Intriguing album artwork or? Well, then imagine the first track opening with windy noises and the voice of a storyteller. After over 2 minutes a sequence kicks in and a cow starts to moo. In a disturbing manner. Well it sure kept me on my toes! And then the track really comes to live in a typical prog rock manner with drums, bass, keys and guitar riffing. The first vocals come in after 5 minutes in. No wonder the song (Invasion (636 Gregorian Calendar)) clocks in at over 11 minutes.
Talking of vocals, I noticed that the first couple of tracks somehow sound less convincing that the rest of the CD. Might be me, but it distracted me a little. Maybe because part of the delivery sounds a bit theatrical. This might be because of their Far Eastern roots, but that would be a guess on my part. Anyway, my advice is to keep listening, because there are some tasty things on offer here.
For me, the album really comes alive from track 4, Living The Fast Life. More urgency in all departments it seems. Because make no mistake, even when I had never heard of them before, they have been active since 2001 and have won several prizes in their home country Iran. Since relocating to the US, more people can have the opportunity to get to know the band, and that is a good thing. On offer are 10 tracks and a running time of 67 minutes.
All in all this is an entertaining album with class music and a bit of a special flavour. Check them out and start with track 6, Mandatory Hero.
