LEE ABRAHAM

Comatose F2

The multi-talented musician revives the prog on album seven.

Since his 2004 record View From The Bridge the multi-talented Lee Abraham has earned respect and affection on the UK prog circuit, and his recent return to Galahad seems to have had a galvanising effect on him. After the AOR breeziness of 2017’s Colours, Abraham’s seventh solo album is packed with drama and substance. Comatose is one 47 minute-long track, a full-on concept album taking us into the mind of a man pulled from a car wreck and teetering between life and death as medics fight to save him. There’s a necessarily literal streak here (the opening rhythm is a heart monitor; lyrics such as ‘The road was wet and I was tired’ abound), but as the character’s reflections on his life deepen, the music evolves from ominous boilerplate prog metal chug into something more varied and compelling, with choral effects, hooks and twists and turns. Riversea’s Marc Atkinson provides a strong vocal, Credo’s

Gerald Mulligan supplies sterling drumwork and pianist Rob Arnold adds mood and melody. Abraham himself is at the top of his guitar game on what is surely his bestsounding album to date.