Land Of Chocolate: Regaining The Feel

It is said that the acorn never falls very far from the tree. If the tree is Gentle Giant, for example, then it could be argued that one of the acorns would be Echolyn. Yet that acorn fell many years ago and has become a tree in it's own right. It could thus be argued that it's acorn is Land Of Chocolate . Other than the very obvious link of each band having a Buzby handling keyboards and vocals, other similarities exist. Both bands offer a relatively lyric-heavy style of progressive rock, with a heavy emphasis on odd metered time signatures , tight arrangements, and vocal harmonizations. The student, alas, is not up to par with the teacher, who has yet to be on par with the master.

Land Of Chocolate scores points in many categories, but falls short in others. As mentionned above, the band sounds very tight, yet the wall-to-wall vocals tend to hold the music back. One does not always drive 55 when one is sitting behind the wheel of a muscle car. Once in a while, it's good to rinse the engine to keep all the parts working well. Although Mr Buzby is an adequate vocalist, he's not the strongest or most charismatic front man, and should relegate the lead role to other members on occasion or at least remember that silence can be golden. The tracks go through some interesting tempo fluctuations, but in keeping with the constant vocals, never seem to venture very far off a predetermined path; thus never become all that adventuresome. An attempt at Zappaesque humor/social comment is attempted with the track Military Mindset , but the band doesn't pull off the tongue-in-cheek style in a particularly convincing way. The band does score points in other tracks though. Red Pill is an interesting piece which moves along at a slightly creepy pace and offers a decent tension/release build up. The disc's only instrumental track Mechanical Pencil shows us what this band could really create if the vocals were given a back seat more often during the disc. Finally, the musicians are given a chance to spread their wings and soar. The result is an exquisite piece filled with superb keyboard and guitar leads, a much more up-front bass line, and solid bottom end. Alas, this is but one track out of ten, and not enough to build a masterpiece upon in this reviewer's opinion.

There is obvious talent in this band yet I do not feel it is being utilised to it's fullest potential. All members are clearly excellent musicians and prove they can compose some very interesting music together, however, the ever-present vocals tend to keep this speedboat tied to the dock. Your mileage may vary with this disc.

Track Listing:

1. Film at 11
2. The Pursuit Of Happiness
3. Killing With Kindness
4. Misanthropic Cattle
5. Regaining The Feel
6. Counting Sand
7. Red Pill
8. Military Mindset
9. Mechanical Pencil
10. Ungrateful

Added: March 16th 2005
Reviewer: Yves Dubé
Score:
Related Link: www.landofchocolate.com
Hits: 3887
Language: english

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