The Hungarian group After Crying is far and away one of the most creative and well renowned ensembles in modern progressive music. Not only are they perhaps the finest band to ever come out of Eastern Europe, they have also emerged as perhaps one of the finest symphonic groups of the 1990's, releasing a string of albums that have been gobbled up by prog fans worldwide. The band's prime influences are undoubtedly early King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, yet unlike some of their current "prog" contemporaries, AC manages to truly push their music beyond the boundaries already charted by the heroes of the genre. The band incorporates a heavy classical influences, illustrated by the use of cello, flute and trumpet, as well as Hungarian folk music, into a completely unique and incredibly satisfying style. The band's inception took place in the late 1986 around the nucleus of Peter Pejtsik on cello, Csaba Vedres on keys, and Egervári Gábor on flute. The band started life as an acoustic outfit out of simple necessity, lacking the appropriate access to electronic equipment. This initial grounding in an acoustic approach seems to be fundamental in their development into varied classical rock band they became, one with a firm grasp on acoustic instrumentation and dynamics, as well as their proper incorporation into an electric environment. The group eventually released their first album Overground Music in 1990, which introduced their distinctive morose, yet melodic, chamber music approach. The next album Megalázottak és Megszomorítottak showed a significant step forward in every aspect, and is without a doubt one of the very finest examples of symphonic progressive produced in the 90's. A true classic. Over this time, the band added individuals with early ties to the group, like guitarist/keyboardist Torma Ferenc and creative consultant Görgényi Tamás. After the release of the third album, the excellent Föld és ég, main keyboardist and songwriter Vedres Csaba jumped ship to form Townscream, a move which, at the time, seemed to have signaled the end of the band. However, the group soldiered on, releasing two more studio albums since the departure, De Profundis and 6, along with a number of compilations and live releases. After Crying's style has continued to move forward since their MeM opus, incorporating more of a bombastic Emerson Lake & Palmer style along with their more traditional influences. The sound of their more recent releases is definitely more straightforward, falling into a more typical symphonic mold than their groundbreaking early work. Overall, next to perhaps Anglagard and precious few others, After Crying is one of the only absolutely vital bands dwelling in the "symphonic" realm to have released classic, groundbreaking work in the 90's. Their prime albums are all essential.

Greg Northrup