Christiaan Bruin – Progradar

Review – Nine Stones Close – Diurnal

Nine Stones Close was conceived in 2008 as a solo project by Adrian Jones, the first CD, ‘St Lo’, was independently released in the Netherlands. Adrian received critical acclaim and visibility which inspired him the 2010 follow up ‘Traces’. The project grew into a band for when Adrian joined up with Brendan Eyre, Marc Atkinson and Neil Quarrell. 2012’s ‘One Eye on the Sunrise’ saw a further evolution of the band with returning members Atkinson and Eyre now joined by Peter Vink on bass and Pieter van Hoorn on drums.

In 2016 ‘Leaves’ featured a new line up; Adrian Jones and Pieter van Hoorn were joined by vocalist Adrian (Aio) O’Shaughnessy, Christiaan Bruin on keyboards and Peter Groen on bass. This album saw yet another evolution in the band’s sound, putting a new twist on an already unique and distinctive sound. In 2024, after a forced hiatus, the band has further evolved along with the music. Adrian Jones is joined by returning members Brendan Eyre, Adrian (Aio) O’Shaughnessy and Christian Bruin, alongside an energetic and skillful new rhythm section, Lars Spijkervet on drums and Joachim van Praag on bass.

A hugely inspired, creative and productive period of writing and recording led to the completion of two new albums, ‘Diurnal’ and ‘Adventures In Anhedonia’, both scheduled to be released in 2024.

‘Diurnal’ reflects on the arc of a day, and some of the internal dilemmas we all deal with from time to time. The album takes you from the uplifting dawn of a new day full of hope and beauty, through the high and lows of events and thoughts as the day’s events unfold, and finally to the moments of reflection as the sun sets at the end of the day.

If there is one phrase I could use to describe ‘Diurnal’ it would be emotively powerful, from the first notes of Birds, Insects and Kites you get a reflective feel but, as this intelligent instrumental builds, Adrian’s thunderous, bluesy guitar takes centre stage and it erupts into something much more primeval, aided and abetted with skill by the dynamic rhythm section. It is one hell of a powerful way to open an album and will have you awake and attentive, ready for the feast of music that is to come. The Veil is a short, connecting, instrumental piece that leaves a ghostly feeling of Scandinavian noir to my ears, all mysterious and questioning and sets the scene perfectly for the first track released from the album, the moody and pensive Ghosted. It’s a cultured piece of music that wouldn’t be out of place on a Pink Floyd album as Adrian Jones channels his inner Gilmour. Adrian O’Shaughnessy’s smoky hued, measured vocals are perfect for the mellow and undemanding mood that this über-stylish song invokes. The keyboards, drums and bass wash reflectively over you as Jones’ fine guitar playing just adds additional class to what is a really good track indeed.

This fine album, a refined melting pot of progressive rock, hard rock and metal, continues with the primeval brilliance of Angel of Flies, a track so heavy that it must have been hewn straight out of granite. Another song that builds up suspensefully before a grating, edgy guitar line and sumptuous bass break out, adding to the nervous anticipation. O’Shaughnessy’s voice just adds to the heaviness and has, to my ears anyway, a touch of Glenn Hughes at the height of his vocal powers and gives the track a subtle feel of early Led Zep in places (well, Led Zep on steroids maybe!), a feel that is enhanced by Jones’ outstanding guitar playing. There’s a real quality to the music, impressive songwriting and impeccable musicianship (a nod to the highly effective new rhythm section here) that just draws you in to the band’s immersive musical world. In Remembrance is another connective piece that just slows the heart rate down with its melancholy fragility, leaving you ready for the epic brilliance of Frustration-Sedation, at just under twelve minutes, a powerful, compelling and potent musical journey that hits you with its sonic magnitude from the first note. It’s a sinuous piece of music that ebbs and flows from a slow burning, pulsating rhythm, through moments of reflection to a soaring musical grandeur. A majestic soundscape of crushing guitars, thunderous drums and potent bass lines, all coordinated perfectly by O’Shaughnessy’s fine vocal performance.

Golden Hour is a blues-tinged ninety seconds of wistful nostalgia that leads into the album closing Dusk, a more introspective and insightful track that has me in the Mojave Desert at night, back against a Joshua tree and looking up at the impossible clarity of the sky and the brightness of the stars and contemplating my place in the universe. A sultry, bluesy guitar and a yearning, wistful vocal are the core of this song, a nostalgic, almost melancholy piece of music with a marvellously expansive soundscape and a mighty fine way to bring things to a close.

‘Diurnal’ has to be one of the most imposing and impressive releases I’ve heard this year. Nine Stones Close have returned with a new line-up and firing on all cylinders and have created what, to me, is their finest album yet. A wonderfully direct, dynamic and energetic listen from beginning to end and one that will be on many best of the year lists come December 2024, I highly recommend it.

Released 11th July, 2024.

Order from bandcamp here:

Diurnal | Nine Stones Close (bandcamp.com)

Review – Sky Architect – Nomad – by James R. Turner

This is the fourth album from Rotterdam based Sky Architect, following up 2013’s ‘A Billion years of Solitude’, and while 4 years may seem a long time to make a record, in this era of everything now and instant gratification it is wonderful to hear the sound of a band who have taken the time, and the energy to put some real thought into their music.

And real thought indeed, as while this is a musical pot pourri of sounds and influences, not so much crossing genres, but tearing down the musical boarders and playing what fits the song, let me answer the bloody annoying question that seems to be hitting every single internet forum for intelligent well thought our music, is it prog? No it isn’t, it’s far better than that.

I do despair sometimes of the current scene where old bands continue to milk their fans dry for every last penny (enamel badges anyone?) whilst new young vital bands like this almost slip under the radar.

This five piece of Tom Luchies (vocals/guitar), Rik Van Honk (keys/horns) Wabe Wieringa (guitars) Gus van Mierlo (bass) and Christiaan Bruin (drums and percussion) are one of those bands where you know they have spent so long working together that they play by instinct and feel, no note is wasted, and the way they musically spar and bounce of each other (like in the wonderful opener Wasteland for instance) brings a big smile to the face.

Endless Roads evokes elements of classic 70’s rock with it’s wonderful mix of guitar and horns, and some fantastic keys, whilst the propulsive percussion and production sound roots it in the contemporary, and the astonishing extended coda with the way the instruments work together is fantastic before the chorus kicks back in, it’s absolutely OK to be influenced by and pay a homage to certain sounds of certain era’s, and then make something new from it, which Sky Architect do with aplomb, it’s not OK to get stuck there and bring nothing new to the table.

The title track Nomad mixes some wonderfully squelchy synth sounds and a great beat, crossing jazz, rock and who knows what to pull together a wonderfully anthemic chorus, and in certain elements, reminds me very much of Ritual, another band who weren’t just pushing boundaries but tearing them down.

Dune shows that the band aren’t just talented instrumentalists but that they can also pull some big riffs out of the bag, and whilst I’ve not mentioned Tom’s vocals much, they are the glue that binds the songs together, and he has a great range going from the higher end for the anthems to being able to rock out, and it is one of those brooding songs that builds and builds, with some great guitar work, whilst the drum and bass anchors the sound, allowing the riffs to grow and grow until the whole band just kick in with another piece of complex and intricate music, that is the hallmark of their sound.

What I love about this band is that there is no obvious musical ego, no one person pushing themselves going ‘me,me,me’, it is all about the music, and whatever works best for the song, and on tracks like Sandwalker, with some sublime guitar playing to the fore, this shows that they are a band, and not just a front man and some session musicians, and the music is all the better for this. The great guitar riffs, and wonderful keyboard sounds make this song for me.

Race to the Sun is probably the ‘pop’ song on this album, being one of the shortest tracks, and it has some fantastic musical moments, with elements of harder rock and funky breaks making a perfectly fitting contrast to each part. In less skilled hands the counterparts would sound forced or jarred, with Sky Architect it just works.

The final track, the epic Into Singularity rounds this excellent album off in style, brings all the elements that make them such an exciting band together in one glorious blast of sound, with some amazing horn work and vocals, an absolute belter of a song that is allowed room to grow and build.

As a reviewer I love getting albums like this because it brings new music into my life, and refreshes me as I listen to something I have never heard before, and it also saddens me somewhat to know that whilst these bands are making amazing new music it won’t get anywhere near the attention that *insert name here’s * latest boxed set of recycled music that we’ve heard a thousand times before will get more likes and shares and purchases than fresh, vital and vibrant music like this.

Sky Architect are a joy to listen to, pulling together complex and intelligently written songs that bounce across genres with ease and joie de vivre, and are one to add to your must hear list.

Before being sent this to review, Sky Architect weren’t a name that had tripped into my play list before, and that has obviously been my loss, as I always say there’s only three types of music in this world, that which I like, that which I don’t like, and that which I’ve not heard yet, and I’m happy to move Sky Architect from the third list to the first category. I think you should too.

All band photographs by Maartje Dekker.

Released 16th June 2017

Buy ‘Nomad’ from FREIA Music UK

Buy ‘Nomad’ in Europe from FREIA Music:

http://www.fmls.biz/product/sky-architect-nomad/

Review – Nine Stones Close – Leaves – by Leo Trimming

The band Nine Stones Close is named after the remains of an ancient stone circle (see the featured image) situated in the Peak District of Northern England near where Adrian Jones grew up as a child. The origins of the monument’s name and their history are shrouded in mystery. Aptly, Adrian Jones is also the rock upon which Nine Stones Close has been built since 2008, starting as a solo studio project with St.Lo and later developing into a band with the excellent albums ‘Traces’ (2010) and ‘One Eye on the Sunrise’ (2012). ‘Leaves’ is their latest album and demonstrates Jones’ ongoing commitment to excellence and progression in his music, alongside significant changes in the band line-up. It is also true to say that like the stone circle Jones also likes to retain some mystery, leaving his music and lyrics open to interpretation by the listener.

Leaves as images or as metaphors are well used devices in poetry and music, possibly symbolizing beauty and growth but also death, change and rebirth – richly coloured Autumnal leaves beautifully carpeting forest floors, giving way to new shoots and leaves in Spring. Perhaps such imagery could be applied to Nine Stones Close as they release their new album this spring. They blossomed previously to great effect on ‘Traces’ and ‘One Eye on the Sunrise’, particularly helped by the remarkable keyboard skills of Brendan Eyre and captivating vocals of Marc Atkinson (both of Riversea, whom have their own album out later this year). Eyre and Atkinson have now left the band amicably to concentrate on their own projects to be replaced by keyboardist Christian Bruin (of Sky Architect) and Adrian ‘Aio’ O’Shaughnessy on vocals.

Previous fans of Nine Stones Close may need some time to adjust to the new direction of the band. Jones is clear that he never stands still musically. He has stated : ‘The three previous albums are all very different from each other. The new singer is an element of that new sound…’. Nevertheless, it is fair to say fans of Atkinson’s voice may need to adjust to the different style of Adrian O’Shaughnessy. This reviewer did need some time to put aside his love of Atkinson’s voice and appreciate how Aio’s very different voice really suited the new music being produced by Nine Stones Close. Such an open minded approach is richly rewarded as the musical vistas and darker lyrical landscapes conjured up on this album open up fascinatingly with Aio’s versatile and powerful voice illustrating the different texture and feel of the music perfectly.

Relatively short song Complicated opens the album with a shimmering keyboard theme giving way to a sinister beat and menacing voice, rising to a throbbing, growling guitar, underpinned by Peter Groen’s dextrous bass. Those unprepared for the change in Nine Stones Close will certainly be saying ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto!’ Nevertheless, dear listener, stay on board because the ride will get much stranger and darker yet, with a set of characteristically extended songs in which Adrian Jones and band takes you on a psychedelic journey, starting with the very peculiar but enthralling Goldfish. Jones ambiguously describes Goldfish as: ‘hopefully some might think it is about a new world sociopath and others might think it is about …. something else …’. Bruin’s keys float us into this strange odyssey and we hear a much more subtle side of Aio’s vocals as he intones ‘Conscience has died’. Interestingly, Jones bravely holds the musical tension with restraint. Aio plaintively sings ‘Welcome to my Life’ before Jones’ guitar soars to a crescendo before the piece recedes into a bleak, desolate drone. What’s it about? I have some sort of sense of it, but I honestly don’t really know – but it’s intriguing stuff, and I don’t really care that I don’t fully understand it – that’s half the fascination!

Adrian Jones has said of Lie, the next song on the album, ‘that’s a bit of a beast and my personal favourite’, which is understandable as it is an outstanding piece, opening with swaggering instrumental menace. Aio’s versatile vocal swings between sinister but quiet, over a section of chopped chunky riffs reminiscent of Porcupine Tree, to powerful full throated rock howling. Then from left field Adrian Jones throws in a dissonant guitar section, presumably indicating the dislocating and undermining effect of mendacity (Lies), which is one of the underlying themes of the album. The momentum increases as guitars spiral around the central crunching drums and bass, with Bruin interweaving subtle keyboards. This fascinating and unpredictable song develops further as violinist, Annelise Rijk, and cello player, Ruben van Kruistrum, in multiple parts build and build the intensity with Adrian Jones guitars stratospherically swooping around the central theme. For fans who liked the remarkable and epic Frozen Moment on the previous album ‘One Eye on the Sunrise’ will find this familiar but more sinister territory, musically. This was the song which reassured this reviewer that, whilst Nine Stones Close have changed, they have not lost that quality to create rich musical landscapes suffused with a sense of the dramatic and psychedelic.

To underline that point Spoils opens with subtle understated menace with Aio practically purring the vocals before the song erupts and then settles in to ‘Kashmir’ like progression as Aio roars in Robert Plant-esque power, although this band are no Zeppelin copyists! Once again, Nine Stones Close take an unexpected turn as this piece drifts away in to a dream like interlude as Aio sings ‘I’m living a Dream’ with acoustic guitar and then subtle electric guitar playing over an atmospheric and eerie keyboard backing. This bewildering but captivating song then erupts again before once again descending into another dream-like fugue – ‘The Dream I’m Living’ floats over the music, and then the whole band really lets loose with a volcanic finale in which Pieter Van Hoorn particularly shines with some explosive drumming. Part dream, part nightmare Spoils is a remarkable song which has grown and grown on this reviewer – repeated listens gradually unpeel the layers of this song, like all the best progressive pieces.

Titles track Leaves concludes the album and, once again, Nine Stones Close take a left turn. Having adjusted to the more powerful direction of much of this album the listener is then confronted with with a largely very restrained, subtle and eerie song which seems tailor made for Aio’s versatile voice. Van Hoorn shows that drumming is not all about pounding away as his imaginative percussive touches play around the theme and vocals. Jones conjures unnerving and weird sounds from his guitar to punctuate this unsettling landscape, before introducing some Floyd like sweeping guitar lines with Aio crying ‘Have you ever lived your life, Have you ever really lived your life?’ as the song builds in impressive intensity. However, just when you think Nine Stones are going for the possibly clichéd barnstorming finale they fade into a wistful ending with Bruin’s piano beautifully and elegaically bringing us to the end of this journey. Whilst this is not a concept album Adrian Jones has described ‘Leaves’ as having a theme of ‘what we are doing to the world we live in and to ourselves’. That definitely comes over in the final track of this very fine album.

Progressive music fans can be remarkably conservative at times, which does sound contradictory to the concept of progression. Bruce Soord of The Pineapple Thief once said words to the effect that he expects to lose old fans with every album because some find it difficult accepting that he is progressing in his music, but that with every new album he gains new fans who appreciate his new direction. That is inevitable for any band like Nine Stones Close who do not stick to their old formula and want to progress. My advice is stick with these guys because you are never quite sure in which direction their songs or this albums may turn, but it sure is an imaginative and fascinating ride!

Released 13th May 2016.

Buy ‘Leaves’ from bandcamp

Review – Sebas Honing – The Big Shift – by Progradar

There are lots of small, independent music labels around this great big planet we live on, I even work with one. It was a pleasure to meet Peter from Freia Records at the recent Bad Elephant evening. This Dutch imprint have been going for quite a long time and have built up a nice roster of artists. Peter is as enthusiastic about music as any of us who have it running through our blood.

I’ve reviewed some of Freia Music’s releases in the past so it was with anticipation that I downloaded the latest one as soon as it landed in my inbox.

Sebas Honing was better known to me as being a founder of Equisa with hs wife, Petra. Little did I know he also had a burgeoning solo career.

‘The Big Shift’ is his third (or is it his fifth?) solo album. His previous album met with critical acclaim both from the fans and the media. Sebas was even featured in the ‘Limelight’ section in Prog Magazine, issue 49 (September 2014). Sebas also took the criticism of his first album to heart and asked Christiaan Bruin to play the drums, his wife (a professional singing teacher) also helping him to strengthen his voice.

‘The Big Shift’ is, again, a concept album if, albeit, a loose one. It is about change and includes lyrics about leaving home, getting rid of fears and the birth of Sebas’ daughter.

There’s an eclectic mix of progressive and symphonic rock running throughout the album. Right from the thunderous opening salvo of instrumental title track Big Shift and Life pt.1 this is dynamic and compelling. Sebas is a seriously accomplished guitarist but he has a rather nice vocal too, vulnerable, yet with authority when required. Mrs Honing (Petra) provides classy lead vocals on a selection of tracks and her voice has a dreamlike elegance to it.

Sebas explores the more complex and progressive styles on tracks like Ditching Fear, Mercury Retrogade and OMG yet they still keep a more accessible feel to them. Stylish, concise and expressive, these are catchy tunes that, mixed with a certain degree of complexity, really appeal to the listener and, when Sebas lets rip on the guitar with his inimitable style, it’s a joy to behold. There’s even a touch of Metallica coming through on OMG, bringing a smile to my face.

Occasional lapses into a lighter, more fine-grained style do not hinder your listening enjoyment. Rather, tracks like All You Are, Freedom (a strong single contender if he wanted one) and Mild Smile give the middle part of the album a dose of humility and humanity. It is on tracks like these where Sebas adopts a cultivated edge to his music and vocals and rather stylish and urbane it is too.

Overall, the astute mix of styles blend together to deliver a distinctly cohesive whole and there is something for everyone to enjoy with nods to the more serious and then the light-hearted among us. Every now and then the added polish of Sebas’ brilliant guitar playing breaks out and everything lifts to an other plane altogether, the solo on Hometown being a case in point. Perhaps the most creative, serious and yet, elegant track on the album, Homeless sees Tessa Struijs join Petra on backing vocal duties to give us a symphonic-prog classic in the making.

It could be said that Sebas Honing leaves the best until last as the final two tracks, Life Pt. II and Lost close out proceedings with a bang. Sebas and Petra delivering a stellar vocal performance on the former, along with some rather intricate prog-metal shenanigans and the latter closes out the album with a touch of intimate class.

If you’re a fan of progressive rock with a little extra something, you’re going to really like this intelligently crafted record. Sebas Honing is definitely one to watch for the future, another highly recommended album from Freia Music.

Released 24th January 2016

http://www.fmls.biz/product/sebas-honing-the-big-shift/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmjJZsHjvS4

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