Record Reviews

ADVENT ~ CANTUS FIRMUS NOT ON LABEL (Barcode: 702987024726) ~ USA ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1992 - 2006 Released: 2006 Every time an album like Cantus FirmusFind albums with this title by AdventFind albums by this artist lands in my lap a lot of questions pop up immediately. Since I consider myself quite knowledgeable in all matters Prog, the most intriguing one being “How came I’ve not heard about this band earlier, considering this is their 2nd album?” Mind you this happens very rarely and even more so when the album in question is as phenomenal as this one, almost unbelievably phenomenal. Let me start with a bold statement here: “This is one of the best Prog albums ever made!” I know many of my readers at this point start shrugging and say: “Here he goes again”. Let me try and explain (to the best of my ability) why I think this statement is 100 % true. Since this album was recorded in the 2000’s, the musicians had the benefit of perception of the Progressive Rock’s vast tradition accumulated during the genre’s 30+ years of history, thus being able to incorporate this insight in their creation. I emphasize the role of perception here (either conscious or subconscious) in contrast to an attempt to imitate, which of course makes all the difference. This album creates a perfect amalgam of the entire genre’s tradition up to that point (I mean the mainstream of the tradition centered on Symphonic Prog) and is in a sense a concise summary of the genre’s essence. In other words when asked (for the millionth time) “What is Prog?” I can now calmly say: “Listen to this album – everything you need to know about Prog is there.” Of course some influences on this music are immediately more obvious than others, the main one being Gentle GiantFind albums by this artist. Starting with the a cappella opening tune and the use of muliti-layered vocal harmonies throughout the album, the quirky rhythm changes and the devilishly clever concatenation of short themes into a continuous musical epic (like in the central 18+ minutes long tour de force piece here). Another thing is that in every respect (i.e. stylistically, sonically, conceptually, etc.) this album really belongs in the 1970’s. Not that is sounds dated (God forbid), but the fact that it was made in the 2000’s makes this entire venture a true miracle. Life is not fair of course, so just imagine this album released with Gentle Giant on the cover and I can assure you that it would have been considered one of the (if not the) best GG releases. Well, it has Advent on the cover, which should make no difference, but unfortunately it does. The only solace can be found in the fact that if one wishes to imagine how GG would have sounded in the 2000’s, all one has to do is to listen to this album. If you are a food connoisseur, this album is a French meal with a dash of YesFind albums by this artist as a starter, great Emerson, Lake & PalmerFind albums by this artist soup with main course a la Gentle Giant and a GenesisFind albums by this artist dessert. Add to this a vintage red vine full of talent, imagination, creativity and instrumental perfection and you get a perfect Prog meal called “Cantus Firmus”. A bit about Advent: They are an American quartet with a guitarist, two brothers who play keyboards and a drummer. One of the brothers is the lead vocalist and the other supplies the vocal harmonies (makes perfect sense). The double keyboards provide a rich, orchestral sound which plenty of opportunities to insert a multitude of interesting ditties, which require repetitive listening in order to be noticed and appreciated. The album includes bonus material recorded for but not included on the band’s debut release, which is every bit as strong as the rest of the album. There is no way to finish this but with another (shouted) question: “Where (and when) is the next album?!!!” Absolutely essential.

CD 1 Essential Recommend To A Friend