Closure in Moscow
First Temple

Bird’s Robe Records is giving out some reissues of older albums, like this Closure in Moscow album that has been granted a much finer artwork since the original release in 2009. It is the band’s debut album First Temple, they had an EP release before it and has released another album after it, it is also claimed that a new album is due in 2022. Not the highest pace of releasing albums, but It is the quality that matters and according to the press material this album is a cult classic. Problem with that is that the cult classic is used way too often in the world of music and most of the time it is a faux claim.

I read progressive rock as genre on the sheet that followed the album, and that isn’t a too poor description as there is some progressiveness here. The most noticeable is however the upbeat and positive mood through the album, and a pop-punk feel that often shine through the songs. The singer is of that style, and pretty good. The album is pretty varied and well-produced. Another good thing is that they keep it short, avoiding the long songs and a long playing time – something that pretty often plague albums with the progressive labelling.

Good album! That is probably the best way to say it when it comes to the quality, the striking artwork is the finest thing and that could make owning a vinyl copy worthwhile just for that reason. But the accessible style, freshness, and decent depth gives it potential to have a pretty wide appeal. However, there are things less great like the lack of a captivating song and that there is nothing extraordinary about the album, things that is likely to lessen the reach and appeal of the album.

First Temple is a fine album, but I wouldn’t label it as a cult classic, it has its appeal but not wide as it could have been. There are many good things about this album, even though it is nothing extraordinary, it could be fair to say that the likelihood of strong successors would be fairly high considering both their fresh ideas and musicianship. Therefore I conclude this review by claiming that it is an album that can be worth checking out, it shouldn’t just be overlooked as it is too good for that.

HHHHHHH