SIENA ROOT (Far From The Sun) CD
It's time for the third album from one of Sweden's best 70's retro heavy rock bands, and it also the debut for the new vocalist Sartez Faraj, who's been a former member from Mouth Of Clay. Honestly I don't miss Sanya, because I never was a huge fan of her vocals, although I still dig the 'Mountains Songs' 7". Well, anyway, this is the most significant change in the world of SIENA ROOT, while the music is a perfect mixture of the previous two albums. I'm really not a huge fan of the last record 'Kaleidoscope', because I missed some outstanding songs, especially when one knows that this guys are excellent songwriters. Well, but it's ok if they have had the ambition to extend their sound instead of repeating one album over and over again. The first half of 'Far From The Sun' is very close to their debut 'A New Day Dawning'; powerful heavy rock that is close to Free, the first Captain Beyond, Atomic Rooster and Deep Purple, but this Swedish band lever lose their own identity.
'Waiting for the Sun' is their first journey into psychedelic regions, and the integrated sitar just fits perfect, although this songs becomes more heavy with every further spin. The second half of the album is more progressive and psychedelic than the first songs. It seems as if some of that tracks are based on improvisation and/or jamming, but once again SIENA ROOT handle this with sovereignty. No real surprise, because it's no secret that this are extremely good musicians. At least a few words about the new singer Sartez Faraj; he’s adding a new vibe to the entire sound and although he’s a woman his voice very often remind me to Inga Rumpf from Frumpy. 'Far From The Sun' is an amazing album, which contains enough catchy songs but also a lot of variety, what makes is just more interesting. This time it has been released by Transubstans Records, a sub-division from Record Heaven and now it's up to you to buy this masterpiece.
(KK)
www.sienaroot.com
www.recordheaven.net
www.myspace.com/transubstans