UK progressive metal quintet THRESHOLD released their colossal double concept album ‘Legends Of The Shires’ on September 8th, 2017 through Nuclear Blast. It’s the band’s most successful album to date and was followed by a hugely successful 2-week European headline run with several sold out shows. Reasons enough, then, for the band to announce a second leg today. This time, though, THRESHOLD will be performing ‘Legends Of The Shires’ in its entirety and more. Special guests for this trek will be announced soon. Full tour dates are below.
Guitarist Karl Groom comments: “Far from the stereotypical image of being reserved, the UK THRESHOLD fans are some of the loudest in Europe now! We had a fantastic homecoming to the O2 Islington last time out and look forward to another great show in Autumn 2018.”
‘Legends Of The Shires’ Album Tour 2018 w/ special guests:
10.10. Colmar – Le Grillen (FR)
11.10. Pratteln – Z7 (CH)
12.10. Aschaffenburg – Colos-Saal (DE)
13.10. Zoetermeer – Boerderij (NL)
14.10. Hamburg – Markthalle (DE)
16.10. Jena – F-Haus (DE)
17.10. Prague – Nová Chmelnice (CZ)
18.10. Munich – Feierwerk (DE)
19.10. Mannheim – MS Connexion Complex (DE)
20.10. Essen – Turock (DE) 21.10. London – Islington Assembly Hall (UK)
More THRESHOLD dates:
01.05. CDN Québec, QC – Le Cercle (CA)
02.05. CDN Montréal, QC – Les Foufounes Électriques (CA)
05.05. USA Gettysburg, PA – Rites of Spring Festival (US)
13.07. D St. Goarshausen – Night of the Prog (DE)
14.07. D Rheine – Hypothalamus (DE)
08.09. I Veruno – 2Days Prog + 1 Festival (IT)
09.09. H Budapest – Rock On Festival (HU) *NEW*
Pop music often gets a bad press; often because it is thought of as being bland, uninspiring and repetitive, and often with good cause. However, pop music can be anything but those criticisms with brilliant melodies, lush production and funny and quirky lyrics. Right from the moment Brian Wilson created ‘Pet Sounds’ in 1967, through Bowie’s many different reincarnations in the 70’s and 80’s and via the melodic cleverness of The Smiths, The Teardrop Explodes and World Party, pop music can offer moments of greatness and genius.
Fitting into that roster of clever pop influenced music is the latest release from Leo Koperdraat and Frank Urbaniak, better known as Fractal Mirror, ‘Close to Vapour’. The album has ten tracks that soar and grow with an ebb and flow, a gentle build to heights of dreaminess, and which take the listener deep into the stories being told. With production by Brett Kull of Echolyn, the band has created an album of outstandingly tuneful and clever songs that deserves the high plaudits that will surely come its way.
If I was to make a small criticism it would only be that the lead vocals will take a bit of getting used to. Leo has a slightly nasally style that, whilst not being a huge problem, does surprise and even disconcert, but only until you get used to his sound. Once the initial impressions have receded the idiosyncratic nature of the delivery adds to the depth and multi-faceted sculpture of the album.
Being released on Bad Elephant Records in the first quarter of 2018 this album is one of the highlights of the year so far. Also featuring guest appearances from original member Ed Van Haagen, Tom Doncourt and producer Brett Kull, this album will entrance and beguile the listener with its superior pop melodies. I urge you to search this album out for all the rewards it will give you.
Welcome to another edition of Progradar Recommends, today I’ll talk to you about music from PENNA, Soul Enema, Jim Griffin & Obscura in this selection of bite-size reviews…
PENNA – SubLevels
Multi-instrumentalist Dave Penna first came to notariety in the early 90’s as the drummer with Long Island tech-thrashers Kronin. Since then he has worked with Spastic Ink, Ad Astra, Ronnie Spector, Planet Hate, and members of The Coasters and The Del Vikings.
Hailing from New York, his first solo EP was 2016’s ‘Chemical God’ but ‘SubLevels’ is more progressive and less dark and has a real hard rock vibe that reminds me of Foo Fighters and Nirvana with the fuzzy guitar and hard-edged rhythm section. In fact, the exemplary drums and bass are the real driving force behind the entire EP and a comparison to Craig Blundell and Nick Beggs would not be out of place.
The EP was written and performed entirely by Penna, recorded with assistance from producer Chris Fasulo (Ill Niño, Chico Hamilton) and will be mastered by Dave Roman (Birdthrower, Leroy Burgess).
Criminally short with only four tracks, it really only gives you taste of what this talented musician is about and I, for one, am hoping his next outing will be a full length album. Intricate and complicated in places yet there is still an instant accessibility at the core and a jazz/fusion subtext that keeps everything very interesting.
Okay, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way, I’m not keen on the band name and all its connotations. Hopefully that won’t stop people from listening to the music because, boy, do you really get a listening experience that is intense and madder than Mad Jack McMad but utterly fulfilling as well.
Like a more intensified version of Bent Knee this band deliver cooky and in-your-face progressive rock/metal that is a bit off-putting at first but, once you get into the same frame of mind as these talented Israelis, you will not be disappointed.
Soul Enema’s bio has this gem of a sentence, “The band combines conventional melodic rock aspects with a different, occasionally more experimental way of writing.”
‘More Experimental’? You can say that again, the middle-eastern influences are obviously there but it is the free thinking unconventional music that really knocks you off your feet in a good way. Featuring a who’s-who of modern progressive metal including Yossi Sassi and Arjen Lucassen,this is one album that everyone should try at least once and i have a sneaking suspicion that quite a few will come back for more…
The Aral Sea Trilogy has to be heard to be believed:
Zombie Picnic’s guitarist (James to his friends) has a solo project that is far away from the psychedelic instrumental space rock that is their usual fare. A much more personal affair, there is a lush and nostalgic feel to the music, a feel of lazy, hazy days gone by. You could almost imagine that the trials and tribulations of this modern world never existed as the five tracks (plus bonus) take you on a spiritual journey of self discovery.
Did those near perfect worlds of Enid Blyton ever exist? I’m guessing James thinks so as it is that sepia tinged world that his music keeps depositing me in.
Do we believe too much in things as they are? Superstitious reverence for that which exists.
Take an hour out of your day, turn your phone off and listen to this delightful musical peregrination that was inspired by, ‘The Narrow Road to the Interior’ by Matsuo Bashō (Genroku 2), “The Quest of Iranon” by H.P. Lovecraft (February 28th, 1921) and a rainy Summer’s day at Derrigimlagh at half three in the afternoon.
Tender vocals and a plethora of verdant acoustic guitars are king on this wonderful release that had me feeling like I was intruding on James’ most private life and yet this accomplished musician is one of the most welcoming I know. A wonderfully fulfilling collection of songs that surely make the world a better place.
Since the demise of Dream Theater into a pompous, self-obsessed shadow of their original selves, progressive metal has been searching for a new standard bearer. Some have come and tried and delivered some rather tasty albums but none have reached that pinnacle…yet…
However Lebanon based Middle-Eastern collective Ostura may yet lay claim to that mantle with their ambitious new concept album ‘The Room’ which has many movers and shakers in the genre lauding it as the next best thing and, as of now, you can count me in that group too. A grandiose cinematic storyline about a social recluse girl who takes refuge in a room. Locked in with her thoughts, fears, and ambitions, the girl’s imagination turns the room into an endless universe where she is the creator. The story tackles the notions of fear, perfection, social anxiety, ambitions, rage, power, and the struggle between the creator and the creation.
A massive production consisting of performers from 12 countries alongside the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the core band, ‘The Room’ is a stunning achievement which brings Ostura to the forefront of progressive and symphonic metal artists and will literally blow you away with its power, intensity and musical aplomb.
The storyline is captivating and engrossing as the two vocalists (Youmna Jreissati and Elia Monsef) adroitly guide you through the events as they unfold and the utterly impressive musical score provides perfect accompaniment to deliver symphonic/progressive metal opera that amazes and dumbfounds with equal measure.
It is nothing short of a musical triumph from the first note to the last and should see this thrilling band ascend to the top rung of the ladder.
So, there you have it, another four albums I think you should buy, keep your eyes out for the next edition of Progradar Recommends coming your way soon…
Melancholic progressive metallers AMORPHIS are due to unleash their latest offering entitled ‘Queen Of Time’ on May 18th via Nuclear Blast. Today the band is teasing fans with a taster of what to expect from their 13th studio album. Listen to opening track ‘The Bee’:
Of this first offering, guitarist Esa Holopainen comments: “This song is a very powerful opener and gives a nice picture of what the whole album is all about. You can already hear some new elements like choirs and orchestral arrangements in it.”
With vocalist Tomi Joutsen adding: “Of course, the lyrical inspiration is a bee, also in a metaphoric way. The tiniest thing can sometimes be the most important thing. A bee can bring life or if we destroy all the bees, life will stop here. It’s a very beautiful animal, that’s why you can find it on the album cover too. The track itself is a kind of progressive and I’m sure that it will surprise some fans in a positive way. We love it!”
Pre-order ‘Queen Of Time’ now at the following locations –
Digipack CD + Black, Silver & Gold Vinyl (all inc signed insert):
01. The Bee
02. Message In The Amber
03. Daughter Of Hate
04. The Golden Elk
05. Wrong Direction
06. Heart Of The Giant
07. We Accursed
08. Grain Of Sand
09. Amongst Stars
10. Pyres On The Coast Bonus Tracks (DIGI, 2LP, and MAIL ORDER EDITION only)
11. As Mountains Crumble
12. Brother And Sister
The album was once again produced by the renowned Jens Bogren (OPETH, AMON AMARTH, KREATOR). The cover artwork, which was created by French artist Jean ‘Valnoir’ Simoulin fromMetastazis, perfectly captures the feeling of the lyrics and the music.
Esa comments: “I guess Queen Of Time turned out as a massive surprise to all of us. During the rehearsing and pre-production we didn’t have any idea that Jens had this huge picture inside of his head about the landscape of the album. It’s a very natural continuation to »Under The Red Cloud« but with steroids. The songs are more aggressive but there’s more dynamics, harmonies and orchestral arrangements present. The result is AMORPHIS as something you’ve never heard before! Essentially, working with Jens worked really well. As a person he is very similar to us – we share the same kind of weird humour and we all like to work hard.”
With lyricist’s Pekka Kainulainen’s words, the lyrical theme is universal: “Cultures rise, flourish, and are destroyed. The story of man is the story of searching, finding, and forgetting. A single spark can set the world afire, a single idea can give birth to a new culture. The greatest can stagnate into insignificance, the smallest can hold the power for change. The lyrics on this album are distant echoes of ancient forest peoples, from a time when meaning was proportioned by the cosmic forces that govern birth and death. If the connection was lost, they sought for a strand of knowledge, found a new direction, and a new age began.”
The long form review is becoming defunct in this day of instant gratification and bombardment of new musical exploits. Welcome to the new Progradar review section – ‘Progradar Recommends’ – where you’ll get more reviews (only with less words or some may say less twaddle!).
Starting this new feature will be Marco Ragni, M’Z, Siiilk and Wilson & Wakeman.
Marco Ragni – The Wandering Caravan
“The album is about revolution, about searching for oneself, about metaphysical travel, about memories, about love and suffering. It talks about life, of how we live this Era. It try to push us in search of ourselves, finding the best of us after having passed from the worst of us. It’s a journey into my life. It is passion. It is a desire for redemption. It is a dream and a reality.”
Italian musician Marco has always been one for complicated and involving music using different influences and this new album is no different. Using eastern influences and a lot of woodwind you are treated to an ululating and evolving musical work that rewards concentration and repeated listening. Tracks like Promised Land andKeep Dreaming have a wistful and laid back feel that instantly lulls you into a calm and serene frame of mind.
Marco is joined on this journey by Peter Matuchniak (Lead guitar), Dave Newhouse (Woodwind) and Jeff Mack (Bass) as well as a host of renowned guests included Luca Zabbini and Ian Beabout. What he delivers is eight tracks that are a personal musical revelation from this highly accomplished artist. Listen to songs like Waiting on the Threshold and you will be captivated and drawn into this impressive escape from the mundane boredom of real life.
Not your usual fare for this reviewer but I was intrigued by the album cover of Toulouse artist M’Z’s album ‘Prisme’ and so I decided to follow it up. It is presented as a fusion of rock, electro and jazz and, to be fair, it does exactly what is says on the tin.
To me, there’s just something exciting about the music and the structure of the tracks. Based around some pretty impressive guitar work the keyboards blend in with there elctro-pop vibe and the off-kilter feel is really of free-from jazz. To add even more polish and machination there are some highly energetic and powerful industrial electro vibes flying around all over the place with some punchy percussion.
To quote the artist:
“M is the guitar and Z is the machine, the idea is to also create a bridge between organic and electric/electronic music, a bridge between the code and its acceptance and the need to get out of the code.”
Don’t be put off by the description as, with repeated listens, this album really gets under your skin in a very positive manner. What you get is a thoroughly enjoyable 42 minutes of music with influences from all over the musical spectrum.
A band new to me until I happened to talk to member Richard Pick earlier this year, Siiilk (someone’s finger stuck on the keyboard?) hail from France and produce wonderful, ethereal progressive rock hewn from the genre’s traditional style but with added Gallic flair and grace.
The band was formed in 2010 and have gone from strength to strength, blending superb, intricate guitar work with the lush keyboards and the wistful vocals of Robert and Catherine Pick. The subtle rhythm section is a revelation throughout and especially prevalent on the title track.
The PR stuff – “Siiilk revives its creative power and takes us to the imaginary realms of the mysteries of the soul. Through sensitive and intense sounds, their songs speak about landscapes of emotion and melancholy.”
Listening to ‘Endless Mystery’ is like falling onto the most comfortable bed in the world and letting the sublime, heavenly music wash over you, absolving you of all your earthly sins. Musical catharsis if I have ever heard it, one I suggest you go out and purchase forthwith!
Damian Wilson & Adam Wakeman – The Sun Will Dance In Its Twilight Hour
The second collaboration from this uber-talented duo is another exquisitely created and performed selection of songs where Damian Wilson once again gets to show us his more gentle side for this is another album founded on the big man’s ever impressive vocal and Wakeman Junior’s sublime tinkling ivories just add lashings of polish and verve.
What we have here is another dedication to the art of songwriting and the song. Tracks like opener The Last American Hero, Always The Lonely One and the title track are perfectly crafted jewels of the songwriting art and don’t need any enhancement, you just enjoy them for what they are. Adam even gets to show us his vocal skills on On This Battlefield and their emotive, touching delivery will move you.
“Writing songs with Damian is always a great experience as we tend to start from scratch and follow where the writing takes us. We’re so pleased with how this album has come together. Having Gary Stevenson on board to mix thealbum and add an extra ear from a production background has been nothing but positive. He also has a killer coffee machine.” – Adam Wakeman
After the wonderful ‘Weir Keeper’s Tale’ Damian and Adam have once again proved there are a force to be reckoned with and song writers without peer. Just listen to the nigh on perfect Better Than That with its gentle, piano led opening that slowly builds into a wonderfully up beat, almost raucous, jazz/rock outpouring that just makes you smile, life really doesn’t get much better than this!
Just recently I have picked up on the Channel Four series of Philip K.Dick stories, Electric Dreams, in which dystopian nightmares are played out in mainly normal humdrum situations with a fear of foreboding dread building to a crescendo. Likewise, the third studio album from instrumental band The Fierce and The Dead, titled ‘The Euphoric’, is one that builds and builds, working around a juxtaposition of beautifully crafted melodies driven by crashing, hard driven and downtuned guitar riffs. A major compliment I can pay the album is that should channel four make another series of Electric Dreams this is the band and album that should soundtrack it.
Over the last eight years since their debut release, the ‘Part 1 EP’, The Fierce and The Dead have developed their craft, adding layering and texture to their already formidable playing and production skills. Using their influences whilst retaining their individuality is an enviable skill; one which is often not pulled off but, in the case of this album, most certainly is. You can hear throughout the album the influences of the musicians the band have worked with or obviously admire; from the hardcore metal of bands such as Slayer to the melodic tune creation of a Steven Wilson, The Fierce and The Dead have made an album of deep complexity whilst retaining a simplicity within the riff structure that drives the album on and doesn’t allow it to become samey or repetitive.
The two lead singles from the album are both standouts with the already successful, with accompanying video by acclaimed director Mark Duffy, Truck being followed by, on the 30th March, 1991. Both tracks show off the sound which you can expect from the album with their heavy psychedelia and cross over between guitars and synths being indicative of the direction the band have taken. The band are happy to confound, confuse and surprise in composition and performance which makes this album a fulfilling and satisfying listen.
The album, which is released on the 18th May by Bad Elephant Records, featuring amazing cover art work by Mark Buckingham, will be available in both CD and Vinyl formats. There will also be available limited edition bundles featuring a print of the cover artwork and an exclusive bonus CD of live and demo tracks.
This is great. A big dollop of proper pop. A slice of singalong hooks, followed by the rest of the cake. The earworms you didn’t know you needed until they wiggled down your eustachian tube and wrapped their little bodies round your cochlea. Your new favourite album.
Bad Elephant Music might be a progressive-rock-adjacent label but this is not prog. Sure, there’s the occasional change in time signature and the combining of a few different genres, but nothing of the 1970’s prog world here. This is a song of short, ‘proper’ songs.
Which is not to say it’s conventional, or obvious. Just that it ain’t prog.
I have to declare two conflicts of interest. One is that my music is released via the same label as this album. The other is that I am already a massive Mothertongue fan. I’m not pretending to be unbiased with this review. Ever since I heard the opening lines of their first album ‘Unsongs’ I was in love.
‘I’ll work the pedals and the devil can steer, things are gonna change, gonna change round here….’
Where ‘Unsongs’ was written across different sessions and several years, ‘Where the Moonlight Snows’ was a recorded as one project. Where part of the charm and brilliance of ‘Unsongs’ is that it sometimes has the whole band throwing their kitchen sinks at the listener at the same time, this a more crafted affair. The band have really thought about arrangements here.
Just as I typed that, the song Ofelia, playing in my headphones, got to a part about 4:20 in where a vocal countermelody joins in, along with some drums and high pitched arpeggios in the right hand speaker. You get the impression, with little moments like that, that Mothertongue have really spent a hell of a lot of time making this thing perfect.
One thing I also learned from interviewing them is that the band has a UBS stick of ideas that makes its way around the band, being added to and mined for songwriting ideas. There are sections of songs here that have been hanging around for ages, waiting to be finished, right up against what I presume to be newly minted moments. I couldn’t tell you which is which, though I know it’s true. The finished songs are seamless.
What does it sound like? There’s plenty of English rock song here. I’m not sure of the band’s influences, but it reminds me of the indie rock that I loved in the 90s. That sensibility certainly seems to form the base of the band’s songwriting, but you can add to that moments of Americana, and the sort of string and trumpet playing that wouldn’t be out of place in arrangements of the Great American songbook.
There are three guitar players in the band, a trumpet player and a great rhythm section (not to mention great flute playing and perfectly adequate keyboard playing from guest musicians) and yet never once do things go latter-day Iron Maiden. You’re more likely to get a tasteful bit of delay-laced picking, minimal bass and sparse rhythm guitar than you are to get a wall of powerchords. I swear there are only a few places on the album where the whole band play together at the same time, but when they do it properly rocks.
What are the songs about? I have no idea, to be honest. I don’t think that’s necessarily a sensible question. What you get with Mothertongue is a relentless cavalcade of bizarre imagery, surreal semi-rants and words that you never expected to hear in the same sentence.
‘I climbed out of the creature tree to see myself what I could see.. it’s getting weird as a wasp in a beehive.’
‘Beware of the dog-headed moon’s lunar snare’
‘Dream a dream I did, As a young toothless kid down a twisted road where the river flowed upstream.’
I pretty much love every line on this. I haven’t given a second thought to what the lyrics might be about. Because meaning in popular music doesn’t come primarily from the lyrics, they’re just one element along with hook and groove and melody and arrangement.
(Photo by StudioStead Photography)
And when you put all those things together, what do you get? You get a collection of songs you can loose yourself in, to singalong to, to rock out to, to be slightly thrown when – as The Bullet has just done in my earphones – an unexpected synth line and fuzzy guitar suddenly takes you down a path you weren’t expecting.
Part of the charm of Mothertongue’s first album was it sometimes it really rocked out, but in between those rock songs it would throw something like Shango at you, which had no guitar on it at all, and was all about the vocals and horns. That inventiveness is just as present on ‘Where the Moonlight Snows’, thought it is fair to say this album has fewer out and out rocky moments than it’s predecessor.
What it does have is hooks. Armfuls and bagfuls of hooks and tunes and songs that you really need in your life.
Highlights for me? Blue Wicked Heart, Shipwreck Song, Ofelia, Earthbound…
And the rest. It’s all a highlight. It’s Mothertongue.
The man called Gerrit rounded the corner, his earphones mingling the noises from the factory to his left with the music on his mp3 player, whilst the lost and lonesome dragged through another evening shift on minimum wage to keep the corporate wolf from the council house door. Under-appreciated he mused, he couldn’t, wouldn’t want to do their job.
His gait slowed as string like arrangements filtered into his ears, the pavement glistening, umber under the old street lamps and the damp air leaving a moist layer on the paving stones. The fog had crept in and choked the visibility down to a couple of hundred yards as he turned to stare across the cobbled street and the boarded up building opposite, hunched in the dark like a homeless giant huddled against the cold night air.
Gerrit Koekebakker pulled his sagging coat collar closer and his hat down in a futile attempt at shutting out the cold, then he stepped on to the cobbles and crossed to the old club. Fading, crinkled pictures in rusting frames, telling of faded stories from the past he had once been part of. He stared at them momentarily, reached into his coat pocket and removed his flat keys, pressing them firmly against the edge of one of the frames until it popped open fractionally and he could remove the photo. He stared at the curled edge photo for a second. She was in the picture serving at a table, his waitress.
Lamentation had been his only friend when he had lost her.
He took the key from his pocket, unlocked the door, stepped into the dank, dark entrance and secured the door behind him. Using the light from his phone he found and flicked the fuse box switch. The lights fluttered on and he pushed through the musty red velvet curtain to reveal the club interior. It was two years since the band had played here, the club closing shortly after the last gig. It hadn’t changed in here though the world outside had moved on. His memory ran footage of the band up on stage, familiar faces mingling with newer ones in the audience. Things had seemed on the up when they left that night, he’d bagged the girl he’d fancied for some time and the band were gaining interest from promoters and labels.
Funny how it can all turn in an instant, a strummed guitar picked up the story.
He’d seen the waitress home with a promise to call the next day, returning to the place he shared with his Mother only to find an ambulance outside, lights flashing.
What would he do without her, his Mother had always been there for him, he hadn’t pictured her leaving. Distraught he stumbled through his emotions over the following weeks, haunting melodies playing in his head. Shutting out the empathy and rejecting company, he remained in the house leafing through old photos, solace in a bottle as he tried to fill the emptiness inside, the sounds of sorrowful guitar and keys mixing with sombre bass and drums intensifying from the stereo’s speakers, trying to crush the misery. He shunned his band-mates and the waitress. The club manager left messages terminating their residency with regret due to closure, one thing after another. The band fractured without him, going their separate ways to try and earn a crust.
Dropping the curtain behind him, he wove his way through the booths toward the dance floor as the last few guitar chords faded. With the bar to his left he stood on the dusty wooden floor before stepping on to the stage and turning to look around the room.
The waitress. He never thought he was in with a chance, always some big-time money boys around handing out fat tips, expecting repayment with interest. He was a jobbing musician, living with his Mother, what could he offer. But slowly over the weeks he’d watched her long legs in silk hose strut paths through the smoke infested punters, dodging the groping hands and lewd offers, always smiling, her lips the colour of cherries, and blonde curls of hair bouncing and floating as she turned and shimmied the shuttles between bar and tables, navigating trays of drinks to arrive unspilled. She would flash the ruby smile and he was entranced with her laughing blue eyes, just one night would be enough.
The night he walked her home she told him how pleased she was that he had finally spoken to her and asked her out, she had been waiting. She had been there some days as they rehearsed, pausing to sway to the languid keyboards and echoing guitar creating ripples of notes through the air, sometimes she would seem miles away, her body slowly dancing, shut off from everything around her and lost in the music…….How could he take her from being so happy only to make her the Loneliest Of Creatures.
Thoughts of the waitress made him smile wistfully and he slowly shook his head as the track rose on his plaintive vocals, the music turning heavier and distorting into the final keys from Remco den Hollander.
The next track plunged from his pocket and into his ears with a burst of heavy fuzzed guitar-work from Michel Varkivesser and Remco’s keyboards, Manuel Renaud’s drums bouncing vigorously alongside the bass of Fernandez Burton, before swirling into an echoing key loop and his voice began to sing about the Prison Walls he had built around himself…
Surrounding himself with a blanket of darkness trapped behind bars of his own making, he’d existed, barely, not considering the future or making decisions. There has to come a point of balance from which you start to return, or disappear. He resolved then, no more misery, things would be like before. It wouldn’t be easy but as the music strode out in a vote of confidence, he opened the curtains allowing the light to flow like liquid gold over the interior of the room. He couldn’t keep this place in darkness like a mausoleum any longer, it was his Home.
There was a noise. He pulled out the earphones as thunder and lightening rolled overhead outside and he could hear rainfall on the roof, accompanied by slow dripping into the bucket across the room. That would be fixed. He pondered on the quiet in the room and pushed the phones back in his ears, dismissing the air of loneliness. The most deafening screams were those of silence.
He had been at the stage where he’d wished someone would take this life away from him, the times he lost control during his period of mourning.
A hopeful guitar solo rose from the ear-bud speakers.
There had been a lot of Uncertainty to deal with, at times it felt he was taking one step forwards and two back towards the place where he had longed for seclusion. The darker moments of music echoing his moods but glimmers of hope being punched through by the drumbeats and guitar soloing as the long rebuild of his life began to piece together.
He’d contacted the band members, understandably there were Departures,a couple having made their own paths, but some of the old gang were still interested and they could audition new members. Where there had been a void of black and a writhing kaleidoscope of shadows, the jigsaw of his shattered soul that had promised fear forever more, began to free itself like a bird released.
Gerrit reminisced how he and Fernandez had recruited Michel to flesh out the guitar sound giving it a heavier edge and to provide backing vocals. They brought Remco and Manuel into the fold and whilst retaining the core sound of the band, impressed their own bass and drum styles into the music, as rehearsals and recording began with new found zest.
As the album tracks formed, the addition of guests Steen Gees Christensen playing duduk, and backing vocals from Inge den Hollander added different flavours to the mix, with spoken words from Joanne Platts highlighting the passages.
Confidence rebuilding there was one more matter to take care of. He thought she would have found someone else, but those he asked advised she was still single. He needed to see the smiling eyes and laughing lips on that Familiar Face. With trepidation and sweaty palms he arrived at her house. He’d hurt her, would she turn the key and let him in?
He knocked on the door, it swung open and there stood the waitress just as he remembered, the sunshine to his rain. With no remonstration and the sparkle in those blue eyes re-ignited, she flung her arms around him and kissed him deeply, it was going to be ok.
And so it was, his smile broadened as he sat on the edge of the stage and thought of the upcoming wedding, To Have And To Hold. He hoped his parents were looking down on him and he was making them proud.
And then there was the club. He had bought it using the monies left by his wonderful Mum and the savings Dad had put away which she had never spent, saving it for him to help when she had gone.
He’d best get going or he would be late for band practice. One last look round the room as it was, the builders would start the refurbishment work in the morning. Within a few weeks all would be transformed, a new look interior and a familiar band in residence for the grand re-opening.
He made his way out on to the street and locked the door. The rain had stopped and there was an added spring to his step as he disappeared round the corner.
Whilst the line up has altered, the sound from the last album remains but with an added edge. I enthused about the first album ‘Tides’ and still love it, so it was a real pleasure reviewing this sophomore offering that more than matches it. What influenced me reviewing the last album has inspired me again and rather than a straight track by track review of ‘Departures’, I felt the best way to do this was extend the story.
Those with a keen ear will notice references to the lyrics woven throughout the review and the musicianship on ‘Departures’ is as fine a production as you could wish, oozing with slick, languid rhythms and blossoming crescendos. If you liked ‘Tides’ then ‘Departures’ is a must buy. I have still to see Downriver Dead Men Go live but who knows I may stumble into a hazily lit, down-town bar someday and find them on stage. I hope so.
Invisible Hands Music is delighted to announce the release on 4 May 2018 of the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to the film ‘Cargo’ as created by Thorsten Quaeschning of TangerineDream.
‘Cargo’ is a taut thriller written and directed by James Dylan, that stars actor Ron Thompson in the lead role. ‘Cargo’ tells the bleak yet compelling story of the events that unfold when a man wakes trapped inside a cargo container with only a cell phone and is given 24 hours by his kidnappers to raise ten million dollars in ransom or die. The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to the film ‘Cargo’ by Thorsten Quaeschning plays an integral role in the unfolding story and the atmospherics of the piece.
TRACKLISTING
01) Chain Initiation 02) Light Reading Lamp 03) Spotlight Effect 04) Liquid Funds Transfer 05) Isolation Fault 06) Outside A Musical Box 07) Wanderbaustelle 08) Mass Market Claustrophobia 09) Aggravated Circumstances 10) New Insight 11) The End Is Not Far Off 12) Cargo Main Theme 13) Trade Mark Activation* 14) Tom’s Theme* 15) Modulated Pulse Commands* 16) Beating The Container Drums* * CD only
Tangerine Dream began in 1970 after the band members spent time with Salvador Dali in Spain in the late 1960s. They returned to West Berlin to invent the future of electronic music, and had ten Top 10 albums on both sides of the Atlantic, and the 1980s scored some of the biggest films of the era including Sorcerer, Risky Business, Thief, Near Dark, and Firestarter. The band continues making incredible, futuristic electronic music today under the leadership of Thorsten Quaeschning.
Ahead of the release of TesseracT’s highly anticipated new studio album Sonder the band have revealed their first official video, for their new single “King”.
The emotive and viscerally challenging clip, was directed by Kyle Kadow & Steven Cleavland and shot in a snowy Wisconsin following a brutal storm, which all added to the atmospheric footage as bassist Amos Williams explains “We have been very lucky to work with two cinematographers of such vision and quality as Kyle and Steven. We gave them free reign with the creation of the first story board. They chose to explore the theme of claustrophobia and how fear can control our lives. Using a luminary figure as a beacon of hope and escape for the characters.”
Listen to ‘KING’ here: https://www.tesseractband.co.uk/
Lyricist and vocalist Daniel Tompkins expands on the song’s concept by saying “Far too often we find ourselves lead into conflict and inner turmoil. Life is surely a battle, history has a bad habit of repeating itself and when living with the constraints of an onerous life it’s easy to overlook the greatest gift we’ve ever received: life itself”.
onderdue to be released through Kscope on 20th April, adds significant firepower to the band’s arsenal, blending the harsh abrasiveness of One (2011) and progressive ethereal elements of Altered State (2013) with the accessibility of Polaris (2015). Sonder is streamlined, honest and direct with all the trademark TesseracT dreamy atmospherics and bending grooves. Sonder was recorded in the UK at 4D Sounds, Celestial Sounds and Project Studios, engineered by the band and Aiden O’Brien with mastering by Acle Kahney, and cover artwork designed by Amos Williams.
Sonder will be released on CD / 2CD – featuring binaural album bonus disc / black LP / Crystal Clear vinyl LP / picture disc (exclusive to the band’s webstores) and digitally (with digital album pre-order receiving “Luminary” & “King” as an instant downloads) and is available to pre order HERE
TesseracT are gearing up to begin their worldwide Sonder Tour in North America in April, with summer festivals across Europe before hitting stages in Europe towards the end of the year.
