After their remarkable debut album “The Day The Angels Cried”, Aemen have found their way back to the studio RS29 of Oscar Holleman. The new album “Fooly Dressed” has been co-produced by Stephen van Haestregt. (After Forever, Dreadlock Pussy). Aemen is a dubious case.
This has nothing to do with the quality of their music, because that’s
beyond any doubt. The quality is superb. The only doubt concerns the style of
their music. Is this progressive rock? The choice of song for a single isn’t that easy. “Sanctuary Times” has become the first single, but a lot of other songs have the same potential. Especially the first three tracks of the CD could get them somewhere. The first track “Another Way”, that reminds the most of Radiohead, could already be a perfect single. It’s a quiet number that sounds as it has been sung by Tom Yorke himself. The guitar solo has a beautiful, complete sound but it’s a pity it only repeats the vocal line. ”Time” is sung by Toine and Sharon den Adel from Within Temptation, a duet with a lot of emotion. The guitar solos are better and more original then in the first track. This must become the next single. The current single “Sanctuary Times” has a catchy, rhythmic intro, that keeps coming back to give an original identity to the song. The chorus gets a powerful support by the Hammond Organ. The rest of the tracks is less mainstream and will probably better please the progfans. They also need a little bit more time to get to know them. The different extra instruments bring some extra originality to the different tracks. “Awakening” is a short song (with Uillean Pipes) that also serves as intro for the next song “Ever Followed A Butterfly’s Erratic Flight?”. ”Havelock” starts quietly with piano and vocals. Gradually the Theremin of Fay Lovsky comes completing the sound. (A Theremin is an instrument with 2 antennas. You play it without touching it. If you near the vertical antenna with your hand, the pitch changes and if you get closer to the horizontal antenna the volume changes. Their regional colleagues, The Gathering, are also using this instrument.). “Havelock” is a slow and melancholic song. The melancholy is even more accentuated by the Theremin. ”Orange-Red” refers probably to the fine artwork of the album. And I am only holding the promotional copy. There’s also a limited edition in a box with 6 artful postcards. For “Noble Man”, they use some effect on Toine’s voice that gives him the sound of the vocalist of Eels. The spoken voice is by Lana Lane. It’s a pity that if you’re able to get a name as Lana Lane on your CD, you only ask her to speak some words. ”Down”, that lasts for 7 minutes and is well supported by some violins, is certainly the most symphonic song of the album. They carry on with this style in “Waltz” with the help of a singing saw, played by Fay, the vocals of Sharon, some rhythm changes and some splendid piano and guitar solos. I only gave 7,5 points to this album because it’s no real progressive rock album. But don’t let this deceive you. Maybe it’s a new chance to get a “prog” band in the charts, after we’ve got Within Temptation. The big advantage to this album is that you can play it without any headphones, because this CD is also “ear friendly” for the rest of the family. Go in peace to their site and listen to their samples, Aemen.
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