Short Reviews [Enneade - 2022 - "Withered Flowers and Cinnamon"]

Formed more than 25 years ago in Lyon, Enneade have not exactly been the most prolific of bands and this, their third album, is the first in 11 years. When they released ‘Teardrops In Morning Dew’ they were a sextet, but since then have lost one member to drop to a quintet, but apart from a couple of guests it is the same line-up as the last one so I have no idea why it has taken so long to get this out. It is surely not due to a lack of musical ability or material as this is a really enjoyable album right from the off. Somewhat strangely, for any album, let alone a prog release, it commences with a single unaccompanied vocal which is then joined by harmonies. When the acoustic guitars came in I was then very much prepared for a folk release, but instead what we have is an album which straddles Neo and Prog Metal while also bringing in other melodic influences. One would never guess this was a French album as the vocals from keyboard player Christian Greven are clear and unaccented, and overall this comes across as being heavily influenced by the likes of Lifesigns, although with more bite when the time is right. In modern prog terms this is quite a short album as it is only five tracks and 37 minutes long, with only the closing “Autumn” more than ten minutes, but this is actually refreshing and certainly left me wanting more. They strike a really good balance between different styles, but always commercial, and if it were not for the heaviness they would probably be considered by many to be truly Crossover, as there are some delicious melodies within this. It takes repeated listenings to fully understand the depths within this, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable album the very first time it is played and I am sure this will gain many fans within the prog arena. I only hope we do not have to wait another 11 years for the next one.