What K2 have created with Black Garden is a marvellous collection of traditional prog songs, that retains the elements that made the genre the force it is, but still manages to sound fresh and relevant. Beautiful songs are packed with musicianship of the highest order and the two combine to make a spell binding collection of songs that are among the best prog rock that you will hear all year. Vocally Gleason is a dead ringer for latter day Gabriel, with his gravelly voice crammed full of warmth and character and his ability to drench his voice in emotion heightens both the songs and the story. Musically, imagine a mix of early Genesis, spots of Yes, flashes of Crimson and then add the slightly more modern approach of the likes of (not surprisingly) Spock's Beard or Transatlantic as well as some wonderful synth-string arrangements to the mix to have an idea of the scope and class of what is on offer here. Okumoto's keyboard work has a huge influence on the overall sound of this album, however he never dominates the disc, instead he creates huge swathes of atmosphere that uplift the songs. The guitar work of Johnson is also of the highest calibre and when he combines with the original duo of Sanborn and Jacques, the sounds created and signatures written are phenomenal. Black Garden is one of those albums where choosing highlights becomes rather pointless, as the end result would be a list of the entire album. Each of the seven songs is a vital inclusion on this album and the quality never even comes to dropping off at any point. The more I hear songs like "Passage To The Deep", "Storm At Sunset" and "Path Of The Warrior", the more I want to just reach out and start the amazing journey all over again.