2 079 milliarder kroner), mens den globale handelen med falske og piratkopierte varer omsatte for 512 milliarder dollar (3 307 milliarder kroner).

- Åndsverkskriminalitet er en lukrativ kriminell aktivitet som kan gi store inntekter. Det er også ganske lav risiko siden fengselsstraffene som regel er langt lavere enn for eksempel narkotikahandel, sa Noble samtidig.