Our dear Belgium friends from M!ndgames were featured on these pages not so long ago, and now their latest release MMX gets some words. And the best way to start is that they have progressed (no pun intended) in about every aspect of the game! I liked Actors In A Play, but this one is just better.
Their previous album sounded good, this one is just that tad bit more confident and, well, just better. The vocals of Bart Schram sound less like your average British neo prog band now, and have more depth and identy of their own. Nice.
The guitars by Rudy Vander Veken are a little bit more present, without being heavy. But it adds just that little bit more bite and makes me enjoy this music even more. And his playing was already worth your while. Drums and bass do what they need to do, and I love that the Hammond also became a little more important.
And while I think this is again a concept album (alas no info on that and as you know I am too lazy to look it up), this is more about songs. Melodies come more to the fore as well.
So you get why I think the guys have upped their game and really deserve the attention of anyone into neo prog. In fact, that term sells them short. So let’s aim for all progressive rock lovers instead ;-). Let’s see what they come up with next time, looking forward to that…