Schizoïd Lloyd is a new Dutch progressive rock band from the city of Haarlem, formed in 2007. Virus is the first EP of the band consisting of Remo Kuhlmann (lead vocals, guitar), Ruben Kuhlmann (backing vocals, drums), Guus van Oosterum (backing vocals, bass guitar), Daan Divendal (keyboards) and Thom Lich (backing vocals, guitar). On their website, I found out that their music is a blend of different musical styles described as spacious symphonic Pink Floydian parts with heavy riffs and Oriental melodies. The beginning of the title track is surprising, because a choir singing in gothic style like Dead Can Dance or Within Temptation accompanied by a rhythm guitar, is not conventional in progressive rock. Soon the heavy guitar riffs take over reminding me of my favourite bands Dream Theater and Opeth. I like this one very much because of the original approach of modern prog rock. Otherwise, Quarantine is a mainstream progressive rock song in the vein of Ayreon and Tool. The guitar breaks in the middle section are performed well and the many time changes give you the idea of sitting in a roller coaster! After two heavy songs, the third track surprised me a lot. A Spanish flamenco guitar introduces The Fall followed by close harmony singing by all members of the band and ending with a fabulous guitar solo. This EP also contains an epic song as well. In Nothing Left, the Hammond-organ sound gave me the idea of a happy tune although the lyrics are rather cynical. In the middle section, we hear some heavy riffs and - luckily - only one grunge. However, the excellent Pink Floydian guitar solo provides something extra to this song. In general, I can conclude that this EP is a good start of a promising new progressive rock band. ***+ Cor Smeets (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
