Gibraltar:
One may occasionally bemoan the lot of the prog consumer, whose never-ending search for great music can quickly separate a fellow from his money, and often consists of wading through the extremes of industrial racket, ambient ooze, 3rd-rate rock bands and everything in between in order to discover those rare gems. Advent is one of the gems. For no other reason than their name they will draw comparisons to Gentle Giant. There are similarities especially in some of the vocal arrangements and of course, their excellent Gentle Giant tribute piece, "BITB". In most cases however, the similarity is merely that both groups feature complex and finely crafted compositions. These musicians understand the kinds of influences that helped to generate the progressive movement in the first place, so they don't come across as merely aping some of the characteristics of the seventies bands, rather they draw from the same well of inspiration. Rock & Roll, early liturgical polyphony, 20th century rhythm and harmony, and even a little Henry Mancini figure into a mix of influences that swirl under slight gothic overtones. The Ptak brothers, Mark & Henry, handle most of the composing, keyboards, and vocals. In particular, Henry Ptak's compositions and arrangements are featured and he proves to be an outstanding and highly imaginative musician, obviously trained in the art of thematic development; you won't find unrelated ideas haphazardly strung together here. Also in the group is multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Allan Benjamin, who contributes guitars, bass, stick, violin, backing vocals, and some fine compositional ideas of his own. The music on this disc is busy, tight, detailed and squeaky clean; everything in its place. So if your preference is the grungy, repetitive, heavier side of prog, look elsewhere. The band is aware that they will get some flak for the "demo" sound quality, though the sound is acceptable and often quite good. The use of the hated drum machine may draw critical fire as well, but this music is a rare case of strong ideas and performances transcending whatever technical limitations may have been imposed. One of America's finest unknown music ensembles. -- Ken A. Watson (Gibraltar Newsletter Vol. 7 #21, Aug. 1997)
01 - GK Contramundum 2:00
02 - Awaiting the Call... 5:13
03 - Parenting Parents 6:45
04 - Utter Once Her Name 5:33
05 - Remembering When 4:01
06 - Ramblin' Sailor 18:17
07 - Your Healing Hand 8:21
08 - Firmus Finale 4:52
09 - Rear View Window 3:36
10 - Alison Waits (A Ghost Story) 10:41
Alan Benjamin - guitars, basses, stick, mandolin; recorder
Henry Ptak - keyboards; vocals; percussion
Mark Ptak - keyboards; backing vocals
Drew Siciliano - drums
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