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Progland was founded by John Gabbard in 2005. It's purpose has been to provide you, the music community with the latest music and dvd reviews. It will continue to be your link to the most popular music reviews in the progressive world.

 

(Mangrove) - "Beyond Reality"

Home Page-
Label - Mangrovian Music
Reviewed by:

Erik Neuteboom

www.progwalhalla.com

Genre:
Prog
Country:
Netherlands
Length:
67:39
Release Date:
6/2009
Band Members: Roland van der Horst / guitars, vocals Joost Hagemeijer / drums, vocals
  Pieter Drost / bass Chris Jonker / keyboards
     
     
Track Listing: 1.)-Daydreamer's Nightmare (14:19)  
  2.)-Time Will Tell (18:30)  
  3.)-Love And Beyond (4:16)  
  4.)-Reality Fades (6:56)  
  5.)-Beyond Reality (9:02)  
  6.)-Voyager (14:39)  
     
     

Review:

This promising new Dutch progressive rock formation is rooted in 1995. In that year schoolboy friends Roland van der Horst (guitar and vocals) and Joost Hagemeijer (drums and keyboards) teamed up and started to write their own compositions. In '98 they released the album Cold World as a project titled Brainstorm. Two years later singer Eric Holdtman joined Roland and Joost, but unfortunately left in 2001 due to personal circumstances. Meanwhile the new band Mangrove had released their first demo-CD entitled Massive Hollowness (2001) with bass guitar player Pieter Drost (who had joined the band earlier that year). Keyboard parts were played by Joost Hagemeijer and Hans van der Linden. Soon after the recording sessions Chris Jonker became the new keyboardist. In this line-up Mangrove released the album Touch Wood as an own production in 2004, followed by Facing The Sunset in 2005 (that even got the iO Pages Progaward) and the 2-CD Coming Back To Live in 2006 (it contains strong renditions of songs from their 3 studio-albums). The sound of Mangrove has strong hints of 76-77 Genesis (especially the keyboards are often in the vein of Tony Banks) and on every album the bands makes progression. A few years ago I was lucky to witness Mangrove as the support-act for USA progrock band Echolyn, for sure they made friends that evening. So four yours after their previous effort, I was very curious to this new album, high expectations!

Listening to Beyond Reality I notice how easily Mangrove switches from a bombastic 24-carat symphonic rock sound to a more polished and even song-oriented approach. This reminds me strongly of other Dutch band Kayak (Seventies sound), for example: a surprising shifting mood from neo-prog to early Floyd with piano, slide-guitar and Hammond organ and finally a compelling symphonic rock sound with vintage keyboards and sensitive guitar in Time Will Tell, from progressive pop to howling guitar with breathtaking choir-Mellotron drops and a splendid bombastic grand finale featuring all symphonic rock elements in the titletrack and from a polished sound with catchy rhythms to another strong grand finale with a strongly build-up guitar solo and lush choir-Mellotron in the final composition Voyager. Mangrove also delivers a fine ballad entitled Love And Beyond: sensitive guitar and piano with warm vocals, alternated with a slow rhythm featuring howling guitar and floods of Hammond organ. But my best impression of Mangrove is when they are fully playing in the 24-carat symphonic rock tradition. First the varied and dynamic, IQ-like instrumental Reality Fades with omnipresent fat synthesizer flights along delicate classical orchestrations with moving guitar work, a break with a wonderful Hammond and Moog sound and a dreamy part with soaring church organ, what a fantastic composition! Finally (haha) the first track Daydreamer’s Nightmare, an epic of 15 minutes: it’s layered with shifting moods, breaks and strong musical ideas, it contains a captivating tension between dreamy parts with classical guitar or piano and melancholical vocals and bombastic parts with heavy keyboards and howling guitar runs, the colouring with vintage keyboards (Hammond, Moog and Mellotron) is great and in the end the music culminates into very bombastic with lush keyboards and sensitive electric guitar, I am in Prog Heaven and Mangrove in its full splendor! - In my opinion Mangrove have released their best studio-album: it sounds very tasteful, melodic and accessible, for those reasons Beyond Reality will appeal to a wide progrock audience, a big hand for this promising Dutch progrock band!

www.progwalhalla.com

 

 

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