Part two for Sebas Honing, another Dutch multi instrumentalist, this time moving from the sea to the Middle East and even further to the east. But you probably figured that out already… First some bad news, from the 9 songs on this CD, only 5 are new. The other 4 are single edits from songs on either this album, or it’s predecessor.
On the other hand, these 5 songs again impress me. First song The Moon Decides has a great eastern flavour and on top of that some excellent counter vocals by his partner Petra. Also the way various styles of prog and metal, world elements (tonal and percussion) and more ambient parts are combined throughout the album is a highlight for me. Just take a listen to Escape From Arabia and you will know what I mean. Ode To The Sun also shines with its calm guitar opening, evolving into a joyous melody sung by Sebas accompanied by percussion and acoustic guitar. And slowly the song builds to a grandiose finale, beautiful. Moving even further east, we get Ramayana with a strong India – Indonesian influence and Perang Poepoetan (Indonesia). Some great electric guitar playing and just love how his influences are presented here.
In short, yes, another recommendation!
