The Progressive Rock Encyclopedia: C (Part 5)

It's been sometime I haven't posted anything in these series of posts, so I decided to close the month with it.

                                                     CLEPSYDRA
   A rather unknown band outside the hard-core progressive circles, is the Neo-Prog band Clepsydra.
Although they come from Switzerland they have a totaly Greek name. (Clepsydra is a Greek word that means hourglass)...

   They were formed in the end of '80's and they released their first record in 1991. Their sound is the typical sound of the Neo-Prog bands, meaning that they have strong influences mostly from Marillion, but also from bands like Pendrgon, IQ etc...
All the members of the bands are very skilled musicians, and they also have a very good singer in their ranks, which fits perfectly the very well structured instrumentation.
   They were active for almost 12 years, and during this period they released 4 albums in total, with their last release being the album 'Alone' (2002). Truth is that there is no announcement concerning the band's fate, but it seems they are  unactive since 2002.
   They are highly recommended to the fans of the Neo-Prog scene, but also to the fans of Prog-Rock as well.
If I have to suggest a starting point to their music, I would recommend their last 2 records named 'Fears' (1997) and 'Alone' (2002).
   And personally I only wish they had better record covers. (Especially the cover from 'Alone' is a very bad one!)
In the following video you can listen to the song 'Into my Cartoon' from the album 'Fears'.

                                                         
                                                            CRESSIDA
   Cressida was short-lived a British band that released only 2 albums in the early '70's.
A very good band in my opinion, and they definetely deserved more success and fame.
  Their sound is the typical Mellotron-driven sound of British bands of this era, with beautiful melodies and very interesting instrumental pieces. Also you can find some Jazz-Rock elements, especially in their second album. The band actually split up just before the release of their second record, and that was really pitty because it seemed they found a very good musical direction with that album.
After the band split up, their drummer (Lain Clark) would join Uriah Heep for a year or so, while guitarist John Culley would join Black Widow.
   Although I like both their albums, their second one mamed 'Asylum' (1971) is more 'mature', and it is the one I would recommend to those who want to give them a try.
In the following video you can listen to the song 'Munich' from the record 'Asylum'...