Wim: When a band is named Knight Area, you know what to expect. A true symphonic name I think. Anyway, Knight Area is a mix of old school symfo with modern progressive rock. The band reminds me of those typical symphonic late eighties. Bands like Kayak, IQ, Marillion and Landmarq come to mind while listening to the third album ‘Realm of Shadows’. But this band is from the Netherlands! Big man behind the band is founder / keyboardist / composer Gerben Klazinga. He was almost single-handedly responsible for the material of the debut album 'The Sun Also Rises ‘ from 2004. He also wrote the bulk of the compositions of this new album.
Knight Area is a serious band and I mean that in several respects. The music is pretty together, the atmosphere of the songs is free and dripping with emotion. But also the website and the packaging of this CD show that this is a band who is serious about their music. Everything looks very professional and smart. In the person of Mark Smit, the band have a singer with a typical symphonic voice. His range is not that great, he lacks real power, but he brings his own written lyrics with the right sense of drama and emotion. Mark Vermeule is a fine guitarist who can play great solos ( ‘Antagony’) and above all he has a beautiful sound. He does not have the finesse and the sound of Andy Latimer but that of course is an unfair comparison. At times he reminds me of Marillion's Steve Rothery. Also an honourable mention for the fantastic bass parts of Gijs Koopman who more than once plays Geddy Lee-like bass parts (for example in the beautiful, instrumental track ‘Momentum’).
The magnum opus for the band must be the last track on the album ‘Occlusion’. It is an eleven-minute song which is clearly inspired by the old work of Genesis and the first records of Marillion. The bio I received states that also Dream Theater is an influence to the band, but this is cannot be heard in their music in my opinion. Knight Area does not play nearly as heavy as Dream Theater, on the contrary, the band does not play a heavy riff anywhere on this CD. What I miss are different moods, different styles, excitement. And that is a shame because that would have made the CD fascinate until the end. In the past, with other typical symphonic music, I often thought it to be difficult for me as a listener to stay focused on the music. Now, with Knight Area, unfortunately the same thing happens. If these guys would be able to add some more suspension to their music, I am sure the next album will score at least one full point more. Nevertheless, this is a record to be proud of and hopefully it allows the band to perform live a lot.
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