*. Rhys Marsh and The Autumn Ghost .*

Album: The Fragile State Of Inbetween (2008)
Genre: Prog Rock (Crossover/Chamber/Art Rock)  /  Norway

Rhys Marsh is a UK born musician who lives in Norway. I picked up a couple of his recordings last year after reading this brief description on Greg Walker's web-site. He says : "Mellotron drenched dreamy symphonic with members of ANGLAGARD, ANEKDOTEN, WOBBLER and WHITE WILLOW". Well of course i'm going to buy this based on that description ! Lets just say after listening to this cd once I was really disappointed. Well I brought them back out after seeing he was added to this site recently and after many listenes I still feel underwelmed. This really comes across as a mellow singer-songwriter affair that is very laid back, melancholic and mature. Every song has a different lineup as guests help him out on each track. There are two guests here helping out that I was really looking forward to hearing in Nicklas Barker (ANEKDOTEN) on mellotron and Mattias Olsson (ANGLAGARD) on drums, electronics, orchestration and mellotron. Nicklas is on 3 tracks while Mattias is on 2 songs. "Can't Stop The Dreaming" is laid back with reserved vocals, acoustic guitar, flute and strings. We do get some outbursts though. "Don't Break Your Heart" is also mellow but the mellotron courtesy of Mattias before 4 minutes is excellent. "When All's Done" is a rare energetic tune with trumpet and flute helping out. "All Light Fades" is where he is stripped down to a 3 piece. A ballad-like tune that features Mattias on mellotron, drums and orchestration. "Lit By Night" is more of the same but more majestic i'd say and we get female vocals helping out. "I Watched, As You Disappeared" is probably my favourite and it has Nicklas on mellotron and this song is quite dreamy. "Liquorice Kiss" is an intricate sounding song with vocals. It's fuller before 1 1/2 minutes but not for long. "As I See You There" is another dreamy tune but i'm not a fan of the steel pedal that gives this a Counrty flavour. "Undone" is acoustic guitar with laid back vocals bringing NO-MAN to mind. Mellotron 3 minutes in. "Spoken" is the longest song with the biggest lineup(11 people). Probably the most ambitious track on here as well. So this will appeal to some of you no doubt, but it's just not the style of music I enjoy. Review by "Mellotron Storm" (Prog Archives).

RATING:  7.25 / 10

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