PAX ROMANA: Trace Of Light

Cover	Release	Style
	October 2005	progressive rock
	Label
	Silence
	Website
	Pax Romana
	Contact

	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	37:25	SLC026
	Review by	Rating
	Johan	8/10
nederlands	Review
Pax Romana is a Finnish progressive rock band, initially formed in the early 70’s. They reformed in 2001; the original idea was to just do a few gigs and have fun. After a while, though, the band realised that much of what they stood for in the 70’s was still very much alive - that the new songs and lyrics came out easily and the Pax Romana sound was still very unique. It took a while to record this album, but it shows in this well-produced and beautifully arranged album. “Pilgrim” is a song in three parts: “Trace of light” overwhelms with a dreamy atmosphere, typical for the whole CD. The second part, “Pilgrim”, has good vocals and a great guitar solo. “Thin Line”, part 3, is a fragile instrumental with a guest appearance from Kalle Fält on flute. “Sad Song” is a nice progressive piece of music, with some smoky vocals à la Joe Cocker; it has a sad undertone – a nice composition with a great guitar solo. “Moonlight Meadow” has a bit of Pink Floyd and is a peaceful song with cello work from Tuure Paalanen in the background. “Ancient Queen And Modern Ladies” is a melancholic piano song with vocals sounding very much like Tom Waits. There is also a sax solo from Kalle Fält and additional keyboards from Teijo Tikkanen. “From The Mist Rows The Band” has a good melody, excellent guitars and great sounding keyboards from Teijo Tikkanen. “Deeply Connected” also has two parts. Part one is an instrumental and typical on this one is Maria Hänninen’s guest appearance on violin. The second part of the song is a beautiful piece of progressive rock with nice keyboard work by Matti Kervinen. With “Evening Breeze”, a calm and beautiful piece of instrumental music, you get to the end of your beautiful dream – all too soon. You can hear through the whole of the album that the guys from Pax Romana in the past 15 years have grown; they’ve integrated their wisdom in the music – this is clearly some very mature progressive rock. “Trace Of Light” is an album for every fan of calm and peaceful prog music, who likes to sit down by candlelight and listen to some beautiful songs. My favourites: “Pilgrim” – “Moonlight Meadow” - “Deeply Connected”
Musicians
Jouko Höytämö: Drums Jukka Höytämö: Guitar Matti Inkinen: Vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar Matti Kervinen: Vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar Ilpo Komulainen: Bass
Tracklist
Pilgrim (7:55) - Trace Of Light - Pilgrim - Thin Line Sad Song (3:44) Moonlight Meadow (6:33) Ancient Queen And Modern Ladies (3:50) From The Mist Rows The Bard (4:37) Deeply Connected (8:09) Evening Breeze (2:27)


Beekstraat 1 - B-2640 Mortsel - Belgium