Cryptic Vision

I arrived at the venue early; I mean really early considering what time I went to bed. To be honest it looked like less than half the house was going to show up simply due to that “late night party”.

I walked back stage to talk with George and meet Cryptic Vision and I overheard George telling the guys “not to worry if the turn out was some what light, most people were up late last night.” The band was not worried and in fact by the time the lights went down the crowd had significantly increased. Even better, by the end of their set the house was almost full.

I must say, I really loved Cryptic Vision’s first CD, “Moments of Clarity”, but seeing these guys perform live was like getting a direct infusion of nuclear power. From the opening notes these guys were ON.

I was suddenly wide awake, aware and clearly in the presence of some kick ass great players. Todd Plant sang his heart out and man this dude could hit those high notes. By the end of the show he was totally spent and it was a good thing they had run out of time as I do not think Todd had even one short encore left in him.

One cool thing these guys did was a medley supposedly paying homage to prog gods of days past. They started with “The Water” by Spock’s Beard, Yes “Yours Is No Disgrace”, Kansas “Song for America”, Dream Theater “Erotomania” and ELP “Karn Evil 9”. Now while I do not think bands like Dream Theater or even Spock’s Beard should be or even could be considered prog gods of old, I suspect no one could argue that both those two bands are clearly influences of Cryptic Vision.

I could not imagine a better opening act for Sunday and it was funny that while some missed the opening minutes of their set, most of the weekend attendees did get to see these guys and how they put their entire heart and soul in their music. Next year I bet a lot more people make sure they are on time for the Sunday opening band as you just never know. Cryptic Vision has definitely raised the bar. - Mr. Stephen Ellis, Syndicated Writer

Just got this new promo from Cryptic Vision and it's a 16 minute long track taken from their upcoming album "In A World".

Their debut "Moments Of Clarity" entered my house like the hammer of Thor with amazing classic tunes the world hasn't seen since the '70's.

This new appetizer promises only good things because the band says the new album will be even more symphonic which can be heard on the title track of this promo.

The bass sounds reminds a lot of Chris Squire (Yes) and the songs also start out in the best Yes manners. Singer Todd Plant knows his way of bringing out the melodies in the best possible way and CV are also a complete band on this new recording.

The band now features Rick Duncan - Drums/Keyboards, Todd Plant - Vocals/Keyboards, Tim Keese - Guitars/Vocals, John Zahner -Keyboards/Vocals and Sam Conable - Bass/Vocals.

The majestic ending of "In A World" almost bring tears to my eyes.....the "knees gets weak" factor is very high. Behold, for Cryptic Vision will take you on a promenade in the luxurious park where the name of the statues are Jon Anderson, Tony Banks and Kerry Livgren to name a few. - Mr. Kaj Roth, Melodic.net

"Welcome to the world of Cryptic Visions !" On ne pouvait attendre meilleure annonce pour ce live ! Car c’est bien un monde musical bien à lui que ce groupe s’est construit, et expose à la face du monde sur ce "Live At Rosfest 2005".

On peut se demander où est l’intérêt de sortir cet album live juste après un album studio qui prête la quasi-intégralité de sa tracklist à ce concert. C’était sans compter sur le grand talent d’interprétation de ces musiciens hors pairs et l’originalité sans faille des compositions du groupe. Elles prennent en effet de l’ampleur en live, avec une goutte d’improvisation et une bonne dose du charme qui fait d’un concert un moment souvent magique.

Et même si la simplicité du discours du groupe, et la discrétion du public qui semble avoir été recruté à la sortie de la dernière tournée de Julien Clerc ne témoigne d’aucune folie ou euphorie particulière, la prestation du soir valait bien un enregistrement. Dans leur style respectif Cryptic Visions met une claque à Dream Theater et consorts, et refile un coup de jeune à Kansas & co. Sept titres, dont quatre dépassent le quart d’heure.

Parmi ces pépites, "Introspective" ouvre le disque, un morceau largement instrumental, qui explore sans agressivité mais avec virtuosité les frontières du progressif avec le hard fm. Le mixe est parfait et laisse une large place au clavier notamment, qui a sur les compositions une influence primordiale, et dont les soli sont un régal. "John" aura d’ailleurs droit à 2’08’’ de gloire avec un petit solo rien qu’à lui.

"In A World", avec ses passages acoustiques si bien sentis aux tendances sud-américaines, l’apparition surprenante de cuivres et de claviers aux sonorités inattendues, est la pièce majeure de ce disque. Elle résume à elle seule le génie de Cryptic Visions.

On s’est assez étendu sur les influences du groupe lors de la sortie de son album studio, ce live ne les infirment pas bien sûr, on a même droit à un mini-tribute à quelques ténors du rock prog (pour clôturer le disque, mais il conforte le groupe dans un style auquel il aura su apporter sa touche personnelle, pour notre plus grand plaisir.

(9/10) - Antithetik - Mr. Jean Baptiste Appert