Bad Dog Promotions have been on a roll this year sending me all sort of good stuff to review. For example just this last few weeks we’ve had the excellent Spriggan Mist, Myth of Logic and Erewan.
Now they’ve surpassed even those three albums with the arrival of Eclipse Of The Midnight Sun by Tale Cue. Interesting name for a band eh?
The blurb sheet which AC at Bad Dog sent tells me Tale Cue are from Italy and this is their first album for around thirty years. And that Eclipse of the Midnight Sun is a “journey through time, memory, and emotion.” So a bit of a theme is involved.
Before giving it a first listen I was struck by the artwork. It screams proper progressive/symphonic rock/metal doesn’t it? And it is….!
A sweeping, majestic near hour of first class accessibly complex symphonic prog with bite so well written, arranged and performed to merge the prog, the symphonics and the heavier stuff together seamlessly.
A huge vocal show from Laura Basla wsith such range, power and emotion. Fluid guitar riffs and solos give the bite. Equally fluid keyboards throwing in well placed solos and atmospherics, solid basslines and there’s also the technical drumming. All in all it’s so good.
The short instrumental of Voices from the Past morphs in to an attention grabbing The Rage and the Innocence as it ebbs and flows with the feature being the big symphonic section as the guitars and keys run riot.
For Gold and Stones offers a bit of a breather being more of a gentle piano based song allowing Laura to show her emotional range along with the orchestration.
Suntears heavies things up with the prominent bass and moody guitar before Gordon Sinclair delivers a strong, pacey song of heavy prog/metal full off powerful drumming and the chunky guitars riffing and well placed solos. Here it is:
Tides is a mainly a gentle ballad with some acoustics and a wonderfully measured guitar solo. The Cue, like Gordon Sinclair, is banging, heavy prog/metal as fine as you’ll hear anywhere.
Lady M starts out rather soft and atmospheric then broods and builds away leading up to the explosion of keys and guitars. Such a great solo in this one. More classy prog on We Will Be Back One More.
Then comes the ten minute closer of Vertigo. It builds in everything as it flows along with all sorts of things going on from the quiet, gentle ethereal stuff to the bombastics including all manner of keys and guitars banging away backed up by an equally banging drums and bass. Oh – and so expansive is Vertigo, Laura Basla has the room to show her full vocal range. Very impressive stuff.
With Eclipse Of The Midnight Sun, Tale Cue have an album of the most high class. I found it a bit tricky to get in to at first. Though stepped away from it for a week or so, spun it again and it opened up to me. I most certainly recommend it.
>> ECLIPSE OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN ON AMAZON <<
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