Veteran progressive rock keyboard virtuoso Erik Norlander finally presents the sequel to his 2009 solo album The Galactic Collective in the form of the brand new release Surreal. Joining the keyboard wizard here are Mark Matthews (bass), Nick LePar (drums), Greg Ellis (percussion), and Alastair Greene (guitars), with some help from old friends Mark McCrite (acoustic guitar), Don Schiff (cello, contrabass, NS/Stick), Jeff Kollman (guitar), and of course, his wife Lana Lane on vocals.
Mostly instrumental, Surreal is a tour-de-force of keyboard & guitar driven melodic prog-rock, Norlander leading the charge with his vast array of vintage and modern sounds. Kicking things off with "The Party's Overture", the leader delivers vast textures and lead melody lines that are perfectly supported by tight rhythms and the blistering guitar work of Greene. The guitarist provides the perfect foil to Norlander's stabbing synth lines on the hard rocking, yet quite majestic "The Galaxy Collectors", a must hear for anyone into upbeat symphonic progressive rock with a futuristic slant. Think vintage ELP but with heavy guitars and you know what you are in store for here. The more laid back "Suitcase and Umbrella" follows, a great vehicle for Norlander's gorgeous piano melodies and haunting synth colors, while the Middle Eastern tinged "Unearthly" provides plenty of dramatic moments, including some sizzling drum & percussion work from LePar & Ellis. Lane's soaring vocals can be heard on the melodic title cut, a tune with a great hook that is driven home by her always enchanting delivery and a wealth of musical textures from the full ensemble. To close it all out in glorious Norlander fashion, you have the raging "El Gran Final", a killer tune chock full of bombast, almost like a head-on collision between ELP and Deep Purple, that revisits the main melody line of "The Galaxy Collectors" once again and brings the album to its conclusion.
As we've come to expect with anything that Erik Norlander is involved with, this is fantastic stuff, an album filled with classy, memorable melodies, daring instrumental flights, light, shade, and a wealth of glorious proggy bombast. Easily a 2016 genre highlight!
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
1) The Party's Overture
2) The Galaxy Collectors
3) Suitcase and Umbrella
4) Unearthly
5) Surreal
6) El Gran Final
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