LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

1 - Deep Down Inside (4'34) 2 - Sparkling (4'14) 3 - Behind Thoughts (I. Part One) - 2001 Remix (5'20) 4 - I Like (4'16) 5 - Every Door (5'37) 6 - Where Is God ? (4'51) 7 - Under Water (5'19) 8 - Before The Bullfight (6'08) 9 - It's Nice (4'14) 10 - Don't Know Much (4'56) 11 - Behind Thoughts (II. Part Two) (1'47)
Some of you may remember a very good Swedish Progressive rock of the early Nineties that was called MASQUE. Its first album "Flesh That Understands" (1992) had left the memory of an excellent neo Progressive work, whereas the next one ("Ten Ways", 1994) was somewhat out of the beaten tracks, giving an even more exciting result. Since then, nothing else... Ten years later, POCKETFUL resumes exactly where MASQUE had stopped. Johan ENGSTROM (Guitars) and Jerker RELLMARK (Vocals and percussions) claim besides that "Sparkling" (2005) is a transition album, preceding the first real work of the band. This is shown by the cover version of "Where Is God ?" (Already featured in "Ten Ways") and the remix of "Behind Thoughts" (Already featured in the first opus). With the help of many guest musicians, the Scandinavian duet provides then a music that's immediately recognizable. This can be defined as a kind of Progressive pop-rock with strange consonances, sometimes dark and tortured. Beside some surprising trumpet or ethnic percussion parts, the album unveils alarming guitar sound, sometimes reminding of KING CRIMSON. The cover version of David SYLVIAN's "Before The Bullfight" is also noteworthy. This needs an urgent discovery !