Midninght Sun: Using big keyboard sound-scapes

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Midnight Sun were a jazz-rock/fusion group from Denmark, whose style was influenced by such acts as Traffic, Burnin’ Red Ivahoe, and later on, Blood Sweat And Tears. They first started out as Rainbow Band, and released four studio albums during their career, and the first three were all designed by the famous Roger Dean.

Many years later a new Midnight Sun emerge, and this time from UK. Dark Tide Rising is the new band`s debut album. This album has been a long time in the making, and features the talents of Huw Lloyd-Jones and Ian Hodson (Also Eden) as well as Andy Gelband (Unto Us) and Sean Spear (Grey Lady Down) and Chris Habicht from the band Colourflow. The song Clouds,

The music on Dark Tide Rising is an amalgam of prog with some metal and features some real nice crafted songs. Or like the musicians states, Midnight Sun are that rarest of beasts, an original rock band. Rock? Prog rock? Prog metal? Metal? Who knows? Midnight Sun are all of the above and more. The track Early Warning,

They bring together elements of metal and progressive rock and mix them seamlessly, using big keyboard sound-scapes and clean, melodic vocals. With just a little nod to the past, this is progressive rock for today. Musically, the six songs on Dark Tide Rising cover a huge amount of ground. From opener, Scheherazade, a metallic bombast set in an exotic landscape, the band emphatically states their difference to the musical norm, stubbornly refuse to fit into any specific musical pigeonhole.

Lyrically, this album is dark in places, focusing on the central theme of loss. Whether it’s romantic love in Early Warning and Delirium, parental heartbreak in Clouds or political ideals in Control, everything worthwhile has to be nurtured to endure. Take life for granted or assume that someone will take care of something for you and you’ll lose it. But while there is dark, there is also light. There is redemption and healing in Broken Angels and a celebration of love and the dance of life in Scheherazade to bring balance.

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