Nice Beaver - The Time It Takes (2015) RE-UP

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Nice Beaver - The Time It Takes (2015) RE-UP

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The Time It Takes released by Oskar in 2015. The brand new album, a progressive monster with a harder edge. Over ten years in the making, but well worth the wait. Nice Beaver was founded in 1997, when members of local bands Scotty! and For Cryin' Out Loud decided to work together. The group stems from Papendrecht, a small town near Rotterdam.

The name Nice Beaver refers to a joke from the movie Naked Gun, where a game is played with perceptions and expectations. Sometimes things are not what you perceive them to be, and sometimes what you see is what you get. A similar game with reality and our expectations can be heard in the music of Nice Beaver. Deceptively simple rhythms turn out to contradict the melody, while the most complex patterns produce groovy tunes. A musical genre is also a straitjacket, and Nice Beaver doesn't like being labelled, but with one style of music the band feels a kinship: progressive rock. Nice Beaver combine prog with influences from heavy metal and the new wave of the eighties to make their own unique style. The result is heavy, complex and yet melodic and dynamic progressive rock. The lyrics play an inportant role. The songs tell no stories, but the words and the music together create an atmosphere or express a feeling. Melancholia, loss and the lack of communication, but also rebellion, optimism and love are recurring themes.

In may 2001 the first album On Dry Land saw the light. This CD was recorded at the Stable Studio's in Arnhem, produced by Mike van Dalm and released by their own independant No Beaver Records. Cyclops Records rereleased the album in 2002. November 2004 the second album Oregon was released, again by Cyclops.
Nice Beaver is not a quiet band, live shows produce quit a racket. However, the melody reigns supreme thanks to musical craftsmanship and the subtle balance between rhythm-instruments and guitar and synthesizers. A Nice Beaver show is an energetic experience, the joy and enthusiasm for making music explode from the stage.

~ nicebeaver.nl

Nice Beaver is a Dutch progrock band that was founded in '97 with this line-up: Hans Gerritse (guitar), Ferry Zonneveld (drums), Peter Stel (bass guitar) and Erik Groeneweg (lead vocals and keyboards). All are experienced musicians, they played in several pop - and rockbands. In 2001 Nice Beaver (slang for 'pussy') released their debut-album "On Dry Land", it got a positive review in Muziekkrant Oor, the most famous Dutch music magazine. The catchy and melodic music is rock with progressive tendencies (hints from Camel and Rush).

The first album contains pleasant rock with beautiful melodies and a lot of variation. Most of the seven compositions are carried by strong and alternating guitarwork (from sensitive like Andy Latimer to harder-edged like Alex Lifeson) and distinctive, quite dramatic vocals. Nice Beaver doesn't make mainstream progrock or neo progrock, it sounds more like an original, tasteful stew of rock, pop, new wave and progrock. I wonder or it will appeal to the 'conservative symfomaniac' but for sure this is another promising, new Dutch band with lots of good and fresh ideas.

~ Prog Archives

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Nice Beaver - The Time It Takes (2015) RE-UP

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Nice Beaver - The Time It Takes (2015) RE-UP

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