Trollheart

Although as everyone knows my favourite musical genre is progressive rock, I've tried hard not to make this journal concentrate on only that. Despite the fact that my very first album reviewed here was a prog rock one, and despite the preponderance here of that genre I've done my best to include metal, rock, blues, classical, even soul and now pop in my journal to try to keep something here for everyone, not just progheads.

But if I'm to reach my target (and I may not do) of listening to and reviewing all the albums in Progarchives' Top 100 Prog Rock Albums for 2013 by the end of the year, I'm going to have to up my game. That means that I really need to aim to have reviews of at least two of the albums every week, and while that may not be possible or achievable I'd like to work towards that goal.

Of course, no matter how good PA think the albums are, some may not resonate with me and in that case I will only touch upon them in a short, perhaps "Bitesize"-like review: many of the ones I've already listened to are pure instrumental and while I have nothing at all against instrumental music, especially prog instrumentals, it can often be hard to find things to say about such albums; sometimes a shorter review is necessary in those instances.So where the album either doesn't measure up, or I feel it doesn't need or merit a full review I'll be doing a shorter, more concise one, which of course will help me on my way towards that target I've set.

In essence, I intend to try -- that's try --- to post a review each Monday and Friday, but this is by no means certain. Some weeks I may post more, some less, or on different days but in order to try to discipline myself in that regard I'm going to try to keep to that schedule.

That said, this is Wednesday, so go figure huh? Well, the plan is to start doing this properly from next week obviously. I've already listened to about ten of the albums on the lower part of the list and will be writing reviews of them soon, whether they be full ones, or much shorter ones if they either don't measure up to the standard or I feel there's not that much I can say about them.

Today's album, however, is certainly not in the latter category...




Ego --- Millenium --- 2013 (Lynx Music)

Now this one I do know. I’ve been playing this for the last few weeks, and am again shocked to see it so low down on the list. Having originally mistaken it for the long-awaited fifth album from the American AOR band of the same name who impressed me so much with their album “Hourglass” in 2000, I was initially confused by the proggy keyboards, atmospheric sounds and soft guitars, and then wondered why the vocalist sounded … different … Slowly the penny dropped. This was not the American Millenium, but despite spelling their name the same (incorrect) way, with one “n” instead of two, this was a totally different band.

As it happens, I have two of their albums already downloaded but have never listened to either. On the basis of this, I’m going to have to rectify that very soon. Millenium (this Millenium) actually come from Poland --- yes, the land of Riverside and Satellite --- and have been in existence since just before the turn of the, um, millennium. Possibly where they got their name. Discounting live albums and EPs, they have released a total of eight albums in that time, of which this is the latest.

The title track gets us underway, with some nice soft guitar and lush keys, and when it gets going I feel the melody has more than a touch of “Aura”-era Asia (there’s a tongue twister for you!) about it. Powerful guitar from Piotr Płonka leads most of the tune in till at about the third minute vocalist and founder Łukasz Gall comes in, his voice strong and clear with a hint of an accent like you might expect. He’s joined a little while later by guest singer Karolina Leszko and then keyboardist Ryszard Kramarski who puts in a fine shift. This is one of three ten-minute songs on the album, the next one being nine, with only six tracks in total, but not a moment wasted on even one. Every track here is pure twenty-four carat gold. Plonka engages in some Marillion style introspective guitar as the song begins to wind down to its conclusion, then rips off a fine searing solo which treads close to the footsteps of guitar god Dave Gilmour. With a final almost tragic vocal and simple piano line the song comes to a slightly abrupt end, my only quibble with this superb opener.

“Born in '67” recalls the heady days of rock and roll as a picture is painted of a more or less idyllic world --- “”He spent hours with his friends outside/ No mobiles and no web” --- that is probably being viewed through the rose-tinted glasses of age. Lovely backing vocals from Leszko here and something that sounds like a banjo or mandolin, and some soulful trumpet work from guest musician Michał Bylica which really helps this song take off. There’s a real sense of loss and regret in this song, as of the passing of something that will never return. As Gall sings ”It’s so hard to find a friendly soul/ In the ocean of despair” you can feel his frustration for the way things have gone.

I do have a small, slight problem with this song. Gall sings about how great it was to be born "With the Beatles rocking tracks" but anyone born in that year would not be able to appreciate either the music or the times till they were at least, what, six or seven? So 1973 at the earliest. Therefore to go on about how great it was in 1967 is a little off the mark: I was born in '63 but don't remember the Kennedy assassination for instance. Maybe he means it more as a kind of imprint on the soul, if such things exist? Anyway it's a small complaint but something that makes it a little harder for me to take the lyric too earnestly.

A great keyboard motif rides along the guitar line, with a superb little sax break from yet another guest, horn player Darek Rybka as the song heads towards its conclusion and into what I suppose I would call another standout, except that this is literally an album of six standouts. I really can’t find one track I don’t like, and while I like one or two more than the others, there’s nothing here that’s not immense. With a sort of country-style acoustic guitar "Dark secrets" turns a little harder fairly quickly, mostly on the keyboard work of Kramarski, including some beautifully minimalist piano, very Nick Cave at moments. A searing solo from Plonka takes the song, then we return to the kind of country feel before it heads off again on a heavier line. Kramarski then leads with a stunning lush solo on the keys which brings us to the midpoint of the track, Karolina Leszko again lending her voice to the backing vocals before the tempo ramps completely up, and on first keys then guitar we get what I can only describe as a prog take on Southern Boogie. This is just incredible and unexpected and carries the tune almost to its end, where it finishes with a staccato rhythm which reminds me of Genesis’s “The musical box”, then fades out on an ultimately unsatisfying piano line and soft vocal.

The ballad comes in the shape of “When I fall”, and gives Leszko finally the chance to really show what she can do, as she partners Gall here in the chorus and complements him perfectly against the backdrop of Kramarski’s melancholy piano. Emotional and effective strings synth ramps the piece up and stirs the passion, then about halfway through Plonka winds up his guitar and ups the tempo of the song, though it falls back on a repeated fading vocal line very reminiscent of Floyd. Soft piano takes over again with the synth backing it with the strings sound, and we move into one of the standsouts among the standouts. “Lonely man” has a driving beat but a dreamy innocence about the guitar, recalling everything from the Alan Parsons Project to the Beatles and early ELO. A lovely violin-like synth introduces the song which then gets going on acoustic guitar and some sleek percussion from Tomasz Paśko.

It’s another long song --- ten minutes and change --- but again not a moment of it is wasted or unnecessary. The overall melody is heartbreakingly lovely, and interestingly almost every line begins with the two words that make up the title. Karolina Leszko is back again to add soft angelic backing vocals, and some pastoral flute-like synth gives the song a gentle early Genesis feeling. Rybka adds another sumptuous sax solo that just wrenches the emotion from you and completes the song, and in the seventh minute, following that solo, Laszko takes over the lead vocal, switching with Gall as the song grows in power and intensity. Some thick organ from Kramarski is joined by a sweet solo from Plonka and again my only problem with the song is that it ends, after building to a real crescendo, too abruptly. A common failing, it would appear, with this band, or at least this album.

The closer is another ten-minute track, and does not disappoint as “Goodbye my Earth” sees us out in fine style. With a big guitar opening that reminds me very much of “Immortal?”-era Arena, dark synth then backs Gall as he sings about the end of things, bookending the album as it began with a newborn trying to come to terms with his life, a real life cycle. Karolina Laszko gives a final, terrific performance on the chorus here, backed only by Plonka’s acoustic guitar, then the song gets more passionate in the last five minutes as both Gall and Laskzo join together, with Kramarski adding in some very Supertramp-like Fender Rhodes in a boogie style. The vocal is then run through a vocoder for some reason, the voice I assume to be Gall’s, while Kramarski riffs off another fine solo on the keys before Plonka goes all rock on the guitar, screeching out a solo that would please the most ardent metalhead. Maybe.

Everything finally comes down with Kramarski’s strings-like synth and hard guitar from Plonka and it all fades down until only the lonely piano line is left, slowly drifting away like the last vestiges of a soul leaving the body.

TRACKLISTING

1. Ego
2. Born in ‘67
3. Dark secrets
4. When I fall
5. Lonely man
6. Goodbye my Earth

Poland is fast becoming --- or has already become --- the centre for new, dynamic progressive rock and it looks like remaining that way. It has been perhaps an unlikely quarter to expect prog rock to come from, as there is no real history there but bands like Riverside, Satellite, Votum, Paradox and others have made it one of the freshest places for prog, virtually a breeding ground there. Like Scandinavia birthed, or rebirthed the black metal revival, prog rock is now having its second coming in Poland.

There is, as I have said, very little I can find fault with on this album. There are no bad tracks. None. If I have to pick holes it would be with Millenium’s annoying tendency to set you up for a really good ending to a song and then just stop, as they do three or four times here. But that’s a small complaint and everything up to that disappointing ending on this album has been next to perfect. Everyone knows their place and their function. Most of the band members play only the one instrument --- or in Gall’s case, sing --- and don’t burden themselves, as many of their contemporaries do, with trying to fulfill several roles at once. Concentrate on what you’re good at: it’s a maxim that certainly works for Millenium, and here they’ve crafted, in my view, close to the perfect progressive rock album.

I therefore have no hesitation in awarding this the highest rating I have yet, a serious 9.7/10.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Ah, from time to time I like to sit down and think about the music I secretly listen to when nobody else is watching. It’s not that I’m ashamed of it, far from it. But some of these songs are the type of thing you really wouldn’t envisage me enjoying. Though, come to think of it, I have featured both Barry Manilow and Neil Diamond in this journal, so why not? They’re what are usually categorised as the dreaded “easy listening”, the kind of thing your mother or your dad would listen to. Well, I’m certainly old enough to be a dad now, even if I’m not one, and so this section will feature some of the more, um, mature songs that I have enjoyed, and still do, and that time does not dull or have any effect on. Timeless, y’know?

So sit down in my rocking chair --- actually, I could be done for that legally, so why don’t you sit in the other chair, just there that’s right. Nice and soothing, the way it gently moves back and forth, isn’t it? Kind of reminds me of being cradled in my mother’s arms, not that I can remember back that far of course. But I do remember sitting in the actual rocking chairs in my aunt’s house when I was younger, and the feeling of quiet relaxation that gave me, as if all my troubles were just drifting away. That’s kind of the way I feel when I hear these songs. Here, pop these oversized spongy headphones on --- no you can not use your ipod buds! To appreciate this music you need proper phones that cover not only your ears, but most of your head too. You’ll see what I mean when you put them --- ah, yes. You see? Was I lying? Whole different feeling, yes? A feeling of being tethered to the stereo, connected to the music. This is how we used to do it, back in my day.

If you can let yourself go, kick back and just let the music take you as you tip gently -- gently, I said! Do you think those things come cheap? They’re bloody antiques! --- yes, more like that. Now close your eyes and just breathe softly, and allow the music to wash over you as I introduce the first of the songs that makes me feel that way…



Memory --- Elaine Paige --- “Cats” Original Soundtrack Recording --- 1981

Most people know this song, as it has been covered hundred of times if not more. It is of course from the musical “Cats”, written by Andrew Lloyd-Webber and partially based on the poems of TS Elliot. You don't need to know the whole story of “Cats” to appreciate the beauty of this song, but I must admit that for a long time I knew it came from the show but was not aware of its role in it. When I discovered what it represents, the song meant a lot more to me and had a much heavier emotional impact on me.

Although the music was written by Lloyd-Webber, the lyric was actually penned by Trevor Nunn, who was also the director of the musical. His usual songwriting partner Tim Rice did write a lyric for the song but Nunn’s was preferred. As its title suggests, the song is reflective, looking back on one’s life and wondering how it has come to where it is now. Things that seem ordinary in the day --- sights, sounds, even smells --- take on a new and magical significance and importance this night, and here is why.

Sung by the cat known as Grizabella, who has been a beautiful show cat in her youth but is now approaching the end of her life and is haggard and ugly, the song is used as a plea by her to be accepted back into the community of cats, from where she had left, to seek her fortune, many years ago. Cats being cats, once you leave they a) forget you and b) attack you if you try to come back. Grizabella’s heartfelt plea eventually melts the hearts of her most staunch opponents and she is allowed back in to her old home, just in time to die.

There have been many versions of the song but I’ve always preferred the one sung by Elaine Paige, perhaps because the first time I heard the song it was her singing. The lyric speaks of the wonders of youth and how fleeting they are. When Elaine sings ”I can smile at the old days/ I was beautiful then” you can really feel for her, coming to the end of her life and looking back on her carefree youth. There’s a note of regret --- well, more than a note --- that she left the community as she wails ”It’s so easy to leave me/ All alone with my memories/ Of my days in the sun.” She has finished her wandering now, seen the world, and all she wants is to return to the place she used to call home, there to breathe her last.

The music of course makes the song. The soft, string opening with piano that sort of moves along at almost a slow blues pace, then flute or oboe coming in near the first bridge, the music getting stronger and more dramatic as Elaine’s voice rises with it, then falling back for the second verse as the music recedes in power too. Instrumental break then as the orchestra bursts forward into life and the powerful, stirring climax as both she and the orchestra explode in passion and fervour, even a blast on the cymbals, then a slowly falling oboe line and maybe piano as it fades down and away. You can’t help but be moved.

This is the sort of song you hope nobody will ruin. You just don’t want to see it on “The X-Factor” or “American Idol” being butchered by seventeen-year-olds who have never suffered a tragedy or faced real adversity in their young lives. This is a song that needs the wisdom of age and experience to fully transmit the pathos and yearning in the song, and really get inside the head of the character, Grizabella, as she faces her last night alive, not wishing to die alone.

I’ve never seen “Cats”, but I’m reliably informed this is the best thing to come out of it. I wouldn’t disagree.


”Midnight: not a sound from the pavement.
Has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone.
In the lamplight, the withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan.

Memory, all alone in the moonlight:
I can dream of the old days:
I was beautiful then.
I remember the time I knew what happiness was:
Let the memory live again.

Every streetlamp seems to beat a fatalistic warning.
Someone mutters and the street lamp gutters
And soon it will be morning,

Daylight: I must wait for the sunrise.
I must think of a new life and I mustn't give in.
When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory too,
And a new day will begin.

Burnt out ends of smoky days.
The stale cold smell of morning.
A streetlamp dies; another night is over:
Another day is dawning...

Touch me! It's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory of my days in the sun.
If you touch me, you'll understand what happiness is
Look! A new day has begun.”

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Well it’s Monday so here’s what will hopefully be the first of two reviews this week. We’re now all the way up to number

where we find


Echo Street --- Amplifier

I must be finally going mad, or else really getting it wrong, because I remember listening, after much encouragement and positive reviews, to “The Octopus” and hearing death growls, which immediately caused me to stop listening. And so when I kicked this up on the MP3 player and pressed play I expected to hear something I would be unlikely to enjoy. And yet, as it turned out, I was way off the mark. Whether Amplifier changed their sound for this album or whether I somehow got “The Octopus” confused with another one I don’t know, but there are no death growls on this album. Quite the contrary: it’s at times as laidback as you could imagine, which was a big and also pleasant surprise to me. This is Amplifier’s fourth album, and talking of surprises, I’m told they have no keyboard player, so that any sounds that seem like they’re synth-made are in fact made on the guitar.

“Matmos” gets us underway, and no I have no idea what it means, but it comes in very quietly and gradually, atmospheric sounds that you would be hard-pressed to believe are guitar-made leading us well into the first minute before proper guitar strums accompanied by ”Na-na-na-na-na-na” opens the song as vocalist Sel Balamir sings softly, the guitar still laconic and atmospheric, almost acoustic, keeping the musical background firm. I’m almost loathe to believe the next sound is on guitar because it sounds completely like keyboard, but that’s what I’m told. Percussion kicks in now, but the song is still very slow to mid-paced,nd a great start to an album I really thought I’d only be reviewing under duress.

It only has eight tracks, but the shortest is just under five minutes while the longest runs for over twelve, so it’s still decent value. There’s a definite sense, at least here, of the old folk and acoustic singers like Dylan, Gates, Young, Guthrie. The guitar gets harder and more powerful in the last two minutes, and both Balamir and Steve Durose handle fret duties, doing a great job between them. The song ends as it began, on single strummed guitar and takes us into “The wheel”, with buzzing, almost hypnotising rhythms, a start somewhat reminiscent of Floyd’s “Welcome to the machine” in places, and a great guitar motif running through it.

It’s a faster song, though not that much, and drummer Matt Brobin does much to lay down the identity of the track, pairing with Alexander Redhead on the bass. The guitar is sharper here, more in-your-face, though one of them keeps that spellbinding theme running --- again, I can’t believe it’s not keys but the evidence is there in the lineup --- while Balamir sings the lyric, and not a hint of growls, never mind death ones. What was I listening to when I thought it was “The Octopus”? Must check that out later. For now, this song slides into a really slick guitar solo as Brobin thrashes out the drumbeat, then it falls back a little in the fourth minute before the guitar motif returns to take it to the end and into the longest track, the twelve-minute “Extra vehicular”. This is a great track but I do notice certain themes and musical phrases recurring throughout the album. This has much of the melody of “Matmos” and is very similar to the next song, which I’ll talk about shortly.

A darker, more dramatic sort of song, it has a deep guitar intro that takes it into the second minute before the vocal comes in, and it’s slower, broodier than either of the two preceding tracks. Elements of Porcupine Tree and Floyd in it, with the guitars punching through into the song around the fifth minute or so, and they really get going in the sixth, and it’s pretty much extended guitar solo (or duet) time from there to the end of the song. It does seem a little dragged out though beyond the tenth minute, and I feel it could have faded down at that point but it stretches on for another two. When I see a song of this length, I always hope to see that the artiste has used up all the available time with music and/or singing and not just left extended noises and effects or even in some cases space just to fill the time. Here, it’s not quite that bad but the song definitely does not need to be this long. Nod to Peter Gabriel at the end with the sound effects that close “Lead a normal life”, but still.

My favourite track is up next, with as I say much of the melody both of “Matmos” and “Extra vehicular”. Nevertheless, “Where the river goes” is still far and away the standout on the album. Great jangly guitar, super hook and a great melody. When the guitars kick in properly it really lifts the song to another level, as do the vocal harmonies. It’s interesting too that there’s little or no percussion really until more than halfway through, with some intriguing guitar effects before it takes off on a major guitar solo that carries it for the next minute or so, with the chorus coming back in and the song ending on an acapella final line.

Sadly, this is, for me, one of those albums that suffers from midpoint syndrome, and the rest of the songs just completely fail to live up to the promise of the first four. “Paris in the spring” has a nice almost early Genesis sound about it, slow and gentle and somewhat similar to the opening of “Entangled” from “A trick of the tail”, then changes into a very Porcupine Tree style, darker and almost menacing in a way: you could nearly hear Steven Wilson singing this. Again, I marvel that the Hammond-like sound is made on guitar; I would never have guessed. These two guys can really do things with their guitars that you would not believe. Definitely the most downbeat of the tracks on the album, and it leads into the shortest, “Between today and yesterday”, which reminds me of the guitar work of mid-seventies Dan FOgelberg, with a vocal harmony that reinforces this and also recalls the likes of Gallagher and Lyle. Very acoustic and folky, upbeat but gentle, with a certain Country feel to it too. It sounds like there’s a female backing vocalist but none is mentioned so I guess not, unless if she is there she’s uncredited. But if not, then Steve Durose has a very high-pitched voice, which he may have.

The title track then is next and not surprisingly the guitars have plenty of reverb, feedback and, well, echo on them as they take the tune over, really turning it into as close to an instrumental as you can go, the music well to the fore as the vocal, sung in a high-pitched dreamy tone that puts me in mind of the more psychedelic work of the Beatles, sort of stays in the background. I hear flashes of Hogarth-era Marillion here too, and possibly the Beach Boys. But it’s the guitars that drive this song, and even though it runs for six minutes almost, on the same basic melody line, pulling in the opening phrase from “Matmos”, this tune does not seem overlong. The closer does however. Coming in at just over seven minutes, “Mary Rose” outstays its welcome by the fourth. It does however remind me very much of the closer on Marillion’s “Radiation”, a song called “A few words for the dead”. It’s not exactly similar but it is very close. A dark, sort of slide guitar opening with a low vocal before it picks up and becomes a hard rocker that tries to be something it isn’t. I have to say it just kind of bored me. Not a good closer.

TRACKLISTING

1. Matmos
2. The wheel
3. Extra vehicular
4. Where the river goes
5. Paris in the spring
6. Between today and yesterday
7. Echo Street
8. Mary Rose

To use an old footballing cliche, this is very definitely an album of two halves. The first four tracks are consistently excellent and the last four, well, aren’t. Apart from maybe “Between today and yesterday” I don’t really hear anything here that I would be interested in hearing again, whereas the first half of the album I could listen to all day. I’m not sure whether that’s a case of Amplifier running out of ideas after the first four songs, or if they just don’t appeal to me but I felt a definite shift in quality once “Where the river goes” finished. It was almost, but not quite, like I was listening to another album.

For once, the first time since I began reviewing these albums, I can see why “Echo Street” occupies the lower echelons of the list, though on the strength of the first four tracks I would have placed it a little higher. It was never going to make it to the top though, or anywhere close, and so the best I can award it really --- and this is obviously based on the first four tracks, and also the fact that I had expected to have been a lot more disappointed with it than I turned out to be --- is a reasonable 6/10.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

This list, it would appear, is going to take me all over the world before I’m halfway finished. We’ve already met a band from Greece, later we’ll be heading over to Spain and then Germany (or is it the other way around? I forget…) but right now we’re heading into the heart of progressive rock country, the current hotbed of all this is prog. Of course, I can only be talking about … Ukraine?


Aleatorica --- Karfagen

Yes indeed, the territory that’s currently all over the news as Mister Putin tries to turn back the political clock to the 1950s and does a decent impression of Stalin, grabbing the Crimea and “liberating” it, welcoming its citizens back into the arms of Mother Russia, whether they want to be there or not, while casting greedy eyes over the rest of the ex-Soviet dependency. But here at the Playlist we don’t concern ourselves too much with the machinations of dictators, I mean politicians and the movement of armies. It’s musical movements we’re interested in, and here there are plenty, whether they’re flying up and down fretboards or gliding over keyboards.

Karfagen are essentially a two-man operation, and the band is the brainchild of one Antony Kalugin, who formed the band while still at school and then asked his friend Sergei Kovalev to join him. Remarkably, Antony has, in the period 2003-2005, worked on or composed over forty separate albums, some solo, some as projects, but his first work under the Karfagen name was released in 2006. Since then the band has released five more albums, almost one a year, making “Aleatorica” their sixth overall.

Although a two-man band in essence, there are a lot more than two people contributing to this album, with oboe, bassoon, cello, sax, viola and electric violin players all adding to the mix, as well as flutes, clarinets and just about anything else you can think of. All in all, it looks like fifteen players in all, including the two founders. Impressive. Antony sings and plays guitar, keyboards and some percussion, while Sergei looks after accordions, bayan, does some more keyboards and even adds some vocals. The latter however are sparsely spread throughout the album, and for much of it it reads like an instrumental project, so much so that it’s something of a surprise --- was to me anyway --- when either of them start singing.

The title track --- subtitled “Shuffler’s riddle” --- opens the album with a decent five-minuter, almost Russian (sorry guys) style piano before the percussion kicks in and Sergei’s accordion adds its own flavour, then the guitars get going and flute and clarinet slip in too. The tempo is mid-paced with a certain amount of drama, not a bad opener, with a kind of descending melody on the accordion. I must admit, not my favourite instrument but when used well it can be really effective. The tempo picks up then on lilting clarinet and then gets more proggy with the keys, returning to the Russian themes and then going a bit Jethro Tull before the horns take the tune in a very jazzy direction with a lot of discordant stuff going on in the background. Kind of ruins it a little for me. The guitars take it again in the last minute but I would personally sound a note of caution here, that I think there’s too much going on, that the lads are trying to crowbar too many instruments and styles together, and I’m not sure it works that well.

“Mad gods of destiny” starts off with a sort of Irish reel, the accordion and flute trading licks, then it ramps up as the percussion cuts in along with the guitar. This is the first of the few vocal tracks and Antony’s accent is so thick initially that I thought he was singing in his native language, but he’s not, as quickly becomes apparent. It’s a good rocker, the tempo a good bit higher than the opener with some nice vocal harmonies too. Sort of reminds me of Ten or Arena in places. What this song does prove is that in addition to being a talented multi-instrumentalist, Antony is a really good singer with real power and passion. The song goes into a very Alan Parsonsesque instrumental around the sixth minute with some nice tenor sax from Artyom Vasilchenko and more great flute work from Sergey Klevensky.

There’s a short workout on the keys then for “Shadoof”, which lasts barely two minutes but is very cinema scorelike, really enjoyed this even though it was very short. It leads into another instrumental called “D’Ale”, which has a rather obvious and predictable celtic feel. I must admit, I get a little tired of artistes painting Ireland as being a place dedicated to drinking. I mean (hic) it’s not we’re (hic) all drunks now (his) is it? What? We are? Mere … meer, c'mere an’ say that ye bast …. Sorry, it just annoys me. Nevertheless there’s some good irish fun to be had in this song and it is good: I just wish they’d called it something else. My moan for the day. A short one up next for the oddly-titled and hopefully never-to-be-experienced “Gnome in a bathroom” (don’t they usually hang out in gardens with little fishing rods?) which is one of my favourites on the album, with a really nice mix of acoustic guitar and accordion, some deep bassoon adding a throaty quality to it. Again, it’s not long enough sadly.

“Solar cycles” is longer, almost six minutes, in which flute, clarinet and oboe dance around each other, brought together then by Sergei’s accordion before the tune evolves into something close to a medieval style with a bit of waltz thrown in. Some fine sax breaks with piano interspersed throughout the melody leads us into “Transaleatorica”, another short instrumental mostly carried by Klevensky’s flute work as we head into the longest track, nine and a half minutes of “Mystic castles”. It’s accordion that leads this for the first minute or so before flute joins in, keyboards and piano making their presence felt as the third minute turns to the fourth. It’s probably the most overtly progressive rock track on the album at this point, with a lot of nods to Yes, Camel and ELP. Some very jazzy piano then in the seventh minute. After sixteen seconds of flute which goes under the name of “Radio beam” this jazzy piano continues into “Whirlabout”, which is just basically great fun, almost a jam.

Some very Genesis keyboards in the third minute, with some almost electronica thrown in and it gets quite new-wave at times, then some truly awe-inspiring cello and violin work as the piece comes to a conclusion. Another short instrumental in “Sweetmeat”, this time a showcase for Sergei on the accordion and Vanya Rubanchyuk on the drumseat. Nice, again kind of middle ages feel to it, bit Tullish I guess though I don’t know much of their work as I don’t like it. The other standout comes for me in the form of the only other vocal track, the almost eight-minute “A day without rain”, which again has deep celtic undertones. I’m not sure why this is the case as the guys are as far removed from Ireland as they could be, but maybe they just like Irish music? Anyway, it has a deep, dark, dramatic keyboard line and a low vocal, almost spoken rather than sung for the first verse before Antony shows what he can do as the song begins to take shape.

Very much a Pink Floyd influence on this, with a great chorus involving some fine backing vocals. A great rising bassoon and keyboard harmony about halfway through, The vocal comes back in about the fifth minute, and again you’re struck by the resemblance to, or at least the style of, Roger Waters, particularly on “The Wall” and “The final cut”. Just to cement the Floyd comparison then, Antony rips off a very Gilmour solo to close the track. Whether this was meant to be a conscious tribute to Floyd or not I don’t know. It’s a great song but it is quite derivative, but not so much that you would accuse them of ripping Waters and Gilmour off. Still one of my favourites, and as I say the last vocal track on the album.

Which leaves us with two, the first a short piano piece called “Amazing Ananda” which runs for just over two minutes, some flute certainly helping out with some squishy synth too, but it’s the piano’s show as Sergei hits the keys harder and edges into some seventies Genesis areas, then the album comes to a close on “Aleatorica (Back to the alea)” which I guess bookends with the opener. Celtic flute, piano and busy synth carry the tune, which soon evolves into a sort of boogie blues number with Sergei’s accordion adding its voice, some nice guitar work too as the track heads into its final minutes. There’s something of a false ending then as marimbas kick in and then everything stops in the fourth minute for about maybe ten seconds before a wash of synth reintroduces the flute which backs it, then synth changes to piano and we fade out to leave the flute on its own, dying away in the last seconds of the song.

TRACKLISTING

1. Aleatorica (Shuffler’s riddle)
2. Mad gods of destiny
3. Shadoof
4. D’Ale
5. Gnome in a bathroom
6. Solar cycles
7. Tranaleatorica
8. Mystic castles
9. Radio beam
10. Whirlabout
11. Sweetmeat
12. A day without rain
13. Amazing Ananda
14. Aleatorica (Back to the alea)

I’m not sure whether I would class this as progressive rock really. There are elements, sure, but mostly they’re only in one or two tracks, and with the wealth of instrumentation on display here I’d consider this almost more folk or ethic music really. But it’s an album I really enjoyed and to say it’s mostly the work of just two guys, and more, that it comes from out of the dark depths of Eastern Europe just shows how much of a triumph it is. I’d certainly be disposed towards hearing more of Karfagen’s work, though again it would not be terribly high on my list of priorities. Nevertheless, as I remarked in my review of This Patch of Sky’s “Newly risen, how brightly you shine” in my “Bitesize” journal recently, for an instrumental album to keep my interest there has to be a lot of different and varied music going on. This is not entirely instrumental but as close as it gets, and it certainly fulfills that criterion. Although some tracks nod back to others nothing is as samey or as formulaic as the other album.

it is good to know that even in the farthest reaches of what used to be the USSR (and will again, if the Russian president has his way!) good music is still alive and kicking, and that talented musicians are working with perhaps not the greatest support structure and you would imagine some restrictions on what they can do and what they can broadcast. Karfagen may not be what I would strictly speaking think of as progressive rock, but it’s still damn fine music, and Ukraine can be rightfully proud that it has artistes of this calibre, who can compete with some of the best in the world.

Nice job, guys. I hesitate to award this album too low a score, but must take into account the sometime lack of prog rock in many of the tracks, as well as the probably unintentional slight to my home country (yes I’m that bitter and twisted!). At the same time I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the difficulties faced by a band trying to make it in this genre in what would be seen as one of the perhaps lesser-developed countries of Eastern Europe, and the fact that not only are they only two guys writing this but they appear to have self-released the album.

Therefore I think a reasonable rating is 6/10. I’d like to rate it higher but due to the concerns above this is the best I can do, though it probably deserves better.

(Note: I looked, but there is nothing I can find on YouTube --- not that surprisingly --- so I'm afraid I can't showcase their music)

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Surely one of the best-known metal songs --- inside and outside the genre --- and indeed best-loved is Motorhead’s “Ace of spades”? Ask any man or woman in the street --- well, man anyway --- to name one Motorhead, or even one metal song, chances are they’ll name this. It’s been used for everything from car chase scenes to video games to … well, just about anything that needs a powerful, forceful and exciting theme. Someone once said it was or should be the theme to the end of the world, and I would certainly agree.

I went on at some length during last year’s special Metal Month about how the track has become the proverbial albatross around the band’s neck --- not that they care --- and it’s true, but it’s also inspired surely more cover versions than any other song in the whole of metaldom, with over twenty known versions in existence, with everyone from bluegrass to punk to techno taking a stab at it. It’s one of those songs that really transcends genres: even if you hate metal you’re surely going to know it and have heard it, and maybe some secret part of you wants to headbang to it. Not bad for a song that only got to number fifteen and spent a mere two weeks in the charts!

So why is this a “Special Edition”? Well, with all those versions running around it just wouldn’t be right to do what I usually do, which is feature just one. So I’m going to be looking at some of the least expected and more outlandish covers here, and examining just how many boundaries this humble two minutes and forty-nine seconds of heavy metal thunder crosses.

First up is Batmobile, a psychobilly band from Holland


A folk/ska version? See the Barking Dogs…


There’s a Glam Metal version too, courtesy of TigertailzNot to mention Hayseed Dixie, who put a bluegrass twist on it…An unnecessarily long live version from TrickyEven our own Stiff Little Fingers take a shot at it on stageAnd of course we couldn’t forget Bathory!Want a Russian metalcore version? You got it!There’s even a techno (techno-techno-techno!) version!But apparently this is the only version Lemmy himself likes!Yeah, even robots dig this song and try to play it!This one is amateur, but I had to include it because I’ve always wanted to hear it on pianoJesus! Even Slipknot’s Corey Taylor had a stab at it! Not bad, either…Are these kids the future of heavy metal? Um, no. But they are all aged 10-15 so you gotta admit they have balls. Or will have. Stop that! Just listen!A ska version from French band SkarfaceThere’s also a Ukranian version and an acapella one, but YouTube won’t give it up to me so I can’t feature those.But of course, where would we end but with Lemmy covering his own song in an acoustic version? Rock on!

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I said in the last review that this list is taking us all over the world, and so it is. Today we find ourselves in beautiful sunny Argentina. Now surprisingly I have heard one other prog rock band from this country, featured in fact in my journal a year or more back, the rather wonderful Apocalypse, and I was very impressed by them. They however hailed from the capital, whereas these guys come from, I’m told, Rosario, which is apparently a small suburb of Santa Fe, about 200 kilometres north of Buenos Aires.


Láquesis --- Láquesis

I don’t know for certain, but I am pretty sure that the name of this band is either a translation in their native Spanish of, or a reference to, the three Fates in mythology who were said to guide the lives of humans. The Greeks called them the Morae, the Romans the Parcae and the Norse the Norns, but in all cases they were represented by three women, one very young, one middle-aged and one old. The youngest, Lachesis, was she who spun the thread out of which men’s lives were fashioned. Clothos, the middle one, wove the thread and Atropos, the crone, cut it when it was time for someone to die (hence the term atrophy). My theory is supported by the fact that the closing track is a suite, divided in four, called “Las Moiras” (close huh?) and does indeed contain three movements which refer to the figures above. Not to mention that they’re looking out at you from the album sleeve!

Anyway, whatever the case, this is probably obviously the first effort from Láquesis the band, who have been together since … um, I don’t know. As with most South American music, details are hard to come by. Even if the band happens to have a website (which these don’t appear to) chances are it will be in Spanish anyway, but I’m told they have been together for a number of years. It certainly shows in the close-knit performances and the sometimes almost telepathic understanding between the five-piece, and what results appears to be something of a revelation, and a find in modern prog not often happened across.

A nice hard guitar starts off “Efecto placebo” (translation anyone?) and it then settles down into a nice sort of laidback guitar and synth line with some lovely relaxed percussion. Rather surprisingly, the vocal when it comes in is in English. It’s not that I haven’t heard “foreign” bands use English in their lyrics, but considering the title is in Spanish I thought … well anyway, singer Martin Puntonet has a very engaging voice, very calming and soothing and the backing vocals work very well too. The guitar work of Guillermo Caminer is special and Diego Actis on the keys gives a boppy, Supertramp-style feel to the music, then switches into full eighties Marillion mode.

There are only technically six tracks on this album, with the final one being a suite of four parts, but nothing is wasted here, not one note. A super slick little guitar solo from Caminer leads us into militaristic drumming from Martin Teglia and a powerful guitar and synth ending, taking us into “Tema X”, on atmospheric keys joined by a dramatic little guitar passage and the first appearance of the Hammond from Actis. Gives the music a great seventies feel without dragging it back to that decade (Are you listening, members of The Watch?) and keeping it fresh and contemporary. This track is instrumental and very much a workout for Actis as his fingers fly over the keys, culminating in a soft little piano piece to which Caminer adds some gorgeous guitar work. “Hamacamatic” has a great latin sound to it, as you might perhaps expect though it hasn’t been that prevalent so far that you’d notice. Another instrumental, this one is much longer, clocking in at over eight minutes and allowing Caminer his head but still very keyboard-driven. Faster than the previous with a real sense of jamming in it. Some almost AOR keyboards lead into a real workout for all band members.

A soft and yearning keyboard line takes us into “Puestas del sol”, with some expressive guitar and gentle percussion, picking up a little in the third minute with the addition of tubular bells and choral vocals. Gets a bit bluesy in the seventh minute --- it runs for just over twelve --- and I hear real echoes of twenty-first century Marillion here, especially on “Happiness is the road”. Turns into a Tony Banks solo-style piano tune near the end then ramps up for the big ending with a fine solo from Caminer.

“Lemuria” has a gentle acoustic guitar opening, and only the second vocal track. Throwing me completely though Puntonet this time sings in Spanish. Nice addition of flute and there’s a neoclassical piano interlude from Actis halfway through which then turns into a keyboard solo and leads into one on the guitar as the tune speeds up a little and gets more “hard progressive” as it were. That brings us to the closer, the four-part suite that Láquesis call “Las Moiras”. The first movement is hard guitar and jumping synth which opens “Láquesis” itself, rocking along faster than the band have up to now but slows down near the end on Gilmouresque guitar from Caminer and soft lush synth from Actis. I suppose if my analogy is correct, this is supposed to represent the start of life.

“Cloto” then comes in on solo piano that then metamorphoses into a big keyboard fanfare as the tempo jumps up, percussion now joining in and guitar fitting in around the edges, but definitely a vehicle for Diego Actis until Ariel Lozar comes in with some truly exceptional bass work. Laidback acoustic guitar from Caminer takes us into the third movement, “Atropos”, where one would assume our unknown hero faces his or her death, and the oldest of the Fates begins to cut the thread of their life. It’s an uptempo, almost panicky keyboard arpeggio for the first minute before it settles down slightly into its own groove, allowing Caminer to take the tune with a searing solo of his own, the piece returning to the slow relaxed tone of the first movement as we head towards the final part.

“Requiem” brings everything to a close with soft string-like keys, a darker, moodier theme and a kind of medieval sound with the bass sounding like a heartbeat as the keys work busily away, chugging guitar coming in from Caminer as the piece begins to reach its climax and he slams everything into overdrive with an almost metal solo, low choral vocals adding into the mix before the movement, the suite and indeed the album comes to a most satisfying close.

TRACKLISTING

1. Efecto placebo
2. Tema X
3. Hamacamatik
4. Puestas del sol
5. Lemuria
6. Las Moiras -- Suite
I: Láquesis
II: Cloto
III: Atropos
IV: Requiem

This is an interesting album for many reasons. Like last week’s reviewed Karfagen, the thing is mostly instrumental and features only two vocal tracks but unlike “Aleatorica”, there are two different languages employed on those tracks. The musicianship is superb, again perhaps surprising though it probably should not be; but progressive rock bands from South America, particularly Argentina, aren’t exactly spilling out of my record collection. These guys are good! It’s also interesting because although Láquesis pay their dues to the giants of progressive rock --- Yes, Camel, Genesis --- as well as some of the more recent additions (I hear Marillion, Pendragon, Big Big Train in there too) --- they never make the mistake of imitating them, as some other bands have. These five Argentines have their own, very distinctive sound.

The wealth of talent displayed here makes me wonder if I shouldn’t be checking further into the music of this country, if not the entire continent? But before I do that, I have another ninety-five albums on this list to process, so I guess that will have to wait for the moment. As for now, I think it’s fair to award this album, given that it’s a debut and sounds so polished, yet not a production monster, a solid 7/10.

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The Batlord

Hey, TH, check your PM's, trick.

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Trollheart

Done and done. Sent you a reply. Trick.

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Trollheart

Music doesn’t always have to be serious. Sometimes it is of course, and needs to be: if you don’t take your music seriously then what’s the point? But as my “Psychic Album Reviews” journal has shown, there are occasions where you can just lie back and laugh, both at yourself and at the music, and jsut indulge in something that is ultimately silly and nonsensical, but great fun still.

In this section I’ll be looking at those novelty, comedy songs that have made us shake our heads but stll brought a smile to our lips, if only an ironic one. “The Chicken song” by Spitting Image. “Ernie”, by Benny Hill. “Jilted John”. “Brand nwe combine harvester”. And Weird Al of course. Songs that often make no sense and you wonder why they were written, but still laugh at them: you just can’t help yourself.

I won’t be going into too deep analysis of the songs --- after all, this is all fun. Mind you, I had fun once and it was awful! --- but I will be telling you what I know about the songs and what I think of them, whether you want to hear it or not. Maybe some will bring back fond, embarrassing or awkward memories for you, who knows?



Star Trekkin’ --- The Firm --- 1987
Music by John O’Connor and Grahame Lister, lyrics by John O’Connor, Grahame Lister and Rory Kehoe.

Chart Position: Number One (for two weeks)


(Warning: this review will be Nerd-heavy and contain many references to Star Trek. If you are offended by such material please do not read any further. Thank you for your co-operation.)


Note: this was briefly featured in my now-defunct section "Weird **** I like", back in 2011, but I only touched on it slightly. This will be a little more in-depth.

If any show has been parodied more than “Star Trek” I don’t want to know about it. I’m a big Trek fan myself (though I wouldn’t call myself a Trekker: you’ll find no Starfleet uniform in my wardrobe!) and have seen it, often rightly, slagged off more times and in more ways than I care to remember. Some of the parodies have been good, some very good, some bad. This I would put in the middle category. It’s clever, it’s funny and it pokes fun at the franchise in a way none but the most tight-arsed Trek fan could take offence at.

Utilising an original verse written by Rory Kehoe but with amendments and additions from John O’Connor and Grahame Lister, the former a session musician and composer, while the latter was a guitarist and still plays in a rock band, it is of course a parody of the classic TV series. The basic melody is a fast, uptempo, almost frenetic rhythm based around a children’s chant like the type they sing skipping (or, if you’re American, jumping) rope or playing other games. It’s sung in a high falsetto (probably using studio technology to speed up and raise the octave of the singers, as the voice sounds female but no female is credited), again like children, and briefly catalogues the mission of the USS Enterprise and its crew.

Each has their own line, with Scotty singing “Ye cannae change the laws of physics!”, a line he only spoke once but which has become identified with his “miracle-worker” reputation within the series and onboard the ship. I can’t remember what episode it was in (I’m not that much of a nerd!) but I know it was something to do with the ship’s orbit decaying so that they would fall into the atmospheric pull of the planet (I am that much of a nerd!) and Kirk demanded he do something, to which Scotty replied “I can’t change the laws of physics Sir” or something similar.

Uhura (comms officer) warns ”There’s Klingons on the starboard bow” while Mister Spock declares “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it.” NERD ALERT! NERD ALERT! Spock used Kirk’s given name perhaps twice or three times in the entire run of the series. His stuffy formality and his Vulcan etiquette meant he always referred to his as Captain, leading to their cover almost being blown in “The city on the edge of forever” when he used the title. Doctor McCoy says “It’s worse that that! He’s dead Jim!” This at least is accurrate: McCoy called Kirk by his first name more often than not, and the captain referred to him affectionately as “Bones”.

Of course the song would not be complete without input from the man himself, and Captain Kirk declares “We come in peace, shoot to kill!” The tempo gets faster and more frantic as the song progresses, with the chorus thrown in after each character speaks, until it reaches a climax at the end when the voices get so high they almost move out of the range of human hearing and then fade away.

The song is great but the video really makes it, with what I think is claymation (though the puppets’ heads all look like they’re made out of a potato) and the action switching between the bridge of the Enterprise, outside shots of the ship and three aliens on a small moon who are watching, they who sing the chorus. A nice touch is that Kirk is sitting in his captain’s chair holding a wooden log: Captain’s Log? Eventually poor old Scotty is overwhelmed as Kirk delcares “Warp Factor 9” and he replies despairingly “If I give it any more captain she’ll blow!” And she does. The ship explodes as the song fades out.

Utterly brilliant. The Firm came into being when O’Connor and Lister, unable to find anyone who would perform their 1982 novelty song “Arthur Daley e’s alright”, decided to do it themselves. This song encountered similar problems for them, and was turned down by every label they approached so they ended up pressing a few hundred copies independently. After a flurry of activity on radio the song quickly became a hit and indeed made it to the number one spot. Not bad going for a song no label was interested in!


”Star Trekkin’ across the universe
On the Starship Enterprise, under Captain Kirk.
Star Trekkin’ across the universe
Boldly going forward, cos we can’t find reverse!”

(Lieutenant Uhura, report!)

Uhura: “There’s Klingons on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow
There’s Klingons on the starboard bow
Starboard bow Jim.”

(Analysis, Mister Spock?)
Spock: “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, not as we know it.
It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it.
Not as we know it Captain.”

Uhura: “There’s Klingons on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow
There’s Klingons on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow
Starboard bow Jim.”

Star Trekkin’ across the universe
On the Starship Enterprise, under Captain Kirk.
Star Trekkin’ across the universe
Boldly going forward, still can’t find reverse!”

(Medical update, Doctor McCoy!)

McCoy: “It’s worse than that! He’s dead, Jim! Dead, Jim! Dead, Jim!
It’s worse than that! He’s dead, Jim! Dead, Jim! Dead!”

Spock: “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, not as we know it.
It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it.
Not as we know it Captain.”

Uhura: “There’s Klingons on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow
There’s Klingons on the starboard bow,
Starboard bow Jim.”

(Starship Captain James T. Kirk!)

Kirk: “We come in peace, shoot to kill, shoot to kill, shoot to kill!
We come in peace, shoot to kill! Shoot to kill men!

McCoy: “It’s worse than that! He’s dead, Jim! Dead, Jim! Dead, Jim!
It’s worse than that! He’s dead, Jim! Dead, Jim! Dead!”

Spock: “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, not as we know it.
It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it.
Not as we know it Captain.”

Uhura: “There’s Klingons on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow
There’s Klingons on the starboard bow
Scrape ‘em off, Jim!”

Star Trekkin’ across the universe
On the Starship Enterprise, under Captain Kirk.
Star Trekkin’ across the universe
Boldly going forward, and things are getting worse!”

(Engine Room: Mister Scott!)

Scotty: “Ye cannae change the laws of physics, laws of physics, laws of physics!
Ye cannae change the laws of physics, laws of physics Jim!”

Kirk: “We come in peace, shoot to kill, shoot to kill, shoot to kill!
We come in peace, shoot to kill! Scotty, beam me up!

McCoy: “It’s worse than that! He’s dead, Jim! Dead, Jim! Dead, Jim!
It’s worse than that! He’s dead, Jim! Dead, Jim! Dead!”

Spock: “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, not as we know it.
It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it.
Not as we know it Captain.”

Uhura: “There’s Klingons on the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow
There’s Klingons on the starboard bow,
Starboard bow Jim.”

Scotty: “Ye cannae change the laws of --- ach, see you Jimmy!”

McCoy: “It’s worse than that! It’s finished, Jim!”

Kirk: “Bridge to Engine Room, Warp Factor Nine!

Scotty: “Ach! If I give it any more she’ll blow, Captain!”

Star Trekkin’ across the universe
On the Starship Enterprise, under Captain Kirk.
Star Trekkin’ across the universe
Boldly going forward, cos we can’t find reverse!”

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Trollheart

I'm a little late with this one. Had it written (truth to tell, I have several written) but I completely forgot I hadn't uploaded it. So here it is, about fifteen minutes over my personal deadline.

From the days of Deucalion, Chapter 1 --- Leap Day

This album put me in two minds. On some levels it’s pretty damn great, on others it’s quite a disappointment. Sometimes I found myself excited and sometimes bored. Some tracks I wished were longer and then some of them I could not wait to see the back of. Such is the dichotomy presented by Dutch outfit Leap Day who, like many or indeed most of the bands here so far, I had never heard of prior to this. Indeed, I didn’t even know such a thing as Leap Day existed --- Leap Year, yes, but Leap Day? Well apparently it’s the name given to that very day which turns every fourth year into a Leap Year, February 29. Who knew?

This is the third album from the band, and once again, like the previous few album it’s a short one in terms of tracks, eight in total. None of them are epics --- the longest is twelve minutes, with the shortest, the opener, a mere two --- and they vary as I say between pretty good and pretty meh. There’s a nice acoustic opening and it’s slow and laidback for “Ancient times”, the guitar not anywhere near Hackett level, but not bad. It goes straight from that into one of the two longer tracks, “Signs on the 13th” which is just over nine minutes long and opens on droning, bassoon-like keys and a crash of drums building to a mini-fanfare, slow and graceful like the overture to a symphony or the opening to an opera. Things start to get a little harder dramatically, the keyboard sounding like violins in that urgent tone strings have a way of creating, and getting slowly (very slowly) louder with odd little sound effects flying around in the background. For the keyboard soundscapes we can look to both Gerrit van Engelenburg and Derk Evert Waalkens, the percussion mostly handled by Koen Roozen. It’s a good “overture”, but it goes on so long (four minutes) that you’re fooled into thinking this is another instrumental, before the vocal comes in on almost the fifth minute, low and soft and almost unmarked, as Jos Harteveld makes his entrance.

I must give him credit here, as he really does not try to take over the song as most singers do when they arrive but despite his intentions, if such they are, it’s his voice that you’re drawn to, not because it’s loud and brash but because it’s so much the opposite. Like they say, sometimes a whisper can be louder than a scream. Or something. This is one of the songs that impresses me, almost a theme for the album. which I think may be a concept but I can’t confirm. Similar topics seem to run through the songs though and it does seem like they’re telling some sort of story. A very nice Pendragon-style guitar solo from Eddie Mulder as the song moves towards its final minute, then we’re into “Changing directions”, something more of a rock song with a nice guitar intro then some sweet Hammond before it kicks up and bops along really well on the back of the two keysmen’s flying fingers.

If this wasn’t so long it would probably make a good single, as it has that commercial, radio-friendly appeal that much of Marillion’s material from about 1992 to about 2005 had, but the song runs for short of eight minutes so it’s not a candidate, if any of the tracks indeed are. Good vocal harmonies provided by both the keyboard players as well as Mulder. Definitely one of the heavier songs on the album, though in fairness that’s not saying that much. Very pleasant though. The longest track is up next, with “Insects” running for just over eleven minutes. Another nice acoustic guitar intro with the thunder that closed the previous track carrying through here. Jos has been compared (badly) to Gabriel, and I can sort of hear it here, but I think it’s an unfair accusation. He has his own voice and is probably just influenced, like many prog vocalists, by the master.

It’s a nice gentle opening to the song, with some soft piano and what sounds like violins but is I guess synthesiser, the melody almost reminiscent of something you might hear from the Carpenters or a group of that ilk. The slow guitar break in the fourth minute is this time very Hackett inspired, however the fifth minute gave me a real problem when I was listening to this on my MP3 player walking along, as it’s mostly the sound of insects flying and seemingly engaging in some sort of war, and I, unaware the sound was on the music, kept flinching and going to swat imaginary bugs that I believed were attacking me!

The music gets a little intense and mad here as I guess the war plays itself out, then in the eighth minute or so it calms back down on the back of whistly keys and upbeat guitar, dropping back to acoustic in the ninth before Jos comes back in with the vocal and taking the song to its conclusion. This could have something to do with the likes of a plague of locusts, like in the Bible, though I’m by no means sure, but the final line ”Was it a punishment or environmental?” would seem to indicate there may be some truth in that. “Hurricane” opens with an acapella line from Jos then some powerful keys and a screeching guitar that reminds me of “Run to the hills” --- I’m not crazy about the vocal here and this is one of the weaker songs certainly: it’s just a little empty of ideas I feel. It is in fact one of a triumvirate of lower standard songs that follow each other. “Ambrosia” has the potential to be a really great track, but seems to lose its way fairly soon. A gentle acoustic guitar line and soft vocal quickly punches up through the registers and the song changes totally, becoming something of a mix of an Arena track and a refugee from an early Genesis album, while the less said about “Haemus” the better. I just find it totally standard, by-the-numbers rock, hardly even what I could comfortably call prog rock. Very generic.

Luckily though the album recovers at the end and finishes well with “Llits doots nus --- Sun stood still”, a seven-minute instrumental incorporating elements of the Alan Parsons Project with some nice guitar and bass work, this in fact being the only instrumental track on the album, and though it does little to wipe the memory of the previous three tracks from my mind, it does at least ensure that the album closes, if not quite on a high, then at least with grace and polish.

TRACKLISTING

1. Ancient times
2. Signs on the 13th
3. Changing directions
4. Insects
5. Hurricane
6. Ambrosia
7. Haemus
8. Llits doots nus --- Sun stood still

Yeah, again I can see why this album is so low down the list, though in fairness there are albums I have already reviewed that should be well above this. It’s a solid album but I would question its even being included on the list, when so many good progressive rock albums I heard last year were not. It’s one of those albums where the good tracks struggle to balance out the bad, but in the case of “From the days of Deucalion, Chapter 1” it’s an impossible task. If this was a debut album I might have been more forgiving, but these guys have had four years to perfect their formula, and to be honest they still seem unsure as to what direction they want to go in.

Would I listen to another album by Leap Day? Let me put it this way: while listening to six or seven of these albums on rotation on a playlist I began to learn to dread when their name came up. Put it another way: if Leap Day released only one album every leap year it would probably be one too many. Or a third view: if this is chapter one, I’m not in any hurry to hear chapter two!

I won’t trash the album, as there are good songs on it, but they can’t save what is basically a relatively substandard album that probably only made it onto the list by the expedient of sleeping with the listmaker, so guys you will have to be happy with my, I think more than generous, 5/10.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018