Band : Aspera
Album title : Ripples
Label : Inside Out Music
Distributor : Inside Out Records - EMI - Petting Zoo Propaganda
Release Date : 25/01/2010
Release : CD

Clocking in at just 100 years of age between the five of them - yes you're right, each of  the band members is just 20 years old, which evidently means they were only 19 when this album was recorded.

That way I think the album title was chosen very appropriately.  Only 19 years, and already they wrote this mature an album.  Hats off to them. However the origin of the group dates back to 2005, albeit in a different line-up.  They already recorded 3 demo-EP's and did a lot of shows, but then they still went around under the name Illusion.
Afterwards they changed their name to Aspera, which comes from Latin, and means something like "thorns". There's no denying that they were influenced by Dream Theater, as were a lot of other bands in the prog metal genre, but even at their young age they were able to give a personal touch to the album. The album was first recorded in their home studio in Skien - Norway and was mixed an mastered at Fascination Straat Studios in Sweden by Jens Bogren who previously produced bands such as Opeth, Hammerfall or Symphony X.

How these guys were able to master their instruments that well at this young age is unbelievable. And then to write these great songs. Once again hats of.  May they create many more ripples in the future.

94/100

Erik Morren.