In Macbeth three witches are seen on stage stirring the broth. What are the ingredients they are using? Imagine taking a pinch of Jethro Tull, a handful of Yes with a seasoned Rick Wakeman and more than a fistful of early Deep Purple. Mix carefully with Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Pink Floyd and Bowie and season with Renaissance. Dream on you say. No such fusion ever existed. So I thought too till I accidentally picked up an album called Doomsday Afternoon. I was half way through the  album when it hit me. Me the ultimate rock fan who even went so far as to buy Joan of Arc the rock opera (yes there was such a thing). How come I had suddenly stumbled on such great music by a group I had never even heard of. Where have they been hiding all these years? It was only when I looked at the credits that I realized my mistake. Doomsday Afternoon was first released in 2007. 2007?

   Phideaux is made up of a group of Phideaux Xavier’s school friends and some guest musicians. Each album, they have recorded seven, has its own flair and style.  Doomsday Afternoon, their fifth one is their most pretentious (in a good way) and adventurous endeavor. In keeping with colorful groups like Deep Purple and the Moody Blues, they added an orchestra complete with cellos violins and French horns to an already large assembly consisting of an eight piece band and several guests. The result is surprisingly satisfying in the way it gives new life to sounds I thought were buried along with Tarkus and the Six wives of Henry the Eighth. What you hear is more of a concept album in ten segments than a collection of songs and the fusion of recognizable threads from the seventies works really well. With pieces like Micro Softdeathstar and The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (parts 1 and 2) you know they are out too have fun and don’t take themselves too seriously.
 Doomsday Afternoon may not be revolutionary, but it is beautiful all the same and deserves all the credit given to it. If, like me, Thick as a Brick, Tarkus, Close to the Edge and Tarkus are part of who you are then  I suggest you get the album immediately, listen to it in a dark room by candle light accompanied by a good bottle of red wine and slowly drift back to a  time where evolution was revolution.
All Phideaux Albums

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