Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Nearfest 08 -> Sunday : echolyn


echolyn's Suffocating The Bloom is one of my favorite albums of all times, one of the best albums of nineties Prog. Brett Kull's unique guitar tones--Chris Buzby's colorful keys--Paul Ramsey's jawdropping drumming--Tom Hyatt's fantastic bass--all exemplified Americanized Prog at its best. Counterpoint galore! And let's not leave out Ray Weston's dynamic vocal range, and how well it harmonizes with Brett's voice.

Their commercial follow up, As The World, pales in comparison, but it does have its moments of glory. Unfortunately, after their breakup and reunion, I was never able to get into their later music. Perhaps a little too close to 'modern/alt' rock for my taste.
At Nearfest, I don't think they were able to measure up to their studio sound. However, it could've been where I sat--up in the balcony again, in the last row. Sometimes the vocals were muddled below the mix and Ray and Brett did not seem to harmonize.
Still, Entry 11.19.03 was pretty good. The line " The mail was late again today" always gets to me.

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