The premise for Nerissa Schwarz’s (of Frequency Drift) debut solo album, ‘Playgrounds Lost’, immediately intrigues for two reasons. First, it is an instrumental concept album about innocence lost—perhaps through very sinister means, judging from the album cover and song titles. Second, the songs are performed entirely on mellotron and electric harp. Put the two together and you’ve got something that veers so far to the left of ‘prog’ that it comes back full circle as very progressive indeed.
The album opener, Play, begins with chiming, plucked strings later overlaid with ambling mellotron washes. Soon, a menacing bass note takes over as the chiming, plucked ‘harp riff’ continues. Immediately, the album is off to a very expressive and cinematic start; honestly, it’s quite surprising that this is not the soundtrack to some foreign language film consisting entirely of wordless vignettes. Imagine a secluded playground in a moderately forested area: it’s mid-autumn, some leaves are turning, some green remains, the warm sun and chill breeze play together nicely. We see a lone child on the swing, pumping and pulling at a relaxed pace, eyes fixed straight ahead. The action doesn’t change much from scene to scene; instead, the camera moves around the location—sometimes out of focus—lighting changes, slowly moving toward dusk; we get the sense that something is not right here.
Most of the songs move between pretty, bright uses of the electric harp and mellotron—more like the ‘hippie’ and folky-psychedelic sounds you probably associate with the instrument—and downright frightening brown notes that creep, circle, but never quite obscure the harp. Indeed, Schwarz has come up with some truly inventive uses for an instrument that often occupies a place of nostalgic filigree in many compositions. Here, the sounds range from meadowy to proggy to atmospheric to reminiscent of Taurus bass pedals.
Fireflying is perhaps the most thoroughly pleasant and reassuring track, but the songs tend to vacillate between golden hour, dusk, and menacing cloud cover. The album cover provides an excellent interpretive framework for listening, and I cannot separate images of a lone child in a secluded playground area from the musical experience. Thematically, ‘Playgrounds Lost’ is ambiguous but clearly dark. We may be listening to a metaphor for growing up, or possibly an experience far worse, but the closing trio of Something Behind Trees, No More Games, and Playgrounds Lost make it clear that we are dealing with something very serious and terribly unsettling.
And that is the great accomplishment of ‘Playgrounds Lost’: it takes the concept of a concept album, strips it down to bare instrumentation—strips even the instrumentation down to two—and pulls it off with clarity, virtuosity, and precision. It’s a niche album, to be sure. This is a film score without a moving picture. It’s too brooding and menacing for background music. Don’t try it as accompaniment for a workout or a long drive. However, need a bit of meditation, introspection, calibration for a pair of headphones? Love electric harp and/or mellotron and want to hear how far one can go in arranging for those instruments? Nerissa Schwarz has an album for you. And, given the expressiveness of these compositions, here’s hoping she gets the ear of some filmmakers looking for an original score.
The very best songwriters weave incredible stories via their music and lyrics, songs that are immersive, enthralling and compelling in equal measure. You can lose yourself in these mini sagas of life, love, death, hardship and happiness and forget about the real world, if only for a short while.
I’ve been fascinated by music for a lot of years now and that is all kinds of music, this webblog may be called Progradar but it is truly meant for any kind of music that deserves a place on here.
The extraordinary skills of Scottish Folk Singer/Songwriter Findlay Napier were first brought to my attention by my great friend Iain Sloan, a talented guitarist well known to fans of Abel Ganz and The Wynntown Marshals but who has also performed live with Findlay before.
Findlay has a new album in the works but I was drawn to his previous releases ‘Very Interesting Persons’ and its companion piece ‘Very Interesting Extras’ due to the stories of real life charactersand the trials and tribulations of their lives.
Here Findlay gives us some background to the project and how it got off the ground,
“‘So tell me about VIP?’
That’s what every journalist and broadcaster has asked me
first and the problem was, and still is, where to start.
I’m going to start with Simon Thoumire. Simon asked me
what I was doing, what I was really doing, with my music
career. With my head in my hands my part answer, part cry
for help was an overly honest ‘I don’t know anymore’.
Simon helped me apply for Creative Scotland’s Advanced
Mentoring funding and Boo Hewerdine agreed to be my
mentor. Boo and I began writing in March 2013 and soon
came upon the idea of writing songs about people who
have led interesting lives. We fitted in sessions between his
hectic touring schedule, my chaotic calendar and the birth
of my daughter Lucy. By March 2014 we had written and
recorded the fifteen songs in this volume.”
Musicians on ‘Very Interesting Persons’:
Findlay Napier– Lead vocals, guitar, ukulele Boo Hewerdine– Guitar, harmonium, ukulele, vocals Gustaf Ljunggren– Lap steel, mando-guitar, woodwind, piano, percussion, backing vocals Hamish Napier– Piano, backing vocals Roy Dods– Percussion, Radiator Gillian Frame– Backing vocals Louis Abbott– Backing vocals
Boo, Gustaf and Gillian also joined Findlay on ‘Very Interesting Extras’.
The first part of the review takes in the ten tracks that make-up ‘Very Interesting Persons’.
‘Hedy Lamarr Been here before Can you take anymore?’
“I came across Hedy Lamarr by accident. I was watching a
documentary on BBC4 about TV Smith & The Adverts
and their bass player, Gaye Advert, was described as
looking like Hedy Lamarr. Rather than waiting for the
library to open or calling an expert on films of the 1940s
I looked her up on Wikipedia. I scribbled her name and
‘actress…invented Wi-Fi… many husbands,’ in my notebook
and forgot about her till my first writing session with Boo.”
A plaintive tune with a wistful nostalgia at its heart, Hedy Lamarr is a pared back song of delicate beauty. The vocals are delivered perfectly, the male/female harmonies making the hairs stand up on the back of your neck with their near perfection. A winsome and charming tale of a screen beauty that nobody really knew. It is almost heartbreaking in its emotive delivery.
‘George C Parker was the man who sold New York To out-of-towner millionaires who fell for his sweet talk They’d pay for Lady Liberty they bought his every line He must have sold the Brooklyn Bridge at least a hundred times’
“I’d been planning a song about a con man for a while. For one of our writing sessions I looked up some famous confidence tricksters. George C Parker was one of the mostinteresting of an extremely interesting bunch. His con was
to sell famous New York landmarks, usually the Brooklyn Bridge, to immigrants who had just arrived in America.”
The Man Who Sold New York is a powerful tale of morality driven along by a blues guitar and Findlay’s gritty Glasgow drawl. This song is one of the first that really stood out to me when I heard this album. There’s a metronomic beat that holds you in thrall and a really tasty guitar tone that works on every level. It gives this track a real 1930’s Americana sound to it, the guitar playing on the outro is outrageously good.
‘Poor Mickey Mantle pride of the Yankees I had a card that you’d signed The end of America’s childhood An idol in decline’
“I found that flicking through Tumblr was a really great way
to find inspiring images and stories.
John Dominis’ 1965 photo inspired this song . It appeared
on the Time Magazine Tumblr page. The original headline
for the photo read ‘Twilight of the Idol: A Portrait of
Mickey Mantle in Decline’.”
A heartfelt song about the decline of a baseball great. Stripped right back to mainly vocals and piano, An Idol In Decline has a haunting grace to it. The wistful melancholia that runs through the track really does bring this story starkly into focus and Findlay’s softly delivered vocal is truly earnest and sincere in its delivery. There’s a sad resignation that things won’t ever be the same again, a look back to sepia tinged better days as it comes to a gentle close.
‘Eddie Banjo tramping in the rain Eddie Banjo picking on a biscuit tin Who’s good for a handout Where’s good for a feed Who’s good for a hard luck story Where’s good for a sleep’
“My Dad told me about a tramp that used to live in a cave
outside Wick. He would walk the streets, playing a banjo
made out of a biscuit tin, singing ‘You Are My Sunshine’.
The tramp’s real name was Teddy Banjo. When I called my
Dad to remind me of the story he was in an airport and I
couldn’t hear him properly. By the time he got back we had
recorded the song and it was too late to change the name.”
Eddy Banjo is quite an upbeat little ditty, a tale of a hometown tramp that everybody knew. It’s a pure folk track that has you toe-tapping and dancing on the spot and Findlay gives the vocals the full local inflection. Again the stripped back feel of the song really invests it with a touch of joie de vivre and the perfect segue into the ‘You Are My Sunshine’ section had me smiling.
‘What a shame about George Well he skipped class again He’s out on the street Singing songs to get paid’
“The first time I went to Canada I taught at the Sunshine
Coast Fiddle School alongside a banjo player called Chris
Coole. We sat up at night drinking, playing tunes and
singing. He kept singing amazing songs by a singer called
George Jones.
I was hooked and as soon as I got to Vancouver I bought
everything I could find by George Jones. I drove the rest
of the band mad listening to him in the van.”
This country song tells the story of famous singer George Jones and how his life echoed his art. Laid back and mournful, it has a feeling of regret running throughout it. Findlay tells the tale with respect and yet holds nothing back and the music mirrors the repentance and sorrow perfectly. A country song for a tormented country singer who finally hung up his cowboy boots.
‘Left behind the rising sun Here until the war is won You said that you’d come back for me’
“‘Words are falling from the sky’ refers to the leaflets that
were dropped to try and convince Hirō Onoda that it was
time to surrender. It is amazing that he lasted so long.
Onoda’s commanding officer had ordered him not to
surrender until he returned. The only way Onoda would
agree to a surrender was if the authorities brought his
former commanding officer, now a bookseller, back to
the island.”
I really love the treatment that Findlay gives of the well known story of the Japanese soldier who didn’t realise that the war had ended. Rising Sun treats Onada with the reverence he deserved and the simple guitar, haunting flute and plaintive, wistful vocals fit the mood perfectly. There’s an air of this song just floating along in the breeze, ethereal refined and insubstantial, an exquisite piece of songcraft.
‘No one else there saw it Just Gabriel as he fell Jimmy’s ghost, the man he killed As the keeper rang the bell’
“The Saturday before the last day of recording Louis Abbott
and I spent the day recording backing vocals for VIP. I told
him that I needed one more song. Louis suggested that
boxers probably lead interesting lives. We jumped onto the
internet and it wasn’t long before we stumbled upon the
story of Gabriel Ruelas and Jimmy Garcia.”
Sweet Science is a prime example of recounting real life stories through song. With a big ‘Heavy-folk’ feel to it throughout from the driven guitar and insistent vocals, you can almost feel like you’ve been dropped right in the middle of a brutal boxing match. Listen to the excellent guitar work and Findlay’s intonation of every word, a modern day troubadour spreading the news across the nation. When songs are this good, you don’t need anything more complicated than a guitar and a superb voice.
‘Cutting the cloth and pushing in pins Work never ends it just begins Smoke rises slow and the soot it falls Valentina’s high above us all’
“‘Valentina’, like ‘Idol in Decline’, was another Tumblr find.
I was drawn to a photo of a Russian propaganda poster
featuring Valentina wearing a space suit. I looked up her
story on Wikipedia and the song sprung from there.
Valentina trained to be a cosmonaut by correspondence
course and by enrolling in a local parachute school. She
funded her studies by working in a uniform factory.”
Valentina is a winsome song, all grace and refinement with the delicate acoustic guitar and Findlay’s graceful vocals bestowing an air of sepia tinged summer days that never end to this fine-grained tale. You have to take the time to listen to the lyrics as you let the music wash over you, leaving you calm and collected and with a feeling that all is well with the world.
‘Put it all on a piebald bow-legged mare She just backed off put her tail up in the air I hung my head in shame There’s only one sure thing Gonna lose my queen to the sport of kings’
“This came from the second Ely writing session. It was the
day after Sherburn and Napier’s first festival outing at Ely
Folk Festival. On the way down to Ely I read The Guardian
obituary of Sir Henry Cecil and that’s what inspired this
tale of gambling and womanizing. I stress that this song is
only loosely based on his life.”
Let’s head back to early 1900’s America for the pared back, sparse country blues, guitar-picking feel to The Sport Of Kings. The lap-steel guitar is brilliant and gives the song that huge nostalgic feel of old-school saloons and the depression era United States. I found myself reminiscing about the great Bugsy Malone film from the mid 70’s (yes, I am that old to have seen it at the cinema) and gangsters and their molls, an amusing look back at the life of one of horse racing’s greats transported to a whole different era.
‘I know you’ve heard this all before I cannot tell a lie Of how I flew with aces high Young men in the war But there is nothing you can do When the bugle calls You don’t feel quite so brave somehow When an angel falls’
“The more I read about Jimmie Angel the wilder his story
becomes. There’s still time for someone to make the film.
We squeezed his life into three sections but each verse
could have been expanded into a VIP song on its own.
One of the first recordings of this song, from Boo’s back
garden, contains a marvellous moment when a light
aeroplane passes overhead.”
When I was a boy I was fascinated by the story of how Jimmy Angel crashed his plane into a waterfall in Venezuala thereby finding the highest waterfall in the wrorld and having his name bestowed upon it so I was really interested in hearing this song. Angel Falls is a tribute the man who was larger than life, a beautiful piece of emotive songwriting and really brings a lump to your throat. The perfectly simple and uncomplicated music brings pathos to the song and Findlay’s plaintive vocal is delivered with poignant sentiment, a fitting tribute to a man who bestrode the world he lived in.
Five extra tracks were released on the companion ‘Very Interesting Extras’, two months after the original album…
‘Suspended from the gods you spin The rope’s about to break Bound in danger locked and chained How will you escape?’
“Although the song is now about Harry Houdini, when
I started it I was using escape artist imagery to view the
troubled life of Amy Winehouse: the idea of giving the
audience something astounding, beautiful and personal
and then the media machine says ‘Okay. That’s great.
What’s next? We want more and bigger and better and
more and…’
The gentle banjo and piano give How Will You Escape an old school Americana/Country feel of the wistful old days, regret and fifteen minutes of fame that never lasts. The vocals are bitter sweet and match the frailness of the music perfectly. It is a graceful track but one which hides much pain and remorse and leaves you feeling slightly sad and sombre.
‘Princess Rosanna graceful and tall Was she pushed or did she fall Didn’t make the front page just an inch or two inside Princess Rosanna drowned in the Clyde’
“I like a snappy title…
This is another running song. I wrote it while running
down the side of the Clyde between Glasgow Green and
Pacific Quay.
Someone had spray painted ‘RIP Princess Rosanna’ in
foot-high luminous pink letters underneath Jamaica St
Bridge. I’ve never really been sure of who Rosanna is. By
the time I went back to photograph the graffiti the City
Council had removed it and all that was left was a faded
RIP and the letter ‘R’.”
A proper singer/songwriter track, Princess Rosanna Drowned in the Clyde is one man and his guitar that has a feel of Richard Thompson or Steven Stills about it. The powerful strumming of the acoustic guitar and Findlay’s dynamic vocal inject it with realism. It gets under your skin, the way this musician can conjure up a story from graffiti written on a bridge, a believable tale of a life lost is incredible and leaves you reflective and thoughtful as it closes out.
‘So Des what’s with the personalized plate What’s with the paint job, the alloys, on this council estate So Des is that number, which begins 52, A badge for the crisis you’re driving into’
“I wrote the words to this while I was out running in the
East End of Glasgow.
52DES was a real number plate of a real dark blue BMW
M sport. I had run up over Haghill, down over Duke Street
and west along the Gallowgate and had seen the car parked
outside a dodgy looking tenement building.
The last line came from every heist movie I have ever
watched. There’s always some idiot who flashes their illgotten
gains too soon. Like Lester Freamon says in The
Wire, ‘Follow the money.’”
There’s a real feel of Oasis’ Half The World Away throughout 52Des, a sort of ‘homegrown’ track where Findlay’s inventive songwriting mind weaves a tale from nothing more than a number plate on a flash BMW parked outside a’dodgy tenement building’. Unhurried and laid back, it has a sarcastic humour at its core but is delivered in a sweet, sugar-coated manner. The elegantly strummed acoustic guitar and Findlay’s languid vocal add a nonchalant touch to this great little song.
‘After the last bell rings Will I be on my own Sleeping beneath the stars Nowhere to call home A million lights above me When all I want is one Will I be on my own After the last bell rings’
“‘After the Last Bell Rings’ was inspired by two things. The
spark of the idea was a joke Chris Sherburn used to tell at
Last Night Fun gigs. Just as Nick Scott was about to play a
beautiful, and long, slow air on the uilleann pipes, Chris
would invite the audience to stack their chairs quietly
during the performance, supposedly to save time at the
end of the night.
The rest of the song is based round the end of every Sunday
Funday at the open mic night in Bar Bloc, Glasgow. I used
to run the night there with Louis Abbott and Jamie Sturt.
After twelve hours of music and drinking the musicians of
Glasgow still had the energy to keep partying into the early
hours of Monday morning.”
A proper slice of Americana inspired country music, After The Last Bell Rings leaves you feeling that you really could be in a saloon bar in Texas listening to some good ol’ boys playing this fantastic song. The guitars are note perfect and Findlay has an easygoing, insouciant tone to his carefree vocals. A song for lazy days and drinking whiskey, the lap-steel solo is jaw-droppingly good, breathe in the tobacco soaked atmosphere of the old days and just enjoy brilliant music delivered in a simple but impressive fashion.
‘I don’t why I never grew The world too much for me Fell in with clowns and acrobats Nothing else to be I saw the limelight of New York I saw the Golden Mile A life as memorabilia I was here to make you smile’
“Film maker Jono McLeod, one of the major pledgers for
the VIP project, asked Boo and I to write him a song. The
song was to be about his Uncle, an actor,comedian and
Very Interesting Person called Jimmy Mac.”
Songs about true life always seem to throw up the most interesting stories and this elegantly delivered tale of Jimmy Mac’s marriage to a circus midget called Winnie Yelland and the media circus that surrounded it is no exception. Brilliant delivered mainly using a simple banjo and Findlay’s cultured vocal, it has a smooth class about it that exudes from every line. When the violin joins in it takes on a touch of the gypsey/traveller music that you would have heard from travelling Circus performers in the early decades of the 20th Century. The charming chorus really lingers on your mind, I found my self singing it for hours after. The addition of a harmonium is just genius and it is that instrument that brings the song, and this review to a most satisfying end.
I’ve found that over the last few months I’ve really taken a liking to the Scottish folk and singer/songwriter scene and , to me, Findlay Napier is right there at the vanguard of these new artists that are coming to the fore. Brilliantly composed songs with humour and pathos, written about people and places that this gifted musician knows and appreciates. You almost feel humbled that he wants to share them with you and I can’t wait for the next chapter in his tales of life and love in Scotland and afar.
‘Very Interesting Persons’ was released on 1st December 2015 and you can buy it from bandcamp here:
What draws you to a new album, a new piece of music or a band you have never heard before?
Quite often for me it is the album art, sometimes the art alone is quite evocative and full of meaning and the music is, well, not! But most of the time, if I like an album cover at first glance it tends to be that the music will be good too.
When I first saw the artwork for ‘Light In Chaos’, the new album from French band Siljan, I was impressed by the contrast between darkness and the light coming out of the clouds, impressed enough to want to hear the music for definite…
Siljan hail from France, they were formed in October 2015 by Guillaume Arnaud (guitar/vocals), Guillaume Lehagre (bass) and Jules Pelletier (drums).
Named after a lake in Sweden (formed by a meteora and red in colour), the band performs a musical fusion between alternative and progressive styles, inspired by the complexity of prog music and influenced by the energy of the alternative and post metal scene.
The main criteria is above all to show a continuity between studio performance and live gigs, based on groove.
Siljan recorded and mixed Light in Chaos at Blackwhale Studio, Aubagne, France in the summer of 2016. Unfortunately Guillaume Lehagre had to leave the band for professional and family reasons just after the recording sessions, and was replaced by Yoann Colomb. After a year of writing and recording, the band is ready to play ‘Light In Chaos’ live for the first time in 2017.
‘Light In Chaos’ is an album that talks about wandering, solitude, lack of communication, chaos theory, faith in humanity, ecology, feminism, loss and mourning.
First track Stockholm is full of edgy guitars and intricate drumming all brought together by some stylish bass guitar. It takes me a few seconds to tune into the plaintive vocals but their fragile edge gives the track extra pathos and meaning. To be fair, I wouldn’t call this metal, it’s more progressive and restive than that and flows beautifully from beginning to end. This first song really does echo the moody artwork and my hopes are high for the rest of the album. Rewind opens with a powerful and expansive riff that knock you back for a second before things take a step back and become altogether more reflective. There’s quite an intense chorus with the low key vocals coming to the fore. This track harks back a little to 90’s grunge with the fuzzy guitar work and dynamic drums and, all the time, that impressive bass playing keeps things moving along at a fair lick. There’s a lovely interlude just over half way through with some delightfully light and airy guitar work before it opens up into the catchy chorus again and then closes with that staccato riff.
A full on and in your face riff opens Hollow Words as we move more into a distinctive metal style. The vocals remind me a bit of Creed and the whole track does have a feeling of that alternative metal scene. Charismatic and potent, this song really stamps its authority on your mind as these three excellent musicians work together in harmony to deliver great music. A guitar solo reminiscent of Audioslave with it’s Morse Code style adds a clever touch to what is a really addictive track and one that will definitely become an earworm. Title track Light In Chaos sees the bass really take centre stage and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers influence is there, front and centre. The most instantly accessible song on the album, it has a jazzy, upbeat vibe to it that is really infectious and the vocals mirror this. The grin-inducing funky guitar is the driving force here, adding a vitality and busy feel to the track. An instant toe-tapper if ever I’ve heard one.
Hunting Day brings the full on rock facade back with its insistent hefty riffing and forceful drums. A step back is taken and the vocals have a sincere quality, low and meaningful. A touch of melancholy has entered the music, a wistful and pensive tone to the vocals and a definitive seriousness pervades all. Intelligent songwriting and a maturity runs throughout the album and it is one that I have returned to many time recently. An impishness hits me with the skipping guitar beat that introduces Consolation. A more considered track, not exactly highbrow but without the raw forceful tone of the heavier songs on this release, nostalgic and regretful almost. Listen to the intricate musicianship that is delivered, these are accomplished musicians and its shows. A thoughtful and sedate piece of music that leaves you in a contemplative frame of mind.
Red Waters begins with a dominant, driving riff that immediately grabs your attention, there’s a reckless and excitable feel to the music, the vocals are nervous and impatient. A modern power trio, this track shows Siljan can rock out with the best, its unrelenting and incessant sub-plot means you are really on edge and cannot sit still. I like the oasis of calm that appears like a mirage in the middle of the track, everything taking a moment of reflection, allowing you to get your breath back. The resoluteness returns to take us to a emphatic and forceful close. The album comes to a close with the excellent instrumental Dawn. Like a calming walk through a pastoral and tranquil soundscape, there’s a serene and placid aura that surrounds this track. I find my heartbeat slows significantly and I feel at peace with myself and my surroundings, musical feng shui if you like. More than once I found myself immediately returning to the unruffled repose promised by these three exemplary musicians on this captivating piece of music.
A darkly emotive musical journey at times, ‘Light In Chaos’ is music that resonates with you at a deeper level. These are wonderfully evocative songs that move between the dark and the light to deliver a superb immersive experience and Siljan are surely going to be a force to be reckoned with, my recommendation is that you buy it as soon as possible!
So, the opportunity to review an album from a new band. Not just a new band but one from Leeds, where I grew up. We’re a proud bunch us Yorkshire folk and we like to think whatever we do is quality. One look at their website shows they’re not a young bunch so I would expect them to carry some hefty experience in with their music.
They say their influences are from the 70’s and 80’s pioneers, should I worry? You see I was and still am a big fan of the music and bands of the Neo-Prog era and wary of this current trend for new bands emerging and trying to imitate 70’s/80’s sounds. A lot of it leaves me cold. Progressive music should be just that, not regressive. So Gentlemen you now have your work cut out to convince me, as fellow Yorkshiremen I expect great things.
So lads and lasses daft enough to read this, let me introduce to you This Winter Machine:
Mark Numan – Keyboards and Backing vocals
Marcus – Drums
Jevo – Guitars
Pete – Bass
Al – Vocals
A piano intro floats above a noisy crowd introducing us to The Man Who Never Was, and a lone mournful guitar with Marillion like keys drift in as the crowd disperse and the bass, drums and vocals complete the contemplative sound. Broken into four parts, ‘(i) Asleep’ shows a changed man reflecting on the mistakes of the person he was, before ‘(ii) Dreaming’ of the mistakes which have brought him down to his current state. At his lowest ebb he stands in the ‘(iii) Snow’ on the brink, when realisation dawns and he knows what he needs to do to try and shed the past. Now ‘(iv) Awake’, he sees where he went wrong, but ignoring the voices in his head, carries on.
You get caught in the endless merry go round that is life and not always on The Wheel you would like to ride. It can be a cold vicious circle quite bleak, leaving a chill in your soul from the introductory mournful guitar. The lyrics betraying the confusion and desperation of choices and temptation leading you down the wrong path in a driving riff and insistent rhythm, to search for something you may never find.
After the cold winter wind of the last two tracks, this starts sweetly with a guitar chord Lullabyand the sound of a happy young child playing only to be crushed by a doom laden synth sound and crying guitar as the pace picks up in this pleasant instrumental.
I’m sat writing this on a cold, damp rainy day but that is not the feeling I get from this album. Despite the despairing lyrics the cover of the album is more indicative of the mood, across a chilly snow laden scene but with an air of calm.
The loss in a relationship, holding on for a reconciliation that will never materialize After Tomorrow Comesin the wistful yearning of the melody and heartfelt words. Sometimes no matter how hard you want something it won’t happen.
Fifth and final track Fractured shows the excellent quality of the musicians as all are given chances to shine, with Marcus’ flailing drums especially to the fore and the pumping bass from Pete pulsating throughout. Al sings of fractured lives and yet we still go on ‘confused and undecided’ as the gang pick up the pace with the bubbling keys from Mark and a delicious final guitar solo from Jevo sees us out.
Only five tracks on this and leaves me wanting more. Yes they are derivative in places with comparisons from Marillion to IQ, Pendragon and every other band of this ilk, but it works. Their recent support of Magnum shows their worth.
All the band members are on their game and despite the emotional heft of the lyrics I found it most enjoyable, particularly the guitar solos. Though I hate to praise any member of a band more than the others, Jevo plays the sort of guitar I could listen to all day, echoing the likes of Steve Rothery, Mike Holmes and Nick Barrett and holding his own quite capably.
If a band is to wave the flag for a modern evolution of a Neo-Prog revival and raise the standard for the white rose of the independent state of Yorkshire and our beloved country, then let’s hand the banner to This Winter Machine and let them run with it. I for one would like to see what impressions they can leave in the deep snows of winter and carry them forward to a bright future. It could end up bright and we may need shades.
The album is available now, brighten up your winter and grab a copy, I intend to.
Welcome to Napier’s Bones’ fourth outing and they have decided to create their own mythology for this new album, ‘Alpha-Omega Man’.
A rare thing for me to quote biblical/religious texts but it’s appropriate
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
I have played and played this to get to the core of the meaning but I believe it has many levels for those willing to look. Gordon Midgely and Nathan Jon Tillet have, in the previous albums, looked at local and/or established mythology and drawn that their inspiration from that. Tregeagles Choice, which is referenced in the track Without Sentimentbeing an old legend form the south west.
This album appears to be the journey of the creation of a Messiah or Deity figure from its formation in some unseen mechanism attached to tubes and machines, comatose awaiting consciousness. This is essentially Awakening, the opening track. A being out of time and space cast adrift on the oceans of an empty void. The music is classic prog with Mellotron and guitar work and what sounds like analogue Moog synths. At 13 minutes long I could go down a black hole of paranoia and ‘End of Day’s’ language in massive volume here but I won’t, I promise.
The Messengers, a distant American News Anchor tells us of an all seeing, all knowing news service bringing harmony from discord, from Alpha to Omega. Heavy fuzzed bass and guitar with a mono synth is the insistent back drop. The voice of the creator in the void that our hero inhabits.
Leading Straight into Citizen, we finally hear the voice of the Alpha-Omega Man. The music makes you feel like you are travelling, a solid pressing bass line and massively distorted guitar solo of which John Lees or Andy Latimer would be proud. He surfaces slowly into the next track Hypno-Sapiens, a suitably ethereal track fitting its name and place.
You could take the concept of this album as that of a comatose man recovering from a near death experience, slowly lifting from the darkness. You could also take this as the second coming of the messiah from Judeo-Christian mythology, placed into a modern framing of St John’s Revelation.
I will not go track by track for the rest but, instead, I suggest you listen to them and seek your own meaning. I don’t want to spoil the ending either.
Musically I think that we have a definite ‘Napier’s Bones’ sound that makes them distinct from other bands and it is definitely one for the classic Prog fan. It is prog at its most ‘proggiest’, theatre, sci fi, mythology, death and deity all rolled into a musical epic. 3 tracks coming in over 11 minutes and a narrative that runs true from end to end. Yet, it is neither pretentious nor self indulgent, it is Gordon and Nathan pushing their musical boundaries out of the comfort zone of the previous albums to see where they can go musically.
Fans of The Tangent, Camel, Barclay James Harvest, Genesis, Big Big Train and their ilk will find something of worth here, but not in a plagiarist’s way.
Whilst most people who have read my reviews over the past 20 odd years for various places like the Classic Rock Society and here know I love me my prog, what you probably don’t realise, or hadn’t noticed was how much I love my folk music as well. I think it’s probably the yin to the yang, with the less is more emphasis that folk music has being as fulfilling as the intricate complexity of progressive releases.
David Elliott of Bad Elephant Music is also a massive folk, folk/rock music fan as well, and after the success of their reissue of Twice Bitten’s‘Late Cut’ album late 2015, there has been demand for the reissue of ‘Flightless’, Rog Patterson’s solo album originally released back in 1989 on vinyl.
So here it is, finally on CD and download, the original 6 tracks remastered and enhanced by three demo versions of tracks that would have appeared on the next album, had Rog actually recorded it!
When ‘Flightless’ was released Rog toured extensively, supporting such luminaries as Fairport Convention, Roy Harper and John Martyn amongst others, and it is into this arena that ‘Flightless’ nicely sits.
A solo album in the complete sense, where Rog plays guitar, basses, vocals and pretty much everything else, the 6 tracks on this album, are some mighty fine English folk prog, and the emphasis here is as much on the vocals as the music, as whilst Rog is an absolutely sublime guitarist (a touch of the Ant Phillips here, the Bert Jansch’s there) he is also an incredibly intelligent lyricist and observer. In fact both vocally and lyrically there is a shade of Bob Pegg about him, but I think that’s as much to do with the accent and attitude, as both men have a unique rather specific political world view, and this is reflected in the songs on here.
To a lot of people folk music is stereotyped as some twiddly nonsense with violins and Morris dancers, to those people who think that way I say ‘Poppycock’, folk music in its truest and strongest sense is the voice of the people, the voice of protest and the most potent form of politicised music possible, and like many others in that ilk, Rog uses this music to put across his concerns in a strong musical style.
From the opening An Englishman’s Home, with it’s well observed vocals and intricate guitar work from Rog, a pattern that will repeat throughout the album, it sets the tone for the rest of the album, and is the shortest track on the album.
Rogs acoustic prog roots show throughout the album, with Ergo Sum clocking in at 9 minutes plus has some of Rogs beautifully intricate guitar playing and strong lyrics railing against the Lords of the manor taking what they think is there right, the pounding bass and acoustic guitar drives the song along as Rogs passionate vocals weave in elements of Robin Hood, and rail against Mans stupidity in following the wrong leader (as apt now as it was then, maybe even more so) and as it builds, it draws you in and it astonishes me how a complex and intricate piece of music like this achieves its power by minimal instrumentation.
Party Piece has a wonderful cyclical riff, with some great lyrics about the human condition, Rogs observant lyrics reflecting the obsessions of youth, and, as is evident throughout the album, Rog is one of those vocalists who doesn’t just sing a song, he lives it, and the closing part has an element of Jethro Tull to it, which is no bad comparison, as both Rog and Ian Anderson have a keen eye for human observations.
Speak for Yourself has a funky riff and another politically astute lyric, suggesting that people think for themselves rather than following the pack.
Conclusions is another epic on the album, clocking in at over 7 minutes long, with it’s brilliant guitar work, and the way Rog manages to make the guitars and bass sound like a much larger band, is a great skill, and brings the most out of this fantastic track that has some fantastic acoustic and slide guitar work, with an almost classical feel, again reminiscent of the work of Ant Phillips, and another impassioned vocal, as Rog lives the song, and builds it to it’s epic conclusion.
Another great example of where less is more when it comes to instrumentation and production.
The original closing track Flightless, the 12 minutes title track, is, as Rog describes the musical interpretation of Becketts Knapps Last Tape, which is a song about itself basically, referencing how it came to be, and how Rog ended up where he ended up, again wrapped up in some of that wonderful guitar work and vocals, rounding the original album on a high.
The three bonus tracks (Alien, Couldn’t HappenHere & The Name Of The Rose) all showcase the way that Rog was intending to go if he’d managed to get his next solo album finished (a work rate that makes Tom Slatter look like Prince by comparison..) and are fantastic additions to the album, rounding out the work of this period.
This is a great-lost folk/prog/protest album that ticks all the right boxes musically and lyrically, well observed, well produced and an intelligent and emotive listen that will finally get the recognition it deserves.
It’s just a shame that nearly 30 years on from it’s release, the political and human concerns observed on here are still current, and still causes for concern today.
Formed in 2010 by former members of Drift Effect and Morning Society, Meridian Incident (comprised of Ray Smart, Marc Hedman-Dennis, Adam Schmid and Tom Trenka) is a progressive rock group with a longstanding history of playing together on some of the Twin Cities’ most prominent stages. With a sound reminicent of A Perfect Circle, Tool, Porcupine Tree and a touch of Pink Floyd, MI is a tour-de-force of compositional and technical artistry.
I first connected with Meridian Incident through the positive power of social media. The band had shared a sponsored video for the track Yellow Wings on Facebook and I had a listen and thought to myself that I’d heard something just a bit special. I contacted the band and then things went on from there with me receiving their new album ‘Istology’ for review.
A concept album about an intriguing hero or heroine that lives in all of us, the forthcoming ‘Istology’ is based on a screen play (written by Ray Smart) that tells the story of Janey, a girl tormented by abuse as a child who embarks on an unbeaten path of self-discovery. Subtly including iconic worldwide spiritual imagery, ‘Istology’ follows Janey through a journey plagued by shadows of self-destruction and loathing, to a place of understanding and acceptance of self. The album tells Janey’s story as she evolves through a remarkable transformation: learning to overcome, learning to love, and finally learning to trust.
So, a complex story then but would the music actually be any good? Read on and find out…
Opening track Scene 13 is very much a scene setter with its laid back and measured introduction that you feel is just building up to something much more imposing. Layers get added to increase the complexity and the vocals begin, weaving their story into your psyche. Ray has a really good voice, complex and full of meaning and uses it to great effect throughout the album. The tension builds more and more as the tempo increases slightly and Ray gets more passion and even a hint of menace in his voice. The song begins to open up with Adam’s powerful drums and Marc hits us with some intense guitar work, Tom’s bass driving the whole thing. A really intense musical workout to get your synapses sparking.
Title track Istology opens with 90’s grunge inspired riffing and drums before Ray channels his inner Eddie Vedder and we are treated to a really classy track with an abundance of energy and dynamism. I was a huge Pearl Jam fan back in the day and this song reminds me a lot of those times with the lighter calmer verses being accompanied by the heavier chorus and that really addictive riffing. There’s a nice break in the middle where Marc gets to show off his technique to the full before some punchy riffage gets us back on course. It’s like 90’s grunge brought bang up to date and, to my ears anyway, works extremely well.
Yellow Wings is the song that got me interested in this band in the first place, I love its heartfelt lyrics and Ray’s voice delivers perfectly. An ardent track that bleeds sincerity, especially on the fervent and moving chorus. There’s a staccato backbeat running throughout, delivered by guitar and drums to give the song and edgy feel at times before the emotionally poignant chorus delivers its knockout blow and Marc hits us with a solo utterly infused with pathos and sentiment. Listening to the track while I’m writing this review just brings back the goosebumps I felt on first listen, a truly powerful and emotive song typified by the expressive guitar and vocals.
Let’s take a more mellow and benign route with In The Wake Of My Own, a laid back and chilled song that still has a lot of meaning and poignance underneath the surface. There is wistful feel to the music and Ray’s vocal has sentimentality at the core. Think of hazy summer days and sepia tinged nostalgia, a superbly calming influence runs throughout this amiable track and as it comes to a close you feel like a weight has been lifted from your whole being.
The album segues straight into Along The Shore, an intricate drum-led introduction leaves a haunting impression on my mind, the distant voices and vibrating guitars give a persistant edginess and disturbed aura to everything. It’s a restless and uneasy instrumental that leaves questions in your mind.
Where the previous track left an uneasy feeling, When The Tide Carries The Lotus is an utterly relaxing three minutes of instrumental bliss. Piano led, it is like a gently flowing stream finding its own course through your mind. I felt a feeling of beatific serenity fall over me as each note played out and, as it faded out, I was left with a smile on my face and peace in my heart.
Hallowed opens with a subtle guitar tone and the continuously impressive drums leading the way. Ray’s earnest vocals have something of a hazy feel to them. The track continues to meander gently along, tranquil and somewhat bucolic, an elegant piece of music with lasting emotion at its centre. A more serious tone seeps in as the guitar is unleashed with more ferocity and Ray’s vocal soars to join it before Marc let’s loose a powerful, stirring solo that leads to an impassioned close.
Yellow Wings (Reprise) is a more circumspect version of the track, opening in a judicious manner with a staccato riff and Ray’s almost indistinct vocals. The pace is turned down a notch and the sentiment increased to give it a pared back yet stylish feel. The powerful emotion of the original is replaced with something more subtle and considerate without losing any of the intent. There’s a dynamic instrumental section which, though short, injects some authority into proceedings and Ray’s excellent vocal is present and correct as ever. A refined and suggestive version that stands comparison in its own right and I love the way it closes out.
A pensive and somber guitar opens The Mirror Stares Back and Ray’s ominous vocal joins in to give a quite oppressive solemness to the track. It creeps along in a reflective and preoccupied manner leaving you almost mesmerised with the suspense. A clever use of music to affect your mood and immerse you in the storyline. As the volume increases so does the apprehension and tension, almost becoming unbearable before the song comes to a close and the shackles are unlocked.
And we segue straight into the heavy riffing opening to Shadows, the Soothsayer. A quite hypnotic guitar and drums leave you in a trance like state as the short instrumental gets under your skin, insinuating itself into your very being. A high energy, almost manic close-out leaves you breathless.
Alternative and grunge combine to good effect on Echo In The Water. A low key opening very reminiscent of Porcupine Tree in the early days catches your attention with its subtle complexities. There is some great bass playing and the guitar and drums combine to lead the story on as Ray adds nuances to his vocal delivery. A perceptive and probing track that scores on many levels. There’s a great guitar solo full of meaning and significance and the song breaks out into a hard rocking finish that leaves you properly sated.
There’s no break before we rush headlong into Wind Through The Bodhi Leaves, a potently compelling two minutes that just blows you away as it increases in force and demeanour before blowing out like an almighty backdraft and leading in the composed and sedate Mer De Lumieres, the antithesis of the chaos that came before. It calms your fevered brow and lowers your heart rate before we come to the last track on the album.
Wistful and winsome, Diaspora, Under A Red Sky is a sea of calm serenity that just washes over your tortured soul. From the sublime guitars and gentle drums to Ray’s ethereal like vocals, it has an almost ghost-like and intangible feel, like something just out of reach, a musical mirage that teases you with its benign and soothing tranquility. Graceful music and vocals combine to deliver just under five minutes of music that restores and invigorates your very being.
‘Istology’ is a musical drama and journey that ebbs and flows over it’s sixty minutes to leave the listener completely sated. There’s a subtle intelligence at the core of this release and it is delivered by four musicians at the height of their powers. It should be taken in one complete listen to get the full experience and you will come out of the other end an altogether better and happier person for it.
I have been listening to more laid back, contemplative music recently and really enjoyed some great folk music as well but, every now and again, you need something to blow the cobwebs away.
An email came into Progradar Towers from my friend Matt Benton at Hold Tight PR…
“After a two year hiatus, Canadian melodic proggers Slyde are back with their new EP ‘Back Again’. Four tracks of intricate, contrapuntal technical prog-rock, the band’s new release is set to land on February 17. For fans of Haken, Coheed and Cambria, Rush, Dream Theater, etc, Slyde‘s music is driven by the clean vocals of frontman Nathan Da Silva and the powering keyboards of Sarah Westbrook; a beguiling fourpiece with an impressive return to form.”
Being a massive fan of Coheed and Cambria and Haken, that was enough to get me intrigued so I decided to delve into Slyde‘s new four track E.P. ‘Back Again’ and see whether the reality could live up to the promise.
A concept EP, ‘Back Again’ continues to explore the links between environmentalism and the wider world, with a sci-fi twist. Following 2011’s EP ‘Feed The Machine’, which discussed the cyclical pattern of civilization between ‘The Machine’ and ‘The Consciousness’, and 2012’s EP ‘New World Sympathy’, which tackled oil industry and the injustices of mining companies, the new EP ‘Back Again’ traces a similar theme. Lead track Fading centres on the idea of extraterrestrial beings observing Earth and its civilization, but drawing back, due to humanity’s violent and destructive nature. Similarly, the title track Back Againrevolves around the Pale Blue Dot concept and the beauty of our world, which is often overlooked and uncherished by society.
Making up the rest of the band are Alberto Campuzano (bass guitar & backing vocals) and Brendan Soares (drums & backing vocals).
Fading gives no warning and no chance to catch your breath, the riff-heavy opening bars break into tight, if manic, and convoluted keyboard and guitar section before Nathan’s vocals join in and, yes, they do sound a lot like an early Coheed & Cambria but, trust me on this, that is no bad thing. Superb musicianship is at the fore here, just listen to the incredibly intense and intricate short-lived solo that rears up, incandescent and fiery before leaving you with seared eardrums. At times it almost verges on speed metal, such is the breakneck pace but it always has that progressive sensibility at the core. A visceral but incredibly enjoyable listening experience.
A nice 80’s synth inspired intro opens Join The Parade, a track that adds a funky, jazz feeling vibe to the technical wizardry. I really like Nathan Da Silva’s vocal delivery, it has a really unique sound, quite high pitched, that really fits the music. The musicians have turned down the intensity from 10, but only maybe to 8, and the vibe is more relaxed but only like a Tiger is relaxed if you sedate it. Powerful and intense instrumental sections show that this Canadian four piece are ploughing a not inconsiderable furrow with this new E.P. and their prowess is undeniable but what takes it up another notch is the intelligent songwriting which is entirely evident on this impressive track.
A thunderously entertaining song, Divide hoves into view like some elemental behemoth with its forceful and energetic riffs and compelling drumbeats. Like the bastard offspring of a union between early Rush, Haken and Coheed & Cambria it consumes everything before it. The vocals are edgier and more authoritative and the brilliant interplay between keys and twin guitars on the solo in the middle of the track is genius. A track that is immediately accessible but has layers of intricacy, it really does demand repeated listens, just listen to the solemn piano led close out!
The title track is a much more subtle and cultured affair, almost mainstream in its delivery. Back Again is more complex than it would first appear. Insightful lyrics and Nathan’s wistful and contemplative vocal give it a nostalgic feel. The staccato, slightly offbeat rhythm is a nice touch and , as you get further into the song, the music begins to remind me of Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls but with a lot more complexity. This song has layers and layers of impressive multiplicity from the energetic drums to the refined bass playing and it is all held together by the notably imposing guitar playing and Nathan’s signature vocals. A really sophisticated and refined ending to the E.P.
Not just an epic heavy prog-fest, Slyde have delivered an intelligent and compelling 4-track E.P. that hints at much promise to come from this Canadian four piece. It’s on my i-pod for repeated listens and I can see it staying there for some time to come. ‘Back Again’ should be the catalyst that takes this impressive band on the next step to the recognition they truly deserve.
I feel like I am playing catch up here to be honest. ‘Do Not Disturb’ has been on my ‘to purchase’ list for a while but something always conspired to prevent me. I bought ‘Trisector’ the week it was released, like many in hope of a rebirth and a recharge of my passion for VDGG. I was disappointed, probably because expectation was too high, but I ashamedly did not rate it or give it the attention that VDGG’s music needs to have be appreciated.
Back to ‘Do Not Disturb’, though I have read other reviews of it long before I knew I was going to look at it from my critic’s perspective. I will try not to let the views of others seep into my piece but parallels will be drawn.
Messrs Hammill , Evans and Banton are past masters of Prog and Progression, ploughing their own furrow in a field of innovation and challenge. Peter Hammill famously being influential to the likes of Johnny Lydon and Fish, amongst others, in vocal style and lyrical content. They were the outsiders of the golden era of Prog even pushing the limits of rhythm and tone in an epic way.
The album comes out of the starting gate with a real shocker, Aloft, an ethereal and very open track that slowly bleeds into an urgent, intense examination of the avoidance of life by forever moving forward but never back. The fear that if you stop you will fall being the thematic key in this song, but fear not, the old intense rhythmic atonal VDGG kicks in from nowhere without missing a step, relieving any fear that they had given up on their identity.
Alfa Berlina comes straight from the past, Hugh Banton provides a silky Hammond backdrop that seems to speak of human frailty and what makes us human as a condition of the sum of our memories. I say seem as I am trying to interpret the lyrical content and I hesitate to second guess these guys. This is actually a sing-a-long VDGG with a discernible hook. A late 60s Psychedelia straight from the UFO club complete with oil slides, or maybe that’s just in my head?
Forever Falling is incredibly accessible with a chugging guitar riff carrying you along that could easily fit into an 80s King Crimson or Talking Heads bandwidth. It works because it’s not impersonation, it’s pure VDGG running with an idea to see what happens.
(Oh No! I must have said) Yes, What can I say about this track? It’s a high point and stood out on the first play through. This is classic VDGG and stands next to the classic tracks of old. I ask how the hell do you write the organised chaos and drag it back through a jazz feel and back through entropy to tease the listener? It has been mooted that this is an exercise in Evans et al doing a VDGG history through one song but I kind of hope that it’s more like they found a groove and followed it to its natural end.
Go, the closing track, is the guys going down the route of old school Krautrock and putting a different spin on it. It’s all atmosphere with a stillness all its own.
The album has tonnes of light and shade and isn’t mired in the past or shackled by it. It has very tight production and, as you would expect, the musicianship is off the chart. I don’t think I heard a bar of 4/4 rhythm from Guy Evans or, conversely, any contrived attempts to be clever. It crosses genres from jazz to progressive and onto electronic.
If this is the end of studio music for Van Der Graaf Generator,as has been inferred by the band, then it is a fitting album to end on. Unlucky thirteenth studio album? Well I don’t think so at all.
Orenda n. [aw-ren-duh]
1. A supernatural force believed by the Iroquois Indians to be present, in varying degrees, in all objects or persons, and to be the spiritual force by which human accomplishment is attained or accounted for.
“A dormant potential to create exists within all human beings. It unconsciously binds the species at large. Most people just never unlock it. With Our Arms To The Sun examine that precious and potent power on their 2016 full-length concept album, ‘Orenda’. Painting in hues of rock, alternative, and metal, their cinematic sound blankets a curious canvas of Arizona Desert, weaving together a sonic journey to self-actualization for the quartet – Josh Breckenridge (vocals, guitar), Joseph Leary (guitar, programming), Joseph Breckenridge (bass), and John McLucas (drums).”
“Orenda is that hidden power inside all of us,” says Josh. “The character in the album is discovering it. You can’t really transcend your own ego, shadow, or bullshit unless you make a connection with what whatever that obstacle is inside of you, eliminate it, and move past it. That’s what the new music is about.”
One of the great joys of writing about music is following an artist from their early beginnings, fumbling around, learning how to make their music better and more involving and seeing how they progress album on album.
I get a real buzz and satisfaction from seeing some of these artists mature into incredibly talented bands and individuals who create some of the most impressive music to be heard today.
One such band is Arizona’s With Our Arms To The Sun, a quartet who create cinematic experimental music from the middle of nowhere in the Arizona desert. I have been a long time fan and supporter from their first album and have become friends with main man and guitarist Josh Breckenridge, enabling me to get early previews of any new music.
In early 2016, the group retreated to Los Angeles with a batch of demos and began pre-production on what would become ‘Orenda’ with legendary the Melvins founder Buzz Osborne. Josh and his bandmates holed up in a rental house “in the middle of nowhere Arizona” to track the music. They emerged with the 10 songs the comprise the new album.
This powerful band create epic soundscapes through the use of instrumental music but new album ‘Orenda’ sees them take a step into the unknown by adding vocals to the music. Could this be a step too far from what they have become known for or a logical evolution that sees them move to the next level of their career?
The opening track Disdain – Why I Am opens with a suspenseful gusting of wind before a humoungous riff crashes the party and blows any cobwebs from your psyche. Joshes anguished screams outlines the protagonists frustration. There is a real torment in the earnest vocal that follows, punctuated by that ever present riff, big enough to move mountains. The clever touch is the way the whole song just puts the breaks on with some really chilled out, mystical feeling guitar and bass, almost meditative in its delivery. There is a real feeling that this band made the step up to the big leagues with the quality of this song and, for a man who is no fan of growling vocals, I feel they add rather than distract to the whole experience. A pretty impressive opening it must be said.
A quite eerie guitar opens Memory – The Drift and the vocals have a dreamlike quality to them as they gently tread on your mental synapses and lull you into a quiet sense of security. It doesn’t last long as another riff hewn from solid granite blows away the mirage with its intensity. The vocals are more like a rhythmic chanting and give an aura of native mysticism to the song before a raw scream emerges from the depths. The track rolls along like an unstoppable force of nature, punctuated by periods of calm and reflection, allowing you to get your breath back. The vocals begin again, ardent and impassioned, backed by the incredibly powerful rhythm section and the arcane blasts of Josh’s intense guitar work, incredibly compelling music that demands your attention.
After the huge walls of sound that comprised the first two tracks, the mellow and reflective tones of Doorway to Clarity are a complete contrast, like a two minute break to get yourself together and contemplate how much the band have grown and developed with their new sound. It is deliberately thoughtful and a really chilled out piece of music.
First track released from the album Macrocosm – Prometheus relates to the character realising that he’s a piece of something bigger. It opens with a laid back feel as it begins to build. The guitar is expressive in its minimalism, an impression of a wide open space is conveyed by the vocals and music, an infinite blackness punctuated only by the stars. Hold that thought as the guitar takes on a harder, aggressive edge and the vocals become more like a chant, the hypnotic effect of the guitar takes over your mind and you begin to lose yourself in the vagaries of the intricate music. This is quite a demonstrative song, there is meaning and subtle definition in the music and it builds into a really brilliant song that leaves you nodding your head in appreciation. I especially like the way the song settles and closes out with the understated guitar at the core.
(Picture credit Melina Dellamarggio)
There is a real pathos and wistful note to Doorway to Realization, an emotive track and another two minute hiatus of composure. It has touch of 80’s electronica to my mind with the elegantly haunting piano that echoes in your mind, backed by Josh’s stirring vocals.
Considered and deliberate, Apex – 100 Year Dream opens at a leisurely pace. The vocals are low down and full of meaning before that immediately recognisable guitar sound takes over with another sonic powerhouse of a riff. I’ve tried to stay away from the ‘T’ word with this review but I really do get the feeling that these guys are channelling their inner Tool on this album and I say that because I honestly believe that they deserve comparison with bands of that calibre. The incredibly intense instrumental section that follows really does blow your mind and Josh’s vocals take on an angry edge. The elaborate and sophisticated music moves between the all encompassing dark heavy parts and the freedom of the lighter sections to create something totally immersive.
A native chant opens The War – Light The Shadows and leaves you feeling like you are in the middle of a sci-fi movie. There is a subtle build up as the song progresses, the hushed vocals combining with the understated music to create an air of mystery. This erupts into an authoritarian mantra with a potent riff driving it on. The music stops and the dominant chant continues to great effect before the all-powerful music takes over, the drums a particular highlight. This is a commanding and influential track that really delivers on the promise and just takes a step back into calmness and composure to close out stylishly.
The third quiet oasis ‘doorway’ is Doorway to Ascension a delicate instrumental that overlays spoken word to leave you ruminating on the whole theory of existence and life, the universe and everything in an introspective fashion.
Regret – Sailing Stones at the start is like an oasis of serenity and calmness, gentle guitars, subtle drums and Josh’s softly delivered vocal but it is only temporary before it erupts into a dynamic track full of raw aggression, screaming guitars and belligerent vocals as if the weight of the world is on its back. These two polar opposites survive in a musical world of juxtaposition challenging you to take sides in an urgent conflict. Another imposing song that feels like a force of eternal nature.
And so it comes to an end, the closing song Homebound – March of the Trees has an aura of finality to it, the conclusion to a journey of self-discovery and one that we have been privileged to bear witness to. Once again, a low key opening belies what is to follow, the forces of nature lead in an evolving guitar note that has an edge of suspense to it, only added to by the measured drumbeat. Josh’s chanting vocal has a world weary feel to it before it becomes an anguished cry full of a pensive melancholy. The whole track opens up into a huge panorama of sound occasionally allowing itself to become pared back before the pained aggression returns. This terrific sonic assault on the senses eventually closes out leaving you open mouthed and numb.
This is heavy and experimental progressive music from artists who are nearing the height of there already impressive powers. They create songs that ebb and flow between the intensely dark and the incredibly light and it is utterly addictive. With Our Arms To The Sun are an elemental force of musical nature, unstoppable in its voracity and deserve to be mixing it with the big boys and, on the strength of this incredibly impressive new release, they will be supping at the top table very soon!
Due to be released April 2017
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