There are some things in life you can always rely on: the rising of the sun; the changing of the seasons; England getting no further than the Quarter Finals. Likewise with Stone from Delphi. The release of anything by the glorious Stones can only be accompanied by shouts of praise and adoration. Songs for Absolution For those of you who aren’t familiar with Stone From Delphi’s previous two outings ("Texas Calls" and "Debt Collected"), this prog rock band are a bunch of misfits who will bear their battered souls so soon as look at you. Initially with "Texas Calls", there was something of an easy comparison – particularly vocally – with Muse. Fans of originality will be pleased to hear that with "All Else Can Wait", the latest offering, Stone From Delphi have branched out. If pushed for a point of reference, I would have to point to Birmingham based instrumental act, Old School Tie, who are thanked in this album’s credits. Anger Management The music on this album is angst-ridden darker-than-dark rock. It’s a seething sound that rails against injustice ("I’ve done nothing wrong" pleads the narrator on "Healing Hands"), but cowers with guilt in the presence of the righteous ("Bolt the doors, please/you’re too good for me" – "A Failure to Admit"). This is an epic, gothic-romance novel committed to music if ever there was one. It’s Wuthering Heights, Frankenstein and Dracula all in one: enticing, seductive, angry, betrayed and afraid, but all the time, ever so glorious. The Intro and the Outro Album opener and title track "All Else Can Wait" is an instrumental introduction to the rest of the CD. It’s an overture that swirls around, tentatively winding its way towards a dramatic climax. Forget Phil Spector. These boys have just redefined "Wall of Sound". The final track, "My Human Shield" is typical of the megalithic magnificence of this excellent band. It rises and falls, swooping from tender offerings of reassurance ("Be true to every word") to impassioned soul-exposing pleas for acknowledgment ("When you see, what you leave behind/and you see what is left"). Ugly/Beautiful Instruments and voice parts intertwine with one another, over and over again. The result is a polyphonic mesh of beautifully sad sounds that will reverberate in your head long after the music has stopped. And all the way in between, the angst, the bitterness, the tension and the misery is delivered with little mercy. The pseudo-operatics which open "Healing Hands", the ghostly wailing that introduces "Ground to Dust" and the precision of the guitars on "Weak Men" all contribute to the theme and ambience of a truly beautiful, poignant album. Stone of Delphi have begun and ended 2005 very well indeed. Here’s to a fantastic 2006. It’s guaranteed to be great for them (in a very miserable kind of way). | 
