Album of the Day

A Favor to the Muse, by The Mandrake Project (2006): At every prog festival, there seems to be one band on the bill that nobody's ever heard of who wows the crowd and becomes the talk of the fest. At last year's inaugural 3 Rivers Progressive Rock Festival, it was this local group who were the breakout success. I, for one, was completely knocked out by their performance. Thankfully, their debut album captures what that show was like quite well. The band create a series of lengthy instrumental pieces, some using repetition to a hypnotic and trance-like effect, that seem to build one layer upon another until they reach a fabulous climax. Can't wait to get my hands on their new album.