After 3 years of waiting Cyril is back with the fourth album “Amenti´s Coin – Secret Place pt. II” released on February 22, 2022 via Progressive Promotion Records. This work continues the musical discourse of the suite “Secret Place pt. I” contained in the album “Paralyzed” proposing a concept whose lyrics are written by Guy Manning. The album opens with “On sacred sound” and a guitar arpeggio, which soon turns into a solid Prog track with keyboards protagonists. The vocal is warm and expressive and is best suited to continuous tempo changes, thanks to which the track mixes more symphonic passages and instrumental inserts. Good guitar solo plots, and Marek‘s brass inserts that blend with the sound with delicacy. One of the shortest track on the album “A letter home” begins with acoustic guitar arpeggios, which soon give way to a track that reminds me of the Caravan in the first part. Rhythmic and engaging, it mixes more Pop features with Prog, with a fine synth solo in the central part with virtuous features, and then returns with the vocals and concludes with an orchestral background. A melancholic atmosphere that characterizes “My fathers answer” with an intense sound and a vocal full of pathos and plots between keyboards and winds. The intensity increases with the passage of the piece, which in the second part offers an instrumental section with a very intense solo. “Desert crossing” in the first part offers a solid sound that mixes melodic and Progressive parts creating an engaging sound. Enriched by the tempo changes, in the central part it offers a delicate insert of a dreamy acoustic guitar, to then unleash all the power of the band. The second part in fact has a more decisive character with harder sounds and a keyboard solo of fine workmanship. The vocal returns for the last stanzas and the song closes delicately. Ambient keyboard sounds open “Caravan” which is a softer track and in the form of a ‘song’ in the first part. The second part instead presents symphonic sounds of a more classical matrix, creating a dreamy atmosphere that envelops us until the end. The title track “Amenti´s coin” is an instrumental passage that presents more dilated and Ambient sounds, intertwining the orchestrations with the keyboards. “A new shangri-la” is a melodic track with delicate and refined sounds, where all the instruments intertwine creating pleasant passages. The vocal is warm and expressive and in the finale the sax solo takes the sound to another level. Guitar arpeggios intertwining on the piano with the sweet female and male vocals characterize “The temptress.” A dreamy and delicate track, with the winds that fit between the arpeggios, the band shows a softer facet of its sound, but very pleasant. The album closes with “Arrival” which is the longest in duration, characterized by the personal sound of the band, which offers its own Prog style. Dynamic vocals, mixes between guitar and keyboards of good quality and continuous tempo changes, creating in the second part a long energetic and engaging instrumental section. This band has its own Prog sound with personal traits that manage to differentiate themselves by becoming original. This new album continues the band’s musical discourse, adept at creating flowing and engaging tracks with intense vocals. There is the right amount of instrumental sections and vocal parts, with an intense and pleasant sound from start to finish. A listening recommended for lovers of more modern and symphonic prog sounds, another good chapter in Cyril‘s discography.
Tracklist
01. On sacred sound (05:35)
02. A letter home (03:47)
03. My fathers answer (05:08)
04. Desert crossing (06:28)
05. Caravan (06:03)
06. Amenti´s coin ( instr. ) (03:27)
07. A new shangri-la (06:45)
08. The temptress (04:04)
09. Arrival (08:40)
Lineup
Larry Brödel (Toxic Smile) / Vocals
Manuel Schmid (Star Combo Meissen) / Vocals
Marek Arnold (Toxic Smile, Seven Steps To The Green Door, Flaming Row) / Keyboards, Sax, Recorders
Ralf Dietsch (Hidden Timbre) / Guitars
Manuel Humpf / Drums
Dennis Strassburg / Bass
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