In 2021 the Dutch progressive rock act Timelock made their long awaited comeback with an EP titled ...Stay awake... (see review) and two complete albums Sygn Yn (2022, see review) and Atomic Swap (2024, see review). Some great releases. Most of all their latest effort Atomic Swap contained everything to keep my progressive rock heart beating faster. Then suddenly out of the blue their keyboard player Julian Driessen and lead singer Ruud Stoker announced they were working on a new musical project which had everything to do with a science fiction story. Well to be honest that really surprised me me because I had expected that they would be working on a new Timelock album. Well after hearing the eponymous debut album of The Ceres Phenomenon I completely understood their sudden move. Because this album is really something else compared to the latest Timelock albums. Well lets start with the beginning of this new musical project. The project started during the pandemic and is based on a science fiction story written by lead singer Ruud Stoker. Musicians that helped him creating the music for this concept album are all people who have already a long history in progressive rock bands located in the Netherlands. Bands such as such as Timelock, Dreamcarnation, Ywis and The Last Detail. They are the earlier mentioned Julian Driessen on keyboards, Mike Boekhout on drums and Ron Koel on guitars and bass. All musicians worked tirelessly for three years to bring this project to life. They say that the Ceres Phenomenon is their gift to all sci-fi lovers who enjoy immersing themselves in stories that reach far beyond the limits of our knowledge and imagination. You'll have to know that this project came together through a three-step process: first, they wrote the full story; then they crafted the musical atmosphere for each song; and finally, the musicians surrounded it all with rich, thoughtful symphonic arrangements. To understand the music even better you of course also need to know the story of The Ceres Phenomenon. This was, as mentioned before, written by Stoker and is as follow: In the year 5930, on the planet Mars in camp Universe Observatory, a crystal trunk is found and the content was a fragment of a story from the year 3593 which starts with this line: To those who find this crystal chest... On Earth in the year 3593, unknown signals were picked up from outer space which they never heard before. Incidentally elsewhere, a radio station picked up screaming voices who may need help. After some time, a young scientist could pinpoint the place where the signals came from: the planet Ceres. The best scout, named Sentem, was chosen to go there to find out what is going on. Ceres is known for its blue crystal. Armies from other planets have been trying for centuries to get their hands on it. On Ceres, Sentem meets the warrior Dividio and the story unfolds... To make this release very attractive they not only came with a simple album of 18 tracks and 73 minutes of music. They did everything to make it more interesting for the listener to get into the story by releasing it as a 64 page book containing the full story, lyrics and actual pictures of Ceres (by NASA). You do have to know that Ceres is a dwarf planet in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It was the first known asteroid, discovered on 1 January 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi at Palermo Astronomical Observatory in Sicily, and announced as a new planet. Ceres was later classified as an asteroid and more recently as a dwarf planet, the only one not beyond the orbit of Neptune and the largest that does not have a moon. I will not go through all the 18 tracks separately. If I should do this it would make this review even longer as it already is. I can tell you that all of the music is written and arranged by Ron Koel and Julian Driessen, except Supernova by Mike Boekhout. He also did all of the drum arrangements. The album is primarily driven by Driessen's beautifully atmospheric and supporting keyboard parts and Koel's haunting and dragging guitar playing, which at times resembles that of David Gilmour (Pink Floyd). But at times, he can also go wild like John Petrucci (Dream Theater). And let's not forget Stoker's powerful vocals, whose voice is at the same time incredibly emotional. This makes the story even clearer than it already is. He shows more feelings of empathy, faith, hope, aggression, love, despair, believe, trust and friendship on these songs. The instrumental parts also create the right atmosphere at just the right moment. Sensitive when necessary and aggressive when the story demands it. For those who enjoy strong solos performed on the electric guitar and synthesisers are at the right place with this album as well. Many strong tasteful solos can be enjoyed throughout the entire album. All of the 18 compositions are of a very high level and move music wise from neo-prog to progmetal. From Pink Floyd to Dream Theater. Most of all Pink Floyd is a constant factor as you can hear on the opening piece Space Signs and tracks such as The Arrival (Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb), Exploring The Surface (Shine On...), Isolation (In the Flesh?) and Rhea (Run Like Hell) As for the Dream Theater comparison just listen to Incident On Ceres and you catch my drift. You can enjoy Jordan Rudess kind of synthesizer solos but also John Petrucci kind of guitar riffs and solos. But also, a song such as Trapped And Uneasy moves towards that direction music wise. The Ceres Phenomenon is of an unprecedented professional quality that can easily measure up to many foreign bands in terms of composition and craftsmanship in mastering the instruments and vocal parts. The overall picture is of an international level that you rarely hear about in a country like the Netherlands. The sci-fi story is beautifully told musically, and the musicians can certainly pat themselves on the back and be proud of themselves. The three years the project took them weren't wasted. Ultimately, everything fell into place musically and artistically. I can only compliment the people responsible for this; they thoroughly deserve it. Ultimately, The Ceres Phenomenon album is recommended for anyone who enjoys captivating prog and sci-fi. Fans of Pink Floyd, in particular, will truly enjoy this album. But in general, every fan of our genre should hear this album! **** Henri Strik (edited by Dave Smith) Where to buy? |
