I'll admit that, based on album covers and song titles alone, I expected the five-man Dutch outfit Ricocher to sound like a poor-man's Dream Theater. Sometimes, it's good to be wrong ...
What we have here, with Ricocher's third album, Chains, is a symphonic neoprogressive rock tour de force in the vein of latter-day Marillion, Arena and Jadis. If asked to draw comparisons between Ricocher and its fellow artists on the upstart ProgRock Records label, I'd say Alias Eye comes closest to the sound these guys put forth on Chains. Based on a story about a character who feels "chained" - that is, misunderstood by family and friends - the album is full of lush, swirling flights of musical fancy that take the main character through a series of multipart songs en route to realizing that he must live on his own terms, "as a puppet that broke the strings ," according to the final line of the final song, "Breaking the Chain."
Don't go looking for flaws in the music, because you're likely not to find any. These pieces are meticulously crafted and performed, and Ricocher avoids the self-indulgence often painfully prevalent in the work of its peers. Chains is a pleasant surprise that has been practically linked to my CD player for the past couple of days.
Track Listing:
1) Virtual Images
i) Empty Chambers
ii) Beyond Terms of Humanity
iii) Out of Control
2) Bitter Tears
3) Sand In Your Eyes
i) Perception
ii) Reflected
iii) The Silouette of You
4) Whispering Voices
5) Locked Inside
i) Misguided Lights
ii) Question Within the Answer
6) Point of No Return
7) Breaking the Chain
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