Metal Church guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof made quite an interesting decision when he formed a new band called Presto Ballet. Who would have thought that Vanderhoof will play progressive rock in the vein of bands of the 70's someday? I, for one, never could have predicted that... well, that's however the case now, and one has to admit Presto Ballet does sound really good.

"Peace Among the Ruins" starts off with the title track, which unfortunately is the weakest song on this album. Otherwise the material on this debut album is very fortuitous, but for some reason that title song just doesn't appeal to me. The music on this album is melodic progressive rock of the 70's. So in case you listen to Deep Purple, Kansas, Uriah Heep, Yes and the like, the chances are you'll love "Peace Among the Ruins".

The productional aspect of Presto Ballet's debut album is rather interesting, since it was recorded using an analogue tape machine... that's actually another thing reminiscent to music of the 70's. Vanderhoof himself took care of producing the album, and the mixing was handled by Mark Greer. The choice of tape recording was definitely worthwhile, since the recordings have warmth to them.

I recommend all the fans of progressive music to give a spin to Presto Ballet's debut offering. There are some really good, catchy progrock songs on it. However, listeners of Metal Church may not like the fact that Presto Ballet's music isn't metal in any way... nonetheless, "Peace Among the Ruins" is definitely worth checking out.

Release date: June 6th, 2005

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- MAGE (June 4th, 2005)

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LINE-UP:
Vanderhoof, Kurdt: Guitars, Mellotron, Chamberlin, Hammond Organ, Synths, Bass Pedals, Electric Pianos Albright, Scott: Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitar Cokeley, Brian: Piano, Hammond Organ, Synths, Electric Pianos, Lead and Backing Vocals Wade, Jeff: Drums and Percussion Lake, Brian: Bass
Producer:	Vanderhoof, Kurdt
Mixing by:	Greer, Mark
Mastering by:	Unavailable

	TRACKLIST:
	01. Peace Among the Ruins 02. The Fringes 03. Seasons 04. Find the Time 05. Speed of Time 06. Sunshine 07. Slave 08. Bringin' It on Length: 47:19