Trespass - Morning Lights

Year of Release: 2006
Label: 8th Note
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 48:08:00

Please beware: this is NOT the band who put out the album The Final Act on MSI those many years ago. Also this is NOT yet another Genesis clone. No, this Trespass is the band from Jerusalem who released their debut album In Haze Of Time in 2002. Based in Jerusalem, the new album Morning Lights has been released on 8th Note in Israel and on Musea (FGBG 4643) for the rest of the world. The line-up of the band is still the same, which guarantees the lush symphonic approach. Like Gryphon before them the band injects a lot of medieval themes and atmospheres by frequently using the recorder. Their professional approach together with superb compositions won them a trip to Mexicali where they performed at the acclaimed Baja Prog festival.

The new album contains five tracks, the title track being a 21' long epic. Three tracks, strangely enough the shorter ones, are purely instrumental. The album opens in a very solemn and classical way with "Songs Of The Winds" heavily based around recorder and organ and sounding very folky. In fact the recorder will always inject a certain folky element. The major composition on this album already follows in second place with great church organ being introduced in the intro soon followed by organ. If you like Trace then this will most certainly be your thing. Also in the drums department Gabriel Weissman sounds a lot like Pierre Van Der Linden here. I also notice some Nathan Mahl comparison in places. Again both the recorder and the backing vocals inject a lot of classical elements to the whole with the organ bringing in some Bach references. Meanwhile the vocals towards the end do contain some A-Ha touches which do blend very well with the rest of the arrangement. To be honest though, this composition could have fared better if they cut it down by five minutes or so as it tends to be a little too repetitive at times.

What better way to enhance the medieval feeling than by introducing a nice portion of harpsichord which is exactly what happens when "Ripples" kicks off. Again the swirling organ takes over, leading towards a very tasty and fast part which alternates with splendid synth playing. The sparse vocals add a certain Gregorian feel to the song whilst certain parts tend to lean towards Ekseption minus the brass section. Especially the playful fast part on the organ is mind blowing turning it into one of my favourites. With "Vivaldish," our trio delivers a composition which is based on Antonio Vivaldi's "Violin Concerto In A Minor." Again this gets very close to the work of the late Rick Van Der Linden and Trace. Maybe the most classical composition from the lot comes right at the very end with "Forest Birds' Fantasy" including the twitter of birds together with some outstanding melodies and great musicianship.

Morning Lights is a delightful little album composed, arranged and performed by three classically trained musicians from Israel who despite of the political pressure and attacks continue to put their faith and love for a better world into their music. If you like classical inspired music with an emphasis on keyboards (mainly organ) and recorder then Trespass most definitely is for you.

Tracklisting:
Song Of Winds (3:38) / Morning Lights (21:33) / Ripples (12:16) / Vivaldish (5:39) / Forest Birds: Fantasy (4:59)

Musicians:
Gil Stein - keyboards, vocals, recorders, guitar
Gabriel Weissman - drums
Roy Bar-Tour - bass

Discography:
In Haze Of Time (2002)
Morning Light (2006)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin IL

Added: October 30th 2006
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.trespassband.net
Hits: 3722
Language: english