Trollheart

I recently got into this band; had never heard of them before but now have all their albums, and happily looking forward to any new material. They're a progressive metal outfit from Pennsylvania, who have been going since the late 80s, believe it or not, but who have only released six albums, though each one is a gem. Quality, right, not quantity? I particularly wanted to review my favourite of their output, “Room V”, but as this is a concept actually spread across TWO albums, I feel it's necessary and prudent to review also the first album in that concept. And it's a great album too!

Tyranny ---- Shadow Gallery --- 1998 (Magna Carta Records)

“Tyranny” begins the first of four Acts, spread over this and the next album, two Acts each. The opener, “Stiletto in the sand”, is a powerful, fast-paced instrumental driven by racing guitars and thundering drums, as well as frentetic keys. It's short, less than two minutes, and as such can be seen as a sort of “overture” to the rock opera, as such, to come. It tails off into arpeggio keyboards at the end and leads directly into “War for sale”, where the tempo picks up again and the powerful voice of the late Mike Baker declaims the story of a man whose works for the US Government, designing weapons to be used in various worldwide conflicts and who is now having an attack of conscience. “War for sale” powers along on the same sort of melody that introduced the album, but with the guitars of Gary Wehrkamp and Brendt Allman breaking out and making their own pointed comment, while Joe Nevolo's drumming keeps a frantic, thumping, militaristic beat, while Mike bellows “How long till we realise the truth?/ The bottom line of defence and world security/The bankers and the ministry of arms/Just cut the deal and the war is on!”

The tempo slows then, though the next track is certianly no ballad, as “Out of nowhere” the protagonist is fired when he brings his concerns to his bosses. Shutting himself away, he finds solace on the internet. This track is a heavy, brooding monster, reflecting the mindset of the hero as he realises what he has done, and wonders how it will turn out. “Is this a test of my faith?/What's to become of my life?/I used to see it so clear/ But now I've lived to see it/Pass away before my eyes.” Thing speed up again then, for “Mystery”, which once again retains the theme from the intro, and is replete with squealing keyboards. The story continues as the hero talks to people online, becoming friendly with a particular woman, who seems to share his view of the world. Desperate both to impress her, and to back up his convictions, he hatches a plan to hack into the computers of his erstwhile employer. The vocal harmonies on this song are next to perfect, Mike's somewhat falsetto voice counterpointed by Gary's rather deeper tones.

Next comes what is not only my favourite track on the album, but one of my all-time favourite Shadow Gallery songs. A true ballad, but without the love lyric, “Hope for us” is more a lament, beginning as almost an acoustic track as Chris Ingles's fingers gently caress the keys, painting a bleak picture of forlorn hopelessness, as our hero realises that the Corporation he once worked for have their hand in everything, and control just about all aspects of the world. As Joe's pounding kit punches out a fatalistic heartbeat to underline the gentle piano and later keyboards, the hero wonders if there is somewhere that their reach does not extend to? “I wonder is there hope for us? /A place where we can all be free? /I wonder is there life inside a soul that dies?/ I wonder is there hope for us/ To lift me up/ I don't know when I'll see the sun again/ I'd like to feel alive just one more time.”

“Victims”, the next offering, hits the gas again and the band thunders off into overdrive as the hero, coming to the aid of someone being mugged, is himself assaulted and awakes in a cheap downtown medical centre. Again, Mike's pure vocal soars above the somewhat staccato melody. Act I comes to a close on a bitter note, with the short lament of “Broken”, as the hero stares helplessly into his computer screen and wonders what he can do to change the world he has helped to build?

Act II opens with the pulsating “I believe”, with guest star James LaBrie (Dream Theater) on lead vocals, taking the part of the hero's father, remembering whose words the hero's determination to change the world, to make a difference, hardens into proper resolve. This leads into “Roads of thunder”, where the protagonist decides that he needs to speak to the person he has been communicating with on the net : really speak to her, on the phone. She is hesitant, and so, utilising their shared hatred of the Corporation and its power over the world, he creates a computer virus which brings down the world's banks. The song is broken into three movements, the first, “Empowerment”, covers the conversation online and the hero's attempts to create the virus. The second movement --- aptly titled “Virus” --- is an instrumental, meant to convey his creation of the virus, while the closing movement, “Powerless”, covers his desperate attempts to communicate with his friend on the phone, and at the end of the song his phone rings.

Picking up the phone he hears the voice of the woman who has until now only been his friend and ally online, and the first real ballad of the album gets underway in “Spoken words.” With guest vocals by Laura Jaeger (about whom I can find little or no information, after an exhaustive five-minute search!), the song is a beautifully-crafted piano acoustic ballad based around the conversation between the two, who now realise that due to the hero's creation and deployment of the virus and her complicity in same, they may now have attracted the attention of the government, and the Corporation, and may be in danger. The starkly sad violin of Paul Chou lends further pathos to this sad ballad, as the pair realise their act of rebellion may very well turn out to be one of treason. Despite that though, the two have obviously fallen deeply in love, and plan to meet up somewhere they can hide together. As the song comes to an end, a female computerised voice announces “You have an online visitor in your chatroom”...

This turns out to be their worst fear, as the visitor is a government agent, who advises the hero he has been monitored and wiretapped, and that agents are now on their way to apprehend him. Unable to believe his worst nightmares have come true, the hero listens in shocked dismay as the agent of the New World Order gleefully tells him that the Corporation have indeed infiltrated and taken over the government, and control everything, from the media to the armed forces. The song is carried along on a menacing, marching melody, with guest vocalist D.C Cooper (Royal Hunt) performing a star turn as the agent of the NWO. As panic sweeps through him, the hero runs, and this turns into the instrumental “Chased”, which, something in the vein of Pink Floyd's “On the run” from “Dark side of the Moon” gives the very clear impression of a man fleeing.

Finally, having escaped from the agents of the NWO, the hero is safe, but alone, living in North Dakota. The penultimate track, “Ghost of a chance”, is essentially a reworking of “Alaska”, from previous album “Carved in stone”, and is a wish that the hero could return there and be happy. It's a ballad in a way, a lament too, and possibly a statement of purpose. The album closes as Act II ends with the mournful ballad “Christmas Day”, as the hero wishes for the Christmasses of his youth, before he had to hide from the government. It's a lovely delicate piano intro, helped out by flute from Carl Cadden-James, which continues through the song as the track is carried along on the piano melody line, with the flutes providing accompaniment throughout the tune. Again, great vocal harmonies pin down a bittersweet closer to the album: “If you're chasing a dream to nowhere/ It's enchantment that leads the way/ Just believe in yourself and go there/ The gift of hope on Christmas Day.” Gary's squealing guitar solos add muscle to the song, and a cry for what once was, but the closer ends as it began, gently lilting piano taking “Christmas Day” to a sad fade-out.

TRACKLISTING
1. Stiletto in the sand
2. War for sale
3. Out of nowhere
4. Mystery
5. Hope for us?
6. Victims
7. Broken
8. I believe
9. Roads of thunder
10. Spoken words
11. New World Order
12. Chased
13. Ghost of a chance
14. Christmas Day

The story continues, and concludes, in “Room V”, reviewed next.

Room V --- Shadow Gallery --- 2005 (InsideOut Records)

Fittingly (as we'll see later), the sequel to 1998's “Tyranny” was not released until seven years after the curtain came down on Act II, and “Room V” begins Act III, taking the story up where “Tyranny”'s “Christmas Day” left off, with the hero eking out an existence in North Dakota, pining for the woman and the life he left behind, hiding from the government and the feared New World Order. The album opens with a frenetic, frantic instrumental, entitled “Manhunt” which, like “Chased” from the closing act of the previous album, denotes that he is once again on the run. The NWO have found his hiding place and he must once again flee. The tune leads into the first of three beautiful ballads on the album, this where the hero meets up again with his lover, again voiced by Laura Jaeger, and relaxes in her warmth and comfort, while yet aware that the forces of darkness are gathering outside, searching for them both. “Comfort me” features some truly sublime guitar work from Gary Wehrkamp, with crashing drums underlining the danger inherent beyond this brief romantic lull in the chase.

The hero's lover starts working on a cure for smallpox, and succeeds beyond her wildest dreams. “The Andromeda strain” is a fast-paced track but not as breakneck as “Manhunt”, with again glorious vocal harmonies throughout. It's a heavy track, with plenty of guitar and pounding drumwork. You can hear the resurgent anger and determination in Mike Baker's voice as the hero realises the time for hiding is over and there is work to do. The woman uses her own DNA in creating the cure, but when they publish it the serum is stolen and the two must again go on the run, evidenced by a rather urgent instrumental passage about halfway through the song. As they flee again, the hero finds time to propose to his lover, in the heart-stirring and inspirational “Vow”, the second of the ballads on the album, and the last in Act III. It's a truly beautiful composition, replete with the hope for the future endenic to any nuptials: “Let's pack away all our memories of home/ Never look back/ Certainly never return/ Begin anew, you and I and snow and wind and ice/ Will you surrender all your all to me?” The song is carried along on the twin vehicles of lush guitars and rolling keyboards, and fades with a hopeful, powerful guitar solo.

The remainder of Act III is taken up by three short tracks, each of which moves the story along rapidly. In “Birth of a daughter” the couple are, obviously, blessed by the birth of their first and only child. This is reflected in the low-key, almost reverent keyboards and quietly picked guitar along which the song rides until about halfway in, when it suddenly picks up and gets fast-paced and a little frantic, perhaps symbolising the woman's labour? It kind of echoes the opening track in its intensity and urgency, and the melody is quite similar too. At the end of the track tragedy strikes as the woman dies in childbirth, leading into the second instrumental, “Death of a mother”, which takes its cue from the ending of “Birth of a daughter”, but getting much more frenetic particularly on the keyboards and piano as presumably the hero goes a little mad as his lover dies. This, and the preceding instrumental, are short, hardly each much over two minutes, and as this one winds down to a despairing conclusion the final piece of music in Act III kicks in. “Lamentia” is just over one minute long, echoing the melody from “Comfort me”, as the hero begs his lover not to die and leave him.

Act IV then opens with the appropriately titled instumental “Seven years.” The theme is very similar to “Christmas Day” from the end of “Tyranny” and also to “Alaska” from “Carved in stone”. The piece is another instrumental, detailing the growing up of the hero's daughter, to where she is now seven years old. The track is imbued with a sort of childish innocence, and is longer than the previous instrumental tracks. It's quite hopeful and upbeat after the lamenting tone of the last few tracks, almost like a new beginning for the hero. Some great guitar work in here again.

But suddenly the tone changes again, with the sudden breaking of a window and a child shouting “Daddy! Daddy!”, as the daughter is kidnapped by the nefarious New World Order. It's not even a track, as such, more a collection of sounds and ambiences, and lasts just over a minute, but gets the idea across very well. This then leads into the last of the ballads on the album, one of my all-time favourites, as the hero searches for his daughter, wondering where she could be, and “Torn” takes centre stage. Mike does a great job in the role of a desperate, grieving father trying to ascertain where his daughter has been taken as he sings “Broken windows, broken dreams/ Nothing but a vale of tears/ Oh my God my little lady/ Where have they taken you?/ I never heard you scream.”This is a real lament, and it pulls at your heart strings without doubt.

Setting out to look for his daughter, the hero is appoached by a soldier serving with the US Special Forces, who tells him that his daughter was kidnapped because the serum his wife created hasn't worked, and the NWO need his daughter's blood to create a serum. “The Archer of Ben Salem” is a steaming locomotive of a track, powering along as it carries the story with it. We also learn that the hero's wife was killed by Mossad, who are working with the NWO, and wanted to steal blood from her, the same blood that is now in his daughter's veins. This is the first outing on vocals for Carl Cadden-James, the bass player, as he takes the role of the Archer, explaining the situation to the hero, and setting him his mission. This track contains a lot of prog-rock standard melodies, and in some places could be a heavier Genesis, yet Shadow Gallery always retain their own identity, particularly when Gary Wehrkamp picks up his guitar!

Although I said there are three ballads on the album, in ways “Encrypted” could be considered a fourth. It's slow, with lots of jangling guitar and some lovely keyboard riffs, but heavy too, in a way the other slower tracks aren't. Having been told that the NWO plan to unleash the smallpox serum as a plague, and sell the vaccine only to those who can afford it, the hero is drafted into a large resistance movement. Here is where fantasy and reality rather cleverly come together on the album, as the hero is tasked with helping to create a vaccine for the serum and works on it, using the codewords “Tyranny” and “Room V”, and in the following track will set up his own band (Shadow Gallery of course) to spread the word and organise the resistance.

“You'd better worry, better listen and take heed/There's a storm on the horizon/ Clouds are black and deadly mean./ Be on the watch so when the victims start to fall/ You can harvest out a demon When the plague begins we'll fight to win/ Apply genetic sequence away.”

Forming his band, Mike Baker, also the hero, goes about spreading the word, using Shadow Gallery's albums to disseminate the code and induce people to join up and fight the forces of darkness. Basically, it's a straight-ahead rock jam that takes the title track, and fades out into the powerful closer, the bombastic “Rain”, where nothing is solved, all is left open-ended. The hero's daughter's whereabouts are still unknown, the N.W.O have not yet been defeated, and the world is still in danger. The hero's life has been turned upside down. Over two albums and seven years he has lost his job, fallen in love, gone on the run, married, fathered a daughter, lost her, joined a resistance movement, and now he is more or less alone, as the rain comes crashing down upon him. He seems to pray for death, though it's left very much to the listener to decide how the story ends. As Mike himself is now sadly deceased, it seems unlikely the band will ever finish the story, if indeed it needs finishing, and as a matter of fact their followup album, released last year, concentrates on totally different themes, and is not, as fans might have expected/hoped, the concluding acts to this seven-year drama.

Perhaps Shadow Gallery meant initially to write an ending, but with Mike's death they may just have decided it had to end there. Or maybe that was the end. I don't know. But over two albums they gave us some truly exceptional music to enjoy, and in the end, I guess that's really all that matters.

TRACKLISTING
1. Manhunt
2. Comfort me
3. The Andromeda Strain
4. Vow
5. Birth of a daughter
6. Death of a mother
7. Lamentia
8. Seven years
9. Dark
10. Torn
11. The Archer of Ben Salem
12. Encrypted
13. Room V
14. Rain

Note: The plotline for the two albums was culled from entries on Wikipedia, and I would like to thank the creators of these synopses for their work, as it certainly helped me understand better for myself, and so be able to explain to others, the vision Shadow Gallery had for these two albums.

Additional note: If you buy this album (and you should!), try to get the “Special Edition”, as it contains a second disc with almost 25 minutes of Pink Floyd medley....



Suggested further listening: "Carved in stone", "Legacy" and "Digital ghosts"

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018