Hey, an album that starts with a few keyboard notes that 'Jon Lord' wouldn't have denied in an introduction to 'Lazy', all this with the characteristic sound of the Hammond that takes us back 50 years, it gives you goosebumps straight away! And when you then hear a cover of 'Genesis' that you don't know (and you finally realize that it's not 'Genesis'), you say to yourself this third opus of 'Chris Engels' of the year 2024 starts very well, because, with the German, we don't count the albums since his debut but the albums released since the beginning of the year, it's simpler! So, after 'Arcane Sonic' released in April which was followed by 'The Story of Enja' in July, here comes 'Dawnbreak' at the end of the year which, this time I quote Chris: "takes the listener on a profound journey, exploring existential themes such as mortality, inner strength, justice and the mysteries of the universe. It reflects on the inevitability of aging, the loss of youth and the painful realities that come with passage of time, while celebrating the wisdom and light found in the darkness. The album also addresses social inequality, the growing gap between rich and poor, with a call for resistance and hope… ".
Accompanied by 'Horst Becker' on keyboards and 'Wolfgang Kropf' on bass, 'Chris Engels' offers us 11 original compositions that smell of 70s progressive while bringing modern sounds. For this review, I will focus on the sensations that brought me great listening pleasure, here and there, throughout the album. I have already told you about the 'Lordesk' introduction of 'Aging's burden a heavy Theme', but this title is not limited to that because everything is done to take us into particularly good symphonic progressive with these blatant parallels with 'Genesis'. 'Journey Through Twilight' takes us away with some oriental scents in the introduction and offers us in the second part of the title a magnificent 'Floydian' guitar solo followed by an equally remarkable keyboard solo. In 'In the realm of eternal', the peaceful atmosphere is brought by the sweetness of 'Chris Engels' singing with moments flirting with liturgical music, and the instrumental passage in the second part with its few keyboard notes at 3.20 reminiscent of 'Keith Emerson' is great. With 'Labyrinth of Dreams', I find myself a few decades back when I listened to the first 'Genesis', at the time of 'Peter Gabriel', then, the radiant 'Feel the Light' takes me this time to the court of 'Yes' with very beautiful vocal harmonies.
Next comes 'Elenore' which is another beautiful moment of refined progressive with a remarkable rhythm section leading the dance, through the many tempo changes, then the eponymous title brings us back to the style we know more from 'Chris Engels' with these multiple influences drawn from 50 years of progressive and with this soft hypnotic singing very characteristic of the German bringing a psychedelic side. In a calmer atmosphere, I am then pleasantly lulled by the melodic lines of 'Cosmic Echoes' which carry me away in this magnificent ballad, the 'Yessian' singing adding a very particular sweetness, then, 'Celestial Journeys' adds a melodic gem and continues in this quiet atmosphere on which we abandon ourselves completely and which is a kind of mix between 'Yes' and 'Genesis'. The only instrumental piece, 'Q' is a beautiful poetic comma, the flute bringing a rustic side taking us back to the 70s, then, it is with the bouncy 'Neverland’s Child' that we end our beautiful progressive journey on a cheerful note.
In summary, if you are a fan of the bands that were the precursors of the progressive that I mentioned above, you should find your happiness in this album which smells good of the 70s by its influences while keeping a modern aspect by the recording that 'Chris Engels' brings with his two companions, the whole being certainly much more varied than the previous productions of 'CEN-ProjekT'... | |
