'Shadow Merchant' was born from the meeting of 'Sean Reiter' and 'Paul McGinnis' in 2007, all 2 radiologists, who had a common passion for progressive rock. A debut album 'The Tunnel' was released in 2014 and after line-up changes with the departure of co-founder 'Paul McGinnis' replaced on drums by 'David Lee', 2018 sees the release of 'Tomorrow'. From the beginning, with 'Invisible Energy', we are immersed in an energetic progressive rock where the guitar is in front and the Hammond organ coming here and there brought a vintage touch. With 'The Begining of the End', we discover all the talent of the new vocalist 'Yvonne Blackwell' on a title removed and in a powerful register. The atmosphere is quieter on 'Everything' and the duo between Howard and Yvonne works perfectly. The style reminds me of 'Karnataka' especially since Yvonne is in the same register as Hayley Griffiths'. 'A New Life' continues in this melodious style and 'Stars' of more than 10 minutes takes us into a progressive title made of several drawers (my favorite). Following we still have great surprises with the instrumental 'Valkyrie' very unbridled, then 'Moving Standing Still' brings us back to a more conventional rock style while the short 'Summer' is a very nice ballad. In short, this new album from the Americans of 'Shadow Merchant' is a nice surprise 2018 and 'Tomorrow' should please a public loving accessible progressive rock bands like 'Mostly Autumn' or 'Karnataka'... | |
