Review by Antonie Deelen for iO-Pages (translated from Dutch)

Just like Knight Area, Ixion is a project that was started by members of the band Sangamo, based in Boskoop (The Netherlands).

This time it is bass-player Jankees Braam who transferred his thoughts into a musical concept. The story is about a woman terminally ill woman who has herself frozen, hoping that in the future medicine will be able to cure her. Something like a ‘symfopera’, where not only members of Sangamo contributed but also some members of S.O.T.E.

According to the press-info you should be able to hear influences from Arena, Marillion and IQ. That means that Ixion aims at the same listeners as Knight Area. For a part this is correct, but also the name Magenta springs to mind. Due to both the female-singers, Cryogenesis reminds me of the album Revolutions.

And now you want to know if this album is on the same high level? Well, in the beginning it certainly comes very close. Thanks to beautiful keyboard- and nice guitar-parts, with a close resemblance to Arena, it al sounds very symphonic. Maybe a bit less dynamic but strong enough to start thinking about a ‘recommended’ rating.

Unfortunately after some 45 minutes I am having second thoughts. Because the melodies are just a little less catchy, the music starts to loose expressiveness. Fortunately every now and then there is a revival, but when compared to Magenta or Knight Area, Ixion already has the disadvantage. But remember that we are comparing it to 2 ‘recommended albums’. An album that’s just a little less in quality will still attract a large group of sympho-lovers.

I recommend that you listen to the album when you a change.