It is safe to say David Park is Connecticut's best kept secret. With the release of Alien Sun, listeners will be introduced to an immensely entertaining compilation of instrumental music featuring drums, guitars, keyboards, and erhu, all of which are performed by Park himself. Alien Sun began as an instrumental CD but later evolved to include lyrics on 3 tracks. 3 months and 1 Christmas gift later brought the project to yet another interesting turn. Alien Sun was never meant to include this gift, which is a fascinating instrument known as an erhu, but upon hearing its graceful tones Park was captivated. Later, with the help of the internet he managed to teach himself all the while recording the rest of the instruments for Alien Sun. The album is very masterfully crafted as East and West are cleverly interwoven in a kaleidoscopic musical pattern without the two colliding against one another. While some tracks contain an entertaining array of high energy grooves, others have a strong Easterly presence with emotionally melodic overtones. Yet all maintain the spirit of the driving progressive rock style that fans have come to expect from this genre. It is a popular belief that this amazing instrument and progressive rock were never meant to be together, but Park manages to get them not only to play nicely together, but to have them excel in an incredibly exciting listening experience whose charming and haunting melodies stay dancing around the listener's head long after the stereo is turned off. For fans of progressive rock who enjoy Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, Rush, Bruce Dickinson, Joe Satriani or Steve Vai, who would like a fresh twist to the genre, Alien Sun is a must have.
