It was one of the undisputed surprises of 2022 in the prog world. The two former (successive)
Spock's Beard vocalists Neal Morse and Nick D'Virgilio joined Haken frontman Ross Jennings. But that wasn't all because their debut album
Troika from the same year did not resound with (expected on paper) complex prog rock. Rather, the semi-acoustic songs with beautiful three-part vocals bordered on the
… folk rock of Crosby, Stills & Nash. It did not prove to be a one-off outing either, as the follow-up Sophomore was released a year later. Once again the sound floats on acoustic songs with tight harmonies and hints of prog. They stand their ground, are individually good songwriters and audibly enjoy playing together. Otherwise, Sophomore is interchangeable with Troika and the surprise is somewhat off. (MR)more
