FINAL CONFLICT - HINDSIGHT - 2003

It’s hard to review this cd as a whole as it is not a very consistent one. The various songs are very different and seem to have different influences. This doesn’t mean that this cd isn’t a valuable one. On the contrary, everyone who plays it will get a lot of pleasure listening to it.

Empty Promises is a very modern prog-song with all the ingredients this music acquires and makes you think you’re all set for a solid prog-rock cd. But in A Moment in Time the music gets a bit too poppy to confirm that. A very catchy chorus enlightens the music which still shows the progressive ingredients. From Hindsight onwards it starts getting real good. One gets the impression to be listening to German progressive music from the seventies. This song brings on the atmosphere of this very solid wave of that time. Dead of Night is totally different again and reminds a bit of Rick Wright’s Broken China. The synthesiser and sax-solo’s create a very Pink Floyd-like atmosphere and make you wish they would last longer. This is without doubt one of the strongest numbers on the album. Very nice is also the sober percussion which completes the atmosphere. Can’t Buy Experience unfortunately kills itself in the end. It starts off as a very strong Genesis-influenced piece of work. Synths, drums and vocals could belong in one of this bands stronger songs and Final Conflict shows its capacity to make really great music. But for some obscure reason they found they had to add an extra chorus at the end of the song, slightly pumping up the rhythm. Too bad, cause it ruins the masterly created balance of the song.

Shadowdance and Choices are less strong. One can’t say these are bad songs but they lack persuasiveness and wouldn’t convince anybody to buy this album.

And then there is Heart & Soul, a great song, featuring a gloriously weeping guitar and a superb bass intro. This song has all the ingredients a prog-fan wants to hear in his favourite music. The instrumental intermezzo subtly winks to Echoes, the Pink-Floyd masterpiece, but there’s no doubt that Final Conflict brings its own music, regardless of the different influences that can be heard.

The vocals are not bad, but then again they aren’t thrilling either. Let’s say Fc’s vocalist is good without being great.

What about the record as a whole? This is more, a lot more than average. Hindsight is a good cd that will please a lot of prog-fans. I surely enjoyed listening to it and will do so many more times.
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