Originally Posted by
Kai
I ordered Impending Ascension in 1995 on the strength of a Keyboard review. I do like the long tracks ”Estadium Nacional” and ”Waterfront Weirdos” as a sort of delightfully pompous and rambling update of ELP and, to a lesser degree, Yes to the techno rock of the 90s. While the rest of the songs are more or hit or miss, I still like the album. There was sense of refreshing energy at the time, and of course I was rely just desperately looking for clues about any progressive rock beyond the usual suspects.
However, I didn't follow through with their later releases, as by then, there was so much more to explore. I did finally hear Hour of Restoration a couple of years ago, and I'm afraid it didn't move me at all. In another time, perhaps it would've been different.
Speaking from a Finnish point of view, Magna Carta was actually quite well represented in the record shops in the latter half of the 1990s, but its impact was rather muted. It appeared, as others have pointed out, as an outshoot of American metal scene combining with some of the U. S. versions of the European neoprogressive trends. As I've never been a metal fan, the attraction was limited. I do remember being excited about Cairo's first album initially in 1996, but it didn't really last, although I do think all three of the band's albums have their moments. So does even Shadow Gallery's Carved in Stone, which I bought second-hand around the same time, though it and the first album particularly also have their moments of sheer comedy. The album I've got most mileage out of has been Enchant's A Blueprint of the World. It's really just a nimble,well-played melodic hard rock album with a hint of Marillion in it, and all the better for leaving at that. Their later works got more ponderous and manneric very quickly, though.
As for the early-90s synthesizer sounds, I do think they fit the kind of sound that Magellan were projecting. The slightly clunky sampled drums somehow matched their overall ”contemporary” vibe. Of course, those same sounds do sound ”of their time” now, but as I am just trying to coax useful sounds from similar patches of my early-90s workstation, I can't really complain about them. It's actually the mid to late-90s scuffling and filtered drum loops that I find dated in a more irritating way today. YMMV.
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