THE MERLIN BIRD - "Chapter and Verse"
Based in Melbourne, Australia, The Merlin Bird play a sort of atmospheric rock that draws on elements of classical, Middle-Eastern and folk music. They are currently working as a collaborative two-piece, which means that friends and fellow musicians come up with most of the good ideas for their songs, while they shamelessly take all the credit. The album contains thirteen tracks, which range in length from a rather perfunctory sixteen seconds, to your more quasi-epic seven minutes-ish. We hope we've managed to walk the line between keeping everything coherent, while still visiting a range of musical styles. We know we've said it before, but there's nothing like rock music for allowing you freedom of musical expression. It's really nice to be able to mix Gregorian chants with a bluesy sort of piano, and to crank up the power lead solo a few songs after your renaissance harpsicord number. We've experienced all the usual difficulties and frustrations in making this CD, and been lucky enough to enjoy moments of joy as well; we hope that all those feelings somehow come through.
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Progressive Rock & Progressive Metal - E-Zine
