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Review:
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This is my second excursion into Israeli prog after
the wonderful Slaves for Life by Amaseffer, which saw singer
Mats Levin going from the paganism of Therion to a story
based on Moses! Color Blind is the debut from this melodic
prog outfit formed back in 2002. The intertwining dual vocals
are truly stunning, with the sumptuous Dina Shulman, the
lovechild of Marcela Bovio (Stream of Passion) and Simone
Simons (Epica), and the powerful lungs of Teddy Svets, the
result of a liaison between Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica)
and Michael Ball (Broadway star). My weather report starts
with ‘Awaken’, a period of Stream of Passion gothic prog,
with sudden squalls of prog metal, and a blistering guitar
solo by Artiom Lichtstein. The sun comes out briefly for
the bright folky ‘The Earthworker’ before the black clouds
gather for the cyclonic Dream Theatre/Epica/Ayreon prog
metal of ‘Circle’. The conditions calm for two delightful
Mostly Autumn/Marillion melodic prog songs, ‘Bridge’, with
its gorgeous instrumentation, including an exquisite flute
solo from Teddy, and the more blustery ‘Fifth Season’, both
with occasional thundery spells, and a fantastic flurry
of keys by Eduard Krakov. Then we are into the lovely misty
first part of ‘Conspiracy’ before the swirling metal and
melodic tempest of the second half. The freshening wind
of the powerful melodic prog ‘Hand Coloured’ is followed
by the brief atmospheric breeze of ‘Last…’ which segues
into the symphonic prog metal maelstrom of the last track,
‘…Chance’. The music is as changeable and unpredictable
as the climate, which makes every gust and lull so enjoyable
and fascinating. In summery, the outlook is that fans of
Stream of Passion, Ayreon, Mostly Autumn, Epica, Sonata
Arctica and Dream Theatre will storm down to CD
Baby and order this shining CD.
9.5 out of 10.
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