{"id":7750,"date":"2021-01-14T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/?p=7750"},"modified":"2024-06-16T15:53:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T13:53:42","slug":"eye-2-eye-nowhere-highway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/cd-recensie\/eye-2-eye-nowhere-highway\/","title":{"rendered":"Eye 2 Eye \u2013 Nowhere Highway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Als je deze recensie liever in het Nederlands leest, kun je hier klikken<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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About three years ago the French symphonic prog band Eye 2 Eye released ‘The Light Bearer’. This was the first part of a concept serie. The story is about an uninspiring musician, he tries to find his inspiration in the whisky. After countless glasses he falls into a coma, this leads him to part two ‘Nowhere Highway’.
He is trapped in his own struggle: the incessant battle between his old ‘ghosts’ and his ‘Muse’, named after the Greek goddesses of art and science. The word muse is still used in the sense of inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are sampled sounds, flute playing, spherical music, and a sombre monologue. You’re pulled into the song right away. After more than two minutes Jack Daly starts singing. Although his words are quite depressing, they remain captivating. The gloomy sound of string instruments underlines the sober atmosphere. The music is suitably slow, and yet quite a lot happens in the music. The whole is very special, you feel that the main character is in an inner struggle. The changes in the music may not all be equally accessible, but they are fascinating! This flows non-stop to ‘The Hidden Muse (Ghosts – Pt.3’). The first piece is minimalistic and beautifully detailed. The atmosphere is gloomy, yet compelling. The music changes, somberness gives way to a kind of restlessness. Electronic sounds and guitar play alternate and\/or are nicely mixed. The details of the string instruments and the sounds of acoustic guitar are fascinating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Choice (Ghosts – Pt.4) is an epic of almost 17 minutes and consists of 6 parts. But the display sees the chapters as separate songs. That is why in the beginning it is a bit of a search in the lyrics. The gloominess and depressive feelings keep popping up, but there also seems to be fear, then music is ‘chaotic’. Music and singing constantly form a unity. ‘Ghost’s Creepy Voice’ is a calmer part. The details are almost spooky. There are many transitions and mixes of instruments and styles. The sound of strumming on a violin in ‘The Fight’ is one of the beautiful details of this epic. The ‘choral singing’ of ‘The Silent Shroud’ is partly without words and merges nicely with the music. Also, in ‘Moons ago’ there are all kinds of special twists and turns, the sounds of a ‘church organ’ come completely unexpected, but it’s cool! Quietly played parts are alternated with delicious (prog)rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is another epic, this is ‘Nowhere Highway (Ghosts – Part 6), it takes no less than 20 minutes. The well stacked vocals stand out here as well.The repetitive percussion sounds too tinny and becomes almost annoying in the long run. But balance between vocals and music is good, and this epic is fantastic. In ‘The Muse’s Caress’ the high clear vocals are beautifully combined with the music, the guitar playing is compelling. In one movement the vocals have a bitter sound, at other moments Jack sings fragile. At a certain point you notice in the spherical music that the build-up to the end is set in motion. This album ends with a soft sound of waves. In quite a few twists there is a small glitch. Really a shame, because you notice from the rest that it is made with care. There is a good balance between prog and symphonic elements. Some twists and turns are wonderfully unexpected, the tracks are pleasantly complex. It is easy to feel that this is a concept album. Besides ‘Nowhere Highway’, there is also a re-release of the sold-out album ‘The Wish’ from 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(79\/100) (Progressive Promotion Records)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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