The Fall Of The Shires (CD, fra Oblivion Protocol

In the best case, Prog can be a safe haven from the storm out there, a healing calm, pure escapism. Genuine musicality, pure emotions, and a preference for outstanding melodies make this music a journey, an experience for which records and headphones were invented. Richard West, a renowned keyboard wizard and songwriter for British Prog-Metal pioneers Threshold for over 30 years, is a special Prog connoisseur. Six years after their epic masterpiece 'Legends Of The Shires,' West returns to these shores to tell us the long-awaited sequel. Not under the name Threshold, mind you. But with a brand new supergroup. Prog fans far and wide, rejoice: Oblivion Protocol has arrived. And they bring us 'The Fall Of The Shires'. 'When my bandmates from Threshold decided not to record a sequel to the 'Legends of the Shires' story,' Richard West explains, 'I knew I wanted to stay in this world a little while longer. So I wrote my own sequel titled 'The Fall Of The Shires'. At first, I only wrote it for myself, but when it was finished, I eventually thought about releasing it.' We can be very grateful for that: Oblivion Protocol will immediately claim a place in the hearts of all Prog connoisseurs and delivers a dense, culminating sound somewhere between Rush, Steven Wilson, Pink Floyd in the 'Dark Side Of The Moon' era, and the occult hard rock masters Ghost.