ATLANTEA, the new project of TEN keyboard player DARREL TREECE BIRCH, has signed a worldwide record deal with record label Lion Music for the release of its debut album “Choices”. Darrell has already recorded seven studio albums with TEN, four with the Progressive Rock band Nth Ascension, has guested on several other projects including Signal Red by his TEN bandmate Steve Grocott, Tony Mitchell solo records, Scar For Life, etc, and released four solo albums as well.
DARREL TREECE BIRCH’S ATLANTEA features a wide array of musician friends both on instrumental and lead vocal duties, resuting in ”Choices” being a very varied album deeply rooted on the melodic progressive rock genre. Among the musicians we find the great Tony Mitchell on lead vocals on a couple of tracks, Alexandre Santos (Scar For Life) dropping guitar solos, vocals by Eoin de Paor (Rush’s Moving Pictures), and many more.
“Choices” is a quite captivating record with some stupendous playing and really good vocalists throughout, and while there’s a concept and a progressive rock atmosphere with DARREL TREECE BIRCH’S ATLANTEA delivery, these are melodic standalone songs.
There’s a bit of TEN of course, but also Alan Parsons, Magnum, and even some very heavy rockers like “One and the Same” driven by sharp guitar riffs and strong vocals. Production is first rate, clean, polished.
Highly Recommended
01 – We Are the Voices
02 – Questions
03 – The Watchers
04 – All I Need
05 – What Price Is Life
06 – One and the Same
07 – If We Could
08 – You Decide (Dumdedum)
09 – Changes
10 – The Promise
11 – Secret Place
12 – Rise Above
13 – Time for Choice
Darrel Treece-Birch: Keys, Drums, Guitar, Bass, Backing Vocals
Tony Mitchell: Vocals (tracks 9 & 12)
Eoin de Paor: Vocals (tracks 1, 2, 5, 13), Bass
David Reed-Watson: Vocals (tracks 2, 6, 11)
George Aspiotis: Vocals (tracks 2 & 3)
Eva Sakellari: Vocals (track 7)
Maaike Siegerist: Vocals (track 10)
Kayleigh Treece-Birch: Vocals (track 4) Backing Vocals (track 12)
Alexandre Santos: Guitar solos (tracks 2, 5, 6, 13)
Dann Rosingana: Guitar Solo (track 12)