Released by Prog Rock Records
Release Date: October 5, 2010
Genre: Rock/Progressive
Links: http://www.davidminasian.com
Line Up:
David Minasian: Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Orchestration
Justin Minasian: Guitar
Guy Pettet: Drums
Andrew Latimer: Guitar, Vocals (track 1)
Tracklist:
1. Masquerade
2. Chambermaid
3. Storming The Castle
4. Blue Rain
5. Frozen In Time
6. Summer’s End
7. Dark Waters
Progressive Rock has had a place in the industry for a long time, with great bands such as Pink Floyd, Rush, Yes, Genesis, Porcupine Tree, Marillion, etc to name a few. Prog Rock records has been steadily releasing some great progressive rock bands with always reliant on excellent productions. Here they introduce an interesting piece of work by the multi-instrumentalist David Minasian who is a well known composer and video director who has contributed hit songs for film and directed over 60 films and DVD’s, including one to none other then Camel’s highly acclaimed concert DVD Coming of Age, David has spent his career dividing his time between the worlds of music and film.
The interesting back story here was that through his experiences in the industry, David became good friends with prog rock legend Andrew Latimer (guitar , vocals) for Camel and he actually encouraged David to record this full length album and a good idea it was. Mr Latimer contributions on the first track the epic “Masquerade’ with a Renaissance story feel and the wonderful vocals of Andrew being heard for the first time in a long while since suffering Myelofibrosis. Andrew was well enough to contribute on David’s new record and hopefully a new Camel album may not be too far in the distant future.
The use of the spacey keyboards throughout the record adds an almost heavenly feel to each song, building the momentum nicely to give way to some excellent guitar solo leads. The soft undertones of “Soft Rain” setup the rest of the story and writing as it feels almost as if a story is being told from a work of literature. If painting a picture can be so vivid then listening to “Frozen In Time” sounds like watching a lifetime production of someone’s life. The rest of the album follows it’s melancholy suits very well as the dreamy keys and lengthy guitar solos take hold to add more substance to each track.
Not easily digested as any fan of Prog Rock knows, you have to give it’s share time to appreciate it. The musicianship is very well done, and overall is nice piece of work albeit maybe too dull in some spots for my likings. I would of probably liked more moving vocals to compliment the great keyboard and guitar playing but is a double edge sword as David Minasian is known for his compositions not necessarily for his vocals. Regardless of some low key points the music remains strong and is a nice touch to hear Latimer back in action even if it’s for one track. If you’re a progressive fan check it out when the full length release comes out in October.
Written by Denys
Ratings Denys 7/10
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