Country of Origin: U.S.A. Format: CD Record Label: DemiVox Records Catalogue #: DVZ799 Year of Release: 1999 Time: 57:20 Info: Homepage

Emily Bezar hails from the San Francisco Bay Area, an area renowned for the variety and proficiency of musicians that it has seems to have produced over the years. What we have here is an incredibly talented woman who manages to fuse a variety of styles ranging from jazz to straight forward rock together with a rich infusion of classical music coupled with an unmistakable voice the likes of which I have only heard when listening to women like Kate Bush and Tori Amos.

Four Walls Bending is her third solo album following Grandmother's Tea Leaves (1994) and Moon In Grenadine (1997) as well as a stint with fellow Bay area musicians The Potato Eaters who in the mid-nineties released Wreckless. A graduate in classical music both as a pianist as well as an opera singer, Emily Bezar has managed to utilize to the maximum her classical background and incorporate it within the framework of a jazz-rock tune. There is no change in the line-up from Moon In Grenadine and aiding her, once again, are Morris Acevedo (guitar), Andrew Higgins (bass) and Steve Rossi (drums).

What is extremely weird about this particular album is that, in my opinion, its niche is within the record collection of enthusiasts for whom it probably was never intended. This is not a progressive rock album, yet the intricacies that its music carries, the beautiful changes in time signature as well as the almost continuous inability to predict what is going to be presented throughout each and every track make it as must for the progressive rock lover. Do not expect epic tracks or lengthy solos, but on the other hand, listening to this album is a lesson in the adaptation of classical music to suit the demands of a jazz/rock audience.

Velvet Eye, is a clear example of how Emily has managed to fuse all her musical influences. The introductory notes give a sense of vertigo with arpeggios stemming from a spacey guitar and piano accompanied by an initially soft-spoken voice which eventually builds up into a rich soprano. The rock of Velvet Eye gives way to the jazz tinged rock of Kingdom Come which further showcases Emily Bezar's vocal capabilities. Jazzy piano coupled with continuous off beats, the rhythm section on this track is absolutely astounding. Suddenly out of the disorganized organization comes a break with the chorus, which holds you breathless even though simple and soft.

The title track, Four Walls Bending, an introductory piano which sounds very much like something Tori Amos would love to have done, yet the chorus is sublime. The guitar work on the chorus section is similar to the David Gilmour-aided Kate Bush, making this one of the best tracks on what is an impressive album. Lead is somewhat more upbeat with an intertwining guitar and piano introduction. Once again the unpredictability of Bezar's music comes to the forefront on this track. There is a continuous flirtation with the easy listening as well as vocal experimentation which is where her classical training stands out.

Filigree Of Noon is probably the most jazzy track insofar with atmospheric interjections coupled with that soaring voice. Sigh on the other hand starts off with a crunchy King Crimson-like chord which oddly sounds out of place after the soft sections on the previous tracks. The jazz tinge still remains prevalent with Morris Acevedo's guitar replying to Bezar's voice with some interesting licks. 

Maybe So once again takes us back to a slower tempo jazz with the emphasis being Bezar's voice and her piano, unlike Black Sand which features more electronic work. The initial mellow section is gradually won over by a gentle crescendo leading into the chorus. So subtle is the work that the continuous changes in tempo never jar and lend to the progressive element in this work of art that should appeal to all progressive rock lovers. Rondo keeps up the progressive element with the rhythmic introduction and continuous offbeat. Robert Fripp would wet his pants if he had to hear this track, this is what he dreams of when he creates his Projekts.

The closing number, His Everything, which could be described as a duet between piano and vocals combined with a textured background full of samples, pulses and orchestral arrangements. A great track to conclude an incredible album.

As I mentioned earlier, this album should appeal to progressive rock fans not because of the nature of the music itself but because of the broadmindedness of such fans. Words cannot describe this album. At times you feel Kate Bush (before she sold out), Tori Amos and Dawn Upshaw may have come close, but this is something they could only have dreamed of!

Conclusion: 9 out of 10.

Country of Origin: U.S.A. Format: CD Record Label: Righteous Sinner Records Catalogue #: 00582 Year of Release: 2000 Time: 58:46 Info: Homepage

Taking their name from a line in the song Beautiful America by ska-band Five Iron Fenzy, America Gomorrah are a trio from Denver, Colorado presenting their debut album, Exchanging Truth For A Lie. Their style of music could best be described as hard rock with a substantial dose of seventies influences coupled with a number of progressive influences, as well as projecting a Christian Rock message.

The opening riffs to Truth For A Lie create an excellent platform for the whole album Nice guitar riffs with good sounding vocals which at time sound like a cross between Blue Oyster Cult and Ozzy Osbourne. The bridge is extremely interesting with some good keyboard interplay. The keyboards also come to the forefront in the instrumental Seven Trumpets which is about the seven trumpets in the book of Revelation, a subject oft utilized in progressive rock most notably by Aphrodite's Child in their opus album 666.

More Than A Carpenter is a straight forward rocker of a song with its roots deeply embedded in the seventies, as are the following two tracks, Yamiso (pronounced Why Am I So?) and Good And Faithful Servant. Direct and to the point, several analogies may be made with several "old" rockers including the afore mentioned Blue Oyster Cult and .38 Special. Yamiso and Good And Faithful Servant are more ballad-like in structure compared to More Than A Carpenter and all have that typical American feel to them especially the last track which is in a country-rock vein. In truth these three tracks are the only deterrence to those who would want to hear a strictly progressive rock album, yet on the other hand these are cracking good rock tunes.

A phone ringing starts off Revelation 101 which remains firmly within the rock realm though there is less of a commercial tone to this track and it involves a delightful solo halfway through with some interesting time changes. In fact as the album passes the middle section (i.e. from track six onwards) the music of America Gomorrah becomes more complicated and leans evermore towards the progressive end of the rock scene.

Better Man has the group returning to a style similar to that of the opening track Truth For A Lie, in that there is a heavy dose of keyboards during the bridge section with the group changing the song structure and time signatures during both keyboard and guitar solos.

The final three tracks on the album are the most progressive leaning tracks of the whole album and include an atmospheric introduction (Prelude) to a great rocking instrumental, This Present Plague. Bob Waldman's bass creates the basic rhythmic structure to this track which has the sound of the group resembling that of many progressive metal bands and has an added kick injected during this romper together with some nice keyboard interplay. Closing the album is the longest track, Through A Glass Darkly, clocking in at just under thirteen minutes and is one of the better tunes of the whole album. Some groups tend to run flat when trying to present a rock epic. This is not the case with America Gomorrah who manage to merge the mellow and subtle opening section with a nice rocking middle section where bandleader Gene Crout's guitar at times sounds uncannily like that of David Gilmour.

Country of Origin: Germany Format: CD Record Label: Omega Records Catalogue #: OM 000901 Year of Release: 2000 Time: 51.45 Info: Official Fanpage

Familiar with German band Avalon only from reputation, not from firsthand experience, I expected their new CD Eurasia to be another melodic metal album with (slight) progressive influences. But although this can clearly be defined as melodic metal, there's a nice twist: Avalon have incorporated various Asian influences in their Euro style hard rock, with a smathering of oriental instruments (classical sitar, dolky, djembe) and some outstanding female choirs, a buddist chant and sinhalese lyrics.

The bands line-up is sure to raise an eyebrow in itself. This German band has grown more international over the years with vocalist Chandana Chitral Somapala originating from Sri Lanka (though you wouldn't know it from his vocal performance) and new drummer Jacques Voutay joining from France. The band also has a great female bass player in Petra H. Delorian. Eurasia is produced by Sascha Paeth, who has also worked with Rhapsody and Kamelot.

A short history. Established in august 1992, Avalon released a three-song promotional MC One Night, tracks that were added as bonuses on their debut album Why Now (1995). In May 1997 the second album Mystic Places was released worldwide, but this year also saw the departure of drummer Ringo Kei as well as singer Many Stürner because of health problems. Replacements were found in (temporary) drummer Ronny Dehn and Chitral Somapala. With this line-up, a third album, Vision Eden, was released in 1998. In early 2000 Avalon started work on Eurasia with their new drummer, frenchman Jacques Voutay.

Although the oriental influences pop up throughout the album, most tracks can best be defined as highly energetic metal. The opening track, Aurora, is however a one minute traditional buddhist chant, followed by a short instrumental piece dominated by Indian classical sitar, with underlying guitar, dolky and percussion. From here it's quite a step to the riff-driven harshness of Burning Souls. Straightforward, but gripping track. A great central instrumental section sees the return of sitar, followed by a fierce guitar solo. This will go down well with Vanden Plas fans. A funky intro to Temujin prepares the way for another song that's bound to please the Vanden Plas fans. Good backing choir in the chorus and another fine instrumental section. It's followed by Black Hole Wisdom, a good progressive metal track.

The band slows the pace for Eternal Flame, which sports a classic sounding riff section with keyboards on melody. This opens another good instrumental piece as the pace is heightened for the chorus. The verses are further heightened by sitar and piano. Fine chorus including female voice. And when you think it's done Avalon adds another good instrumental piece to top it off. The folksy Save the Holy Land is a bit dissapointing, although good use is made of percussion, dolky and acoustic guitar. It just doesn't seem to go anywhere. But we're rocking again with The Last Call with traces of early Threshold.
Lots of percussion is used in combination with brushes on the title track Eurasia, at heart an instrumental track and dominated by guitar chords, but concocted with sung Sinhalese lyrics. A haunting male choir over bass finishes this piece, as it flows smoothly into the next track The Stranger which again closely resembles Vanden Plas.

Minimal instrumental support for the ballad The Painting, but it gains some power towards the end. Funnily the melody starts to resemble the instrumental bridge of Falco's Jeanny in the very last section. Quite amusing after the metal mayhem is the bonustrack Kyrie, originally off course of Mr. Mister. But Avalon manages to impress their energetic hard rock style on it, with special attention for alternative key passages and guitar. The closer Semaruma is a short, but wonderful quiet instrumental piece, dominated by countermelodies on guitar and heightened by use of Chapman Stick and ebow.

In conclusion this has to be labelled a fine product, finely crafted and extremely well produced. There's not much fun to be had if you're looking for intricately complex signatures, but this well composed and hard edged melodic metal will go down well with progressive metal fans more interested in powerplay than complexity.
Highly recommended to fans of Vanden Plas and early (Wounded Land) Threshold, though Avalon lacks Threshold's high level of songwriting and does not display the excellence of a Günther Werno on keyboards. Overall it's not highly complicated music, but with it's addictive rhythms and melodies, Avalon's sound is absorbing. The classic Asian influences contribute a lot to Eurasia's charm, but don't expect a fusion of metal and world music.

Conclusion: 7.5 out of 10.