Issue 2024-070
Heath — Isaak's Marble
Heath are a new band based in the Netherlands, who've made a storming impact on the live scene. Psychedelic rock has been doing very well on festivals for many years now, and even among a large number of bands in the genre, Heath managed to make a big impression on, among others, Roadburn, even before they had released anything. DeWolff's management were interested, and they secured a record deal with Suburban. And that happened all within two years.
The band comprises three Dutch guys: Mees Vullings (vocals, harmonica), Jordy Bouter (guitar), Dars Hellemond (drums); bass player Steve Lolicato is from Australia, and Isak Heidenfors (guitar, vocals, initial compositions) is from Sweden.
What is so exciting about this new band, which is also why I like the music so much, is how they mix several styles into something that ticks several boxes I have not had ticked before together by a single album. Take psychedelics like The Doors, Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead, add some wild blues rock like Allman Brothers. Then build compositions in a way the early progressive bands could, and play it with a huge dose of energy.
There is also a dose of jazzy structures in especially Wondrous Wetlands, where trying to count the beat was fun. Following the lyrics was interesting. Especially the opening track has the syllables placed in unexpected places. These guys like to challenge the listener's ears, which is something I am often looking for in music.
Then the sounds. New to my prog collection is a big role for the harmonica and I love how it's being used, sharing a lot of melodies and harmonies with the guitars. The sitar (guest Dylan van de Grift) adds an eastern touch and enhances the psychedelic factor. Lush layers of keyboards (guest Quint Vullings) fill the blues-rock and progressive arrangements.
The long compositions flow excitingly through several sections. The groove is so off the charts. Undanceable in these rhythms, of course, but so smooth and flowing one moment, building to fiercely melodic the next.
The resulting overall description of sound would be the progressive side of psychedelic. I have to add that I've rewritten that previous sentence almost every time I listened to the album again while making notes for this review. Forget the label, if anything I just described piques your interest, simply have a listen.
Within a minute into this album I knew this was for me, and every minute that was following was just confirmation. Time to buy the vinyl!
Nick Magnus — A Strange Inheritance
Although it has been 35 years since Nick Magnus left the employ of Steve Hackett, it is his association with the guitarist that seems to remain the most salient point of his musical career. Prior to his sojourn with Hackett, Magnus had spent a year with The Enid, a period often overlooked as he somehow managed to avoid appearing on any of the band's recordings, before establishing the rather fine prog band Autumn who despite existing for a couple of years only left behind 36 minutes of music that was released some 22 years after the group disbanded. A Strange Inheritance is the seventh solo album by Magnus coming some five years after Catharsis. The relative sparsity of his solo work, seven albums in thirty years could hardly be described as prolific, is tempered by the large amount of session and production work he has been involved with.
In A Strange Inheritance, Magnus delivers a concept album described in the accompanying press release as "a cinematic voyage, a swashbuckling tale of love, loss and revenge". Based in the 18th century, the piratical tale, with lyrics by long-term collaborator Dick Foster, is full of drama, marvellous melodies and a rather more acoustic vibe when compared with previous albums, although the music is mostly performed on keyboards by Magnus with a few notable guest appearances. Once again a variety of vocalists have been employed which provides contrast between tracks and enhances the narrative nature of the album. Things kick off with the longest track on the album An Almost Silent Witness. The witness of the title is actually a stuffed parrot, a macaw based on the album's cover. The prologue, narrated by Foster sets the scene with Magnus taking the lead vocal and doing an impressive job, proof that he doesn't actually need guest vocalists as he more than capable of singing lead as he proves on this track as well as on Philadelphia and At Sea At Night. Magnus also get a very realistic violin sound from his keyboards. In fact, the album rarely sounds like an album largely performed on keyboards as it has a very band-like quality. The only other musician on this opening track is Mr. Hackett himself who, for once, left his guitar in its case and added some fine harmonica work.
If hearing this album without having the booklet to hand and knowing that Hackett was a guest then it is more than likely that one would assume the acoustic guitar on Blood Money was the man himself. However, it is actually Unitopia's Johnny Greenwood who along with Tony Patterson on vocals provide one of the most dramatic pieces on the album. The aforementioned Philadelphia and At Sea At Night are, according to the CD booklet, Magnus solo, although the former track must have contributions from Greenwood as there is no way anyone could get such an acoustic guitar sound from a keyboard and there are some crunchy moments that could only come from an electric guitar. There may also be some guitar on the latter track, although that pales into the amazingly realistic orchestral sounds that Magnus creates, with easily identifiable solo instruments. Make one wonder if Magnus has linked a keyboard up to AI and instructed it to make this part sound like an oboe! A very accomplished piece of music indeed.
Four Winds is the album's sole instrumental the four sections of which are musical representations of the four Greek wind gods Boreas, Zephryos, Notos and Eurus. We move into almost classical music territory on this piece which features moments of sublime beauty. In some ways it strikes me as almost a return to Magnus's origins with The Enid as it is in the style that I always imagined Robert John Godfrey is aiming for. Ginger Bennett is primarily a jazz, blues and soul singer and her musical pedigree shines through on Welcome To The Island. Greenwood (presumably) is once again present on guitars and although used sparingly the "primal vocalisations" by cinematic vocalist Clara Sorace are a wonder. There is also a male choir, most likely Magnus multitracked, although one is beginning to realise that the track credits are far from complete! Tony Patterson takes charge of singing on Black And Scarlet, although he has strong backing from Andy Neve (another long-standing Magnus collaborator), Louise Young (supremely talented West End music star and vocal coach) along with Magnus himself.
Young takes lead on the final track To Whom It May Concern, and it has to be said that she has a voice that can't fail to impress. Although a ballad and rather sedate, this song is masterful, some great playing on guitar and keyboard derived sax and flute, delightful arrangement and oooh that voice!
I admit that it took a couple of listens to get into this album as a couple of tracks were not the most immediate but now that I have immersed myself into it, A Strange Inheritance has surely become an album I will treasure for a long time.
Red Sand — Pain't Box
Red Sand is yet another excellent band that I have been following for a number of years after stumbling across their 2004 debut. Hailing from Canada, this is a neo-prog band of considerable talent, having released a slew of highly admired albums including Mirror Of Insanity, Gentry, Behind The Mask, Crush The Seed and probably their best effort, The Sound Of The Seventh Bell. Another five albums were released during the past 20 years but those did not quite reach the same level of acceptance with their fans. It should be mentioned that at the time of writing this review, I was unable to locate any links to music samples or videos. That situation may have changed by the time this is uploaded, but I would still like to see more links being made available at the time we reviewers are expected to put our thoughts to paper.
Although each album involved a number of different musicians, it seems the core members these days are Simon Caron (guitars, bass, keyboards), Perry Angelillo (drums) together with new vocalist, Michel Renaud. One of the immediate differences I have noticed with the vocals is that long time member, Steff Dorval, whose voice was one of the major strengths of the bands previous albums, has been replaced by a singer who has a much breathier, emotional sound which I was not expecting. Only time will tell if I can become sufficiently familiarised with his voice to not allow it to hamper my opinion of the band's future music. Similarly, previous musicians who contributed bass, keyboards and sometimes guitar and have departed leaving those tasks to Simon. It's just as well Simon is a very competent songwriter and musician as he has fulfilled these new roles with aplomb.
With four shorter tracks in the 3 to 5-minute range, it is not until the 31-minute epic takes over that you realise you are being immersed within some seriously good songwriting. The final track features some truly anthemic passages along with an assortment of scorching lead guitar which, admittedly has become a well-known trade make of the band's overall sound.
Other comments about the band's music include references to Marillion, Pink Floyd, IQ, Pendragon and Arena, although I would also add a few other names / influences that I found indicative of the band's sound. The first is fellow countrymen, Mystery, although I feel their vocalist has a stronger voice, while Poland's Millenium should also get a mention.
After a few more spins of the album I am finding less to worry about and more high points to appreciate. The beginning sections of Poland, for example, remind me very much of a track called Castles In The Air taken from the album entitled The Pyromantic Symphony by Edenbridge's guitarist. With a slightly romantic touch to the guitar and the general song's structure, it is the sort of effect your better half might enjoy. Equally well, the soaring lead breaks in Us and Breaking Wings are simply stunning and evoke a super smooth and very melodic style to ensure the music hits the listener with full effect.
The final track certainly meanders in many directions and allows the band to explore a number of fresh ideas that are indicative of a songwriter who does not allow his imagination to become stale or clichéd. The band are well-know for releasing albums with a handful of shorter songs but are often enhanced with one or two long, epic pieces that allow those creative juices to flow unhindered. Once again, with half an hour of mesmerising music to fully absorb the listener, you will appreciate the vocal finesse of their new singer, their anthemic choruses and catchy, melodic passages that get better with each spin. This is yet another excellent album by a modern forward-thinking group of musicians who excel in everything they do with each album. This one is no different and is one I can heartily recommend for fans of quality neo-prog.
Vibravoid — We Cannot Awake
Consider Düsseldorf. Home of Kraftwerk and Neu!. Birthplace of Klaus Dinger and the Motorik beat. The Mecca of Krautrock. And home of Vibravoid for their 35 years of existence in this world. From there comes their latest release, We Cannot Awake. A triumphant merging of core German rock, along with influences not found elsewhere. A nearly perfect album and one I am happy to recommend.
The star of this current Vibravoid show is the side-length title track We Cannot Awake, which takes us on a 20-minute dreaming lysergic trip around the streets of Düsseldorf on a Motorik beat. Or are we actually continually falling, and we cannot awake ourselves to escape? In either case, we are invited to ride along with the beat, knowing somehow it will all be OK at the end. Suddenly we hit a turn and slam into an entirely different vibe; still hard on the Motorik, but we have reached a point of flying. I will leave it to you to tell me if you are in the air or the ground on your part of this trip. Vibravoid says their latest album is "the perfect soundtrack for THC legalisation" and folks, we are in the couch lock portion. Both the darker and the lighter eventually come together, before both fading away into a wave of layered vocals and synths. Here, at the halfway point, we settle into space — a soundscape of guitars, vocals, and electronics.
On our return trip, we pass back through places we have always been. "We are dreaming" still, caught between menace and light again. We also spend a greater amount of time with vocals in the second half of the song. Reverberating along, we are told over and over that we cannot awake, cannot escape the dreaming. At the end, we are left with a blistering guitar movement that resolves itself into noise which snaps to quiet at the end. One could argue, like an alarm clock at the end of a dream. The track We Cannot Awake is a monumental tune in Vibravoid's 35th year of distilling the sounds of Düsseldorf.
The album opens up with Get To You, a track that also glides along the motorways of space, as though being pulled along in a futuristic animation from the 1960s. Swirls of colors in a tunnel, lights flashing by, driving the listener ever forward. The song has the lyric "Every time I think of you, you get stuck in my head" and this song is the earworm version. Like much of We Cannot Awake, this is a song that belongs in a time that passed us by some time ago, while remaining modern. The End Of The Game is a track in a similar vein, with a driving beat and guitar riffing. Echoing guitars and vocals swirl around the listener, but with a feel bringing that uses portions of 1980s jangle-pop as well.
The remaining three tracks on side one, Nothing Is Wrong, A Comment On The Current Times, and On Empty Streets follow a jangly Germany formula as well, but somewhat differently. On Empty Streets is the highlight of this particular group of songs. Lyrics about being alone with another person in an empty city are buried underneath a pop sensibility. Vibravoid notes that The Byrds are large influences on these tunes, which is plainly evident, there are hints of other bands influenced by Roger McGuinn's sound - in particular, to me, the Athens, GA band Pylon and the great Wooden Shjips.
Overall, We Cannot Awake is tremendous, simply a great album start to finish. Since we have not reviewed their prior albums here on dprp.net, I cannot point you to any prior reviews - but I have also been dipping into their back catalog. There are other great ones, check out Zeitgeist Generator, and they have been highly prolific since 2019 with ten albums out. For We Cannot Awake, do yourself a favor and give it a listen. You will soon find yourself traveling along, unconcerned about time. Out now on Tonzonen Records.
Yang — Rejoice
Yang's latest and fifth album follows their acclaimed Designed For Disaster release of 2022. The bands previous releases had been instrumental, but Disaster saw Yang use a vocalist for the first time. This trend is continued in Rejoice. The use of the human voice buffs and smoothly polishes away some of the unnerving effects of the artfully creative, yet abrasive elements of the music. This ensures that the album has an emotional as well as an intellectual pull and appeal.
Consequently, Rejoice has a more song-based approach than anything the band has created before and the prominence of the vocals in this release certainly adds to that overall impression. However, the tunes are not songs in the traditional sense and rarely employ a verse and chorus structure. On the contrary, the tunes are bursting with structured creativity and include lots of inventive parts.
The vocal duties are predominantly performed by Carla Kihlstedt, although guitarist Laurent James also makes a significant contribution on several tunes, including the quietly absorbing and beguilingly beautiful Get Lost. At times, his vocal delivery in tunes like Surrender reminded me somewhat of an Accident era John Greaves.
Kihlstedt is probably best known for her involvement in Sleepy Time Gorilla. In her role within Yang, her voice employs many different timbres and tones. On occasion, it provides a smooth accessible air and texture to the music to support engaging tunes like Entanglement. Other times, it pierces the senses and offers a disturbing and discordant air which perfectly complements of the albums mood shifting qualities in evidence in tunes such as, Fire and Ashes and the title track. Guitarist Frédéric L'Epée is probably still remembered for his role in Shylock during the 70s, but his work with Yang since 2004 is equally impressive.
The influence of King Crimson has often been observed in Yang's previous albums. It can still be discerned in pieces such as, Step Inside where L'Epée's expressive playing is reminiscent of Robert Fripp and in the evocative Crimson styled melodies of the title track and Strange Particles. However, the real strength of Rejoice lies not only in the quality of the playing, but in the qualities of the compositions.
Although the album has a long running time, time spent in its company passes quickly. This is largely due to the carefully placed running order of the tunes which ensure that the release has moments of contrast where both light and shade are dynamically presented and a wide range of emotions are evoked.
The musicians execute numerous changes of atmosphere as the album unfolds. Volume and pace are used to good effect to create tension and resolution. In this respect the contrast between, the lightly formed almost minimalist atmospheric styling of the beautifully shaped Berceuse For The Guilty and the rhythmic riffage of Strange Particles works particularly well.
Berceuse For The Guilty provides a great stopping off point to gather breath and to consider and appreciate the inventive and innovative nature of several of the tracks that precede it. Its ear friendly nature ensures that the tune forms a sheltered refuge. It offers a place to consider the excitingly progressive and arguably less accessible elements of the album from a place of measured tranquillity. Berceuse For The Guilty is simply a wonderful melodic interlude that is superbly supported by the ethereal and tuneful warbling of Kihlstedt.
There are several standout tunes. Concretion is undoubtedly one of my favourites. This instrumental piece is both delicate and gently strident. It has many different characteristics and the expressive guitar tones explore a range of textures.
However, the concluding composition The Final Day is probably the piece that I return to most often and on a regular basis. Its duration gives plenty of opportunities for different elements to be developed and interesting musical patterns to evolve. The instrumental passages bustle and burst. They simmer and smoulder and gently caress and clasp, to mould with and stand n perfect harmony with the engaging vocals. It's an unusual mix, but somehow it all seamlessly works.
Overall Rejoice is a very accomplished album and should appeal to listeners who appreciate complex tunes played with great skill and vitality. I will certainly explore more of the bands back catalogue.