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Progressive rock band Edensong from the United States have sure taken their time in following up their debut album The Fruit Fallen (2008). Years in the Garden of Years (2016) is the long awaited follow-up. The band did however release the Echoes of Edensong: From the Studio and Stage (2010) EP in that time, but it's still been six years since the world had new output from these guys. Fortunately with Years in the Garden of Years they have produced a release that is certainly worth the wait.
Pinning down what kind of music that Edensong actually play isn't easy. It's obvious to just say they play 'prog' but that doesn't really do their sound justice at all. The music is extremely folksy thanks to the contributions by full-time flautist Barry Seroff, while there are also a couple of guest cello players on the album. The keys of Stefan Paolini can take on a sound that would fit onto any symphonic prog record, but don't dominant the sound. The guitars by James Byron Scheon vary in style and tone a lot, sometimes even going up to metal standards, as heard in a track such as Down the Hours. The genre hopping nature of the album makes it a very interesting listen as there's never a moment where you can really know what's going to come next. A good thing due to the album's 71 minute duration.
And even with the mix of styles Edensong incorporate into their music it never feels forced or lacking cohesion. It's not the kind of record where any individual track can be pulled out as a highlight so perspective listeners can get a feel for the release as the experience really does need to be taken as a whole to get the full effect and to hear everything that the band has incorporated into the album. Aside from the instruments already mentioned, Edensong have really gone all out with the percussion by Tony Waldman, featuring, aside from regular drums of course, hang drums (a role shared with Stefan Paolini) and gamelan. The latter is something that I have encountered before in rock and metal music, though very rarely, which gives the album some unusual flavours in this department (If you're reading this and are like I was when I first saw the term gamelan used it is traditional ensemble music originally from Indonesia, specifically Java and Bali, made up of various percussion instruments).
If you like progressive music at all you won't want to be missing a single second of Years in the Garden of Years. Edensong have shown that they are an adventurous band with a lot to offer and with the kind of sound that they have I suspect they'll prove to be a band where you won't ever truly be able to guess what they'll come up with next.