Reminder of the facts. In 1991, Echolyn released their first eponymous album that the band disowns more or less today, especially because of its production. One year later, "Suffocating the bloom" was released, a breath of fresh air in the current musical slump. Here was a rock band, almost unknown, which started to produce a complex music and even experimenting in dodecaphonism. We can't say that they were legion at that time. Of course, their musical heritage is also to be found in Yes, Gentle Giant and 70's music in general.
"Suffocating the bloom" is composed of independent tracks in its first part and a long suite of more than 28 minutes that begins with the eleventh track. Each track on the album is a small entity that stands on its own, so Echolyn belies the idea that to make progressive music, you have to work on the length. Listen for example to 'Here I am' in which, in less than 6 minutes, the band exploits and links many different ideas (from jazz to funk) while remaining coherent and creating their own identity. In the first part of the album, the most remarkable tracks are '21', 'Memoirs from between' with its magnificent rise in power, the jazzy 'A little nonsense' and 'Here I am' with its unstoppable refrain.
On the other hand, if 'A suite for the everyman' remains of a good level on the whole with a very beautiful cello opening and a memorable vocal sequence, the continuation is perhaps a little too disjointed to form a really coherent whole. That said, nothing prevents you from listening and re-listening to this suite which will take time before delivering all its substance, but isn't this precisely one of the interests of progressive music? To deliver itself little by little to appreciate each new listening...
With hindsight, "Suffocating the bloom" appears not only as one of the best American progressive rock albums of the 90's, but also as the best calling card of a band whose discography was going to be enriched by other albums just as exciting.