Phideaux- Doomsday Afternoon
(Bloodfish Music zyz-666)
Phideaux- Doomsday Afternoon
(Bloodfish Music zyz-666)
From Aural Innovations #38 (Jan 2008)
What can I say… this band is really amazing and has produced another
stunning record. The lyrics are deep, heavy and potent and the music highly
emotional. What else do you want from a progressive music record? You get all
the lyrics and some really cool paintings that are related to the material inside.
The CD begins with the 11 minute Micro softdeathstar, which is a totally amazing
emotional rock track with powerful powerful lyrics. I can hear this track over
and over and it still sticks under my skin and sucks me in… The instrumental
Doctrine of Eternal Ice is a short track with a great lead synth to start the
track off and some great keyboards, very symphonic but then also quite mid eastern
and then the trumpet, this is repeated then the guitar solo and then it comes
down to piano and fades into Candybrain with its swirling keyboards, acoustic
guitar, flutes and happy vibe. Crumble is a piano and vocal piece (beautiful
stuff) which leads into the Doctrine of Eternal Ice Part 2. This track is an
interesting contrast with the themes from part one repeated and some quite dark
lyrics about Satan’s Angels… You have to read all the lyrics to
get the deeper meaning in the story lines being told. Great keyboard playing.
Thank you for the Evil is a long 9 minute track with great instrumentation of
dulcimer, violin and just great playing from the whole band in this sort of
dark and dreamy but beautiful piece of music. This leads into the Wasteland
of Memories, which brings back a happier mood borrowing a lot from classical
music. Crumble is repeated at this point in the CD but it is not exactly the
same and features the female vocals of Ariel. Formaldehyde (some of it really
reminds me of Yes with some Jethro Tull and Marillion throw in!) and microdeath
softstar take up the next 23 minutes and finish off this amazing musical adventure
that mixes rock and a lot of classical music influences into a potent stew.
All the band gets to show off, have fun and play cool solos in the last track
as well. Lyrically a brilliant record. Wow….
Check the band's web site at: http://www.bloodfish.com
Reviewed by Scott Heller