j o n f

There was a debate on rec.music.progressive over the classification of this band: prog-metal or not? Well, I think they're half neo-prog and half prog-metal: that is, half the time they play in one style, the other half of the time in the other style. Unfortunately, they're not very inventive in either genre. Even in their prog-metal moments, they're light: there's too much synthesizer and too little edge to really put this disc under the "metal" umbrella. Cairo's music is less heavy than the average prog-metal band; less heavy, even, than the average Magna Carta band. Conflict and Dreams is also the least interesting release I've heard off the Magna Carta label (including some tribute albums!). Musically, these guys are heavily influenced by ELP - the jam halfway through "Western Desert" sounds like it came straight off the ELP debut. The keyboardist uses his "Keith Emerson" settings throughout most of the tracks here, which is fine for purposes of nostalgia, but I'd like a little more variety. All of the musicians enjoy soloing, and they're obviously talented musicians, but I wish at times that songwriting had been a higher priority. The lead singer reminds me a lot of Trent Gardner of Magellan, making me wonder if the bands on this label are really just the same group of guys under assumed names. I hate to be so harsh on this release, as it really isn't a bad album, and fans of very light, Magna Carta-ish prog-metal will probably go for it; for me, however, it fails to stand out. review by Jon Fry — undated —