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Cyclops has done it again. Like so
many times before they have once again unearthed a truly spectacular
band which, when I listen closely to their music, should be ideal
for labels such as Record Heaven or Black Widow Records. The moment
the sounds of ‘Hit the ground’ fill the room I can’t help think of
bands such as Atomic Rooster and Uriah Heep. Especially the
distorted guitar will be of an important significance. That and the
quality voice of Tony Johannessen will most certainly steer the band
towards a more hardrock approach. At first I thought Cyclops had
found another Sinkadus but I was wrong. The band has a female on
bass just like the current White Willow line-up but we don’t find
flute, violin or cello on this album. Instead Guardian’s Office
tends to deliver the kind of progressive rock that was big in the
seventies with a band such as Uriah Heep, a band which also
alternated heavy riffs with modest acoustic passages. Tony’s sparse
keyboard interventions tend to have the Fruitcake hallmark nicely
accompanied by Froydis’ bass pedals.
When the band includes acoustic
passages as during ‘Play of your life’, they almost find themselves
with both feet in the middle ages. ‘The room below’ is an ingenious
composition based once again on the vintage underground prog from
the seventies. Especially those bass pedals give the band a
distinctive retro sound which in combination with the high pitched
organ makes a nice contrast. Throughout the entire album very little
lengthy solo’s will pop up as the music you hear tends to be a group
effort all along the lines. The final track, ‘The guardian’ at times
sounds a little like Druid before it changes when the vocals are
introduced. I don’t really like the long delay with the echo though.
Three
bearded men and a girl. Sounds almost like the plot for a Hans
Christian Anderson story. Instead you get the line-up for Guardian’s
Office whom with their self-titled debut have delivered a very
interesting album which shows great promise for the future. Maybe
the inclusion of some additional instruments to make the musical
spectrum a little wider would be highly appreciated. |
