(Sympho Prog) Citizen Cain - Skies Darken - 2012, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Шестой студийный альбом симфо-проггеров из Лондона.
МР3 можно найти , спасибо, asderas, за раздачу.

Оценка в Прогархивах:
3.72 | 69 ratings | 4 reviews | 29% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection

Ревью:
http://www.dprp.net/reviews/201224.php#citizen

John O'Boyle's Review

Since 1993 East Lothian’s Citizen Cain have released six albums with Skies Darken being the sixth. For me it is quite an event as their last album Playing Dead was released ten years ago, fear not though, it has been well worth the wait.

So what kind of an album has the band unleashed on the prog world ten years later? Well, the first striking thing about the album is the Gabriel vocal inflections, (the narrated elements sound like Fish); the second being that this could possibly have been a Genesis album had Gabriel still been with the band and the band had chosen to take a heavier approach; thirdly I love the intelligent orchestration passages that have been used which could have been lifted from the book of Robert John Godfrey, Darkest Sleep/Manifestations being a perfect example of this; fourthly and more importantly is the quality of the music presented throughout, which is just stunning.

The album lyrically has been constructed and referenced around nursery rhymes, an approach that has been built with precision, offering a dark, sinister and atmospheric cinematic portrayal of a world I am not too sure one would want to wander alone. I also love the way the continuity of the music flows, the meter and timbre is to die for, thematically jumping from scene to scene, frameworks to hang their narratives which all equates to storytelling of the highest order.

Throughout, there is symphonic grandeur that is eloquent, powerful and stated, compositional form that really offers ceremonial pomp that will more than feed the satiable appetite of those who love this style. One can’t but help being encompassed in the ethos of the musical ideology, which plays with the listener’s behaviour, emotions and morals, very much like Genesis’ Nursery Cryme. As an album, this could have been the toy that was never taken out of Henry’s Musical Box and for good reason. The disturbing lyrical content doesn’t touch the depths of say Discipline’s The Nursery Year, in all honesty, I don’t think much, if anything does, but the malevolent menacing presentation more than matches it. One can’t but notice that there is a theme running here, but that is the power of this prose and the power of the said subject matter.

From the opener The Charnal House you are left under no illusions about the bands approach, the complex, the heavy and the sedate, a fascinating approach that is beautiful and rewarding, a theme that is levelled throughout. It is the longer passages where this is really noticeable though. You can jump into any part of the album and pick up on what is happening, but it in all honesty the best results are obtained when you start at the entry level, as you travel the path, journeying with those individuals involved empathetically building the bigger picture. Just listening to The Hunting Of Johnny Eue/Trapped By Candlelight, Coming Down/The Fountains Of Sand/Delivered Up For Tea/Death And Rebirth and Lost In Lonely Ghosts, hell even the song titles are scary, confirms this statement.

It may have taken the band ten years to deliver this epic, but it isn’t time wasted. I wait baited breathe to see how this works in the live arena? This is an artistic concept that is very much worth participating in, a familiar and accustomed world that many have worked in and only a few have succeeded. I am glad to say that Citizen Cain is one of those bands and Skies Darken is another album that has made my top five for 2012. This is an album that has “CLASSIC” written all over it.
9 out of 10

- Stewart Bell / Keyboards & Drums
- Cyrus / Bass & Vocals
- Phil Allen / Guitar & Backing Vocals

All music written by Stewart Bell
All arrangements by Cyrus/Bell
Lyrical concept by Cyrus