Search - Shadowland :: Ring of Roses

Exellent Shadowland debut!!! Melodic, paranoid, and angst ri

Patrick Edward Isaac | Corvallis, OR | 01/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ring Of Roses is the exellent first release by Shadowland. Formed in 1992 by Pendragon keyboard player Clive Nolan, Threshold guitar player Karl Groom, Janison Edge bass player Ian Salmon, (who is the current bass player for Clive's other awesome band, Arena,) and Threshold drummer Nick Harradence. Often lumped together with other Prog bands of the time, Shadowland is different. The songs on this album are sometimes melodic, moving, and moody. Other times they are filled with dark paranoia, angst, self reflection and about literately falling apart. There are a few upbeat moments on this album, but not many. The band shine on the longer tracks, Jigsaw and Hall Of Mirrors. These are my favorites. Scared Of The Dark is strait on paranoia, while the instrumental, The Kruhulick Syndrome, is awesome. The Whistleblower and Painting By Numbers are the lighter moments on this cd. The last song, Ring Of Roses, closes out the cd on a nice note. All in all, a fantastic progressive rock album. Clive Nolan wrote all the music and lyrics on this first venture. He's also the lead singer, which some people seem to have a problem with. His voice is different that the usual Prog singers. This is refreshing. He has a dark delivery that seems to fit this kind of music. If you are looking for something different in Prog Rock, then check out Shadowland!!!"