Issue 2025-008
Patrick Broguière — Destinations
Patrick Broguière's return to music in 2023 was one of my sincere disappointments of that year. I mean, I was very happy with the fact itself, since Patrick's Mont Saint-Michel and Chateaux de la Loire are real unknown gems of French instrumental music, but not with the contents (see the full review here). A Secret World was to my ears a rather weak effort, relying too much on the digital tools, and not holding the candle to previous disks, which on the contrary were rich in sonic textures and authentic acoustic instruments.
Alas, the release of Destinations continues the newly taken thread in Patrick's discography, to be fair with some improvements. As titles and the artwork suggest, the artist still derives his inspirations from medieval / Renaissance continental music. Not exactly folk music, since mostly it is not the tavern-dwelling folksy rock, but courtly madrigals that Patrick refers to in his citations. This time he is joined by six vocalists to bring more colors to the songs, and that's a good thing, because all of them do a wonderful job.
It was oddly and ironically funny to listen to Destinations, because to my ears most of the tracks have both a real spark to them and a real flaw.
The Land Of The Elves has a wonderful vocalization and beautiful harmonies, but it completely loses the pace hitting a 10-minutes mark with a 5-minutes worthy material.
Rockland — again good intertwining harmonies from male and female vocals in a soothing, almost sotto voce style, but the guitar riff is the most basic one, akin to what they teach in guitar schools to wannabe-rockstar kids, as straightforward as a billiard cue. And the percussion is equally banal and painstakingly incongruous, nothing to do with the romantic vibe of the song.
The closest listening experience to Hyperion that I had, is the music of Tolkien-inspired black metal bands like Summoning or Caladan Brood, of course minus the screams, blast-beats and buzzing guitars. The maestro may not like the comparison, but the mixture of fiddle phrases, ethereal vocals and blunt percussion is very-very similar to what Summoning did at the height of their popularity. Essentially it's the same music with different arrangement approach. (And that's not a compliment, in my books).
The following Dreamland also has its issues with beautiful acoustics and keys spoiled by over-simplified drum machine patterns and a rather amateurish recording of a spoken-word refrain.
Things do get considerably better on the last three tracks. An upbeat, royal cavalry-ride The Final Prophecy, stunningly beautiful Desert Voices with an almost Dead Can Dance-ethereal feel (hand-clapping percussion here does not do as much harm to my ears as the regular drum-set imitation that the album featured previously), and chamber-ambient Last Destination, a real pleasant closer.
I would reiterate my rating once again. Despite my many concerns, somehow the music on Destinations feels like a small step in the right direction, as compared to A Secret World, or maybe this time I was not eager to raise my expectations too high. Anyway the compositions have a more confident air about them, and chances are high that with this pace Patrick shall relinquish what harnesses his craft in the meantime.
The Foxholes — Flora i fauna
If I'm not mistaken, this is The Foxholes' seventh album to be reviewed here chez DPRP, not bad for a band that you wouldn't call prog, but I surely call progressive. Jonah Luke's brainchild returns with Flora i fauna, their fourth consecutive release since Sci-Fox back in 2017 with the same lineup, complete with Max Moritz on five-string bass and Angel Millán on drums.
Not only is this the band's heaviest release, but also their best produced and packaged, with Ecuadorian artist's Betoval cover art as quirky as it is alluring. Also worth mentioning is the fact that lyrics are fully written in Catalan. I tell you though, this is far removed from and much more interesting than most pop and rock music made here in Catalonia.
A growling, menacing bass line introduces El propi misteri, the album's hypnotic and increasingly intense five-minute opener, then before you realise the title track takes it up a notch with even more angularity and dissonance. And the ride doesn't let up throughout these very enjoyable 34 minutes, with other highlights including Homenatge, Rock Paladinus or the hard-hitting Alfa i omega, all great rockers with a penchant for the anthemic and the complex in equal measure, with extra added grit and bite in the often-sarcastic lyrics to match. Not a dull moment, indeed.
Should anybody be doubtful about the band's so-called “prog credentials”, being such an unclassifiable entity should be persuasive enough, but in any case, knowing there are some prog tropes to be found here, such as a reprise of the opening bass line in closing number Tots Callats then instrumental La Malbouffe as a bonus track, might win a few progheads over.
As ever, the band should be praised for their disregard for any categorisation, trend or preconception whatsoever. You might be reminded of modern-era Rush here or early Muse there, and even 80s classic rock and metal on occasion, but at the end of the day The Foxholes play The Foxholes' music first and foremost, and to have such a strong personality in today's overcrowded scene is no mean feat.
The Snozzberries — The Snozzberries
Blasting out of the jamband hub of Asheville, NC comes the exhilarating self-titled second studio release from The Snozzberries. The band shares a love of combining psychedelic and progressive rock, much like Umphrey's McGee or The Disco Biscuits. Veterans of such festivals such as Summer Camp, Sweetwater 420 Fest, and Hulaween, The Snozz's self-titled record does what the best bands in the jamband genre do: take elements from everywhere and make them your own thing. From strong progressive rock, to some soul, and even a touch of metal, The Snozzberries throw all of their influences on the table at once, in the best possible ways.
Jambands have always been groups that are not afraid of those influences nor using them in unique ways. Much like larger prog rock, and yes - "jam" is a subgenere of prog, bands are not afraid of new technology, different sounds, unique time signatures, lyrics about dragons and spaceships, etc., etc. It is also not a question of song length, though deep and long jams are always welcome. One of the great joys of seeing these bands is the unpredictability of what you are about to experience and you simply have to let yourself go where the band wants to take you. Whether the journey is seven or 17 minutes long, it is the route that is taken that makes the experience of listening good or not as good.
The Snozzberries (promo photo)
The same can be said for The Snozzberries. Of the nine tracks on the record, none of which are over seven minutes, The Snozz takes us through the elements and influences above. Thankfully for us at dprp, the progressive rock heavy tracks are among the best on the album. On that note, the standout prog track, at least for me, is The Storm, a raucous prog attack featuring phenomenal guitar work by Ethan Heller. The tune, like the album itself, comes roaring out of the gate, a flourish of guitar and drums from Heller and Paul Gladstone. The tune rips for the first half, then slides into a quieter, but no less ferocious, section in the middle before returning to the riffs. The opening track, Darkness, follows a similar pattern and both are very well executed.
Beyond the more progressive tracks of the album, The Snozz will also lay down a serious groove for us. The third track on the record, Grundle, is a fantastic transition from the prog to the get down and gives me a prime opportunity to call out the other players - Josh Clark on bass and Paul Gladstone. Both players anchor the track with Taylor throwing around phenomenal lines on keyboards and Clark's playing holding down the bottom, before adding his own lead lines to the tune. In a more soulful vein, we have Living Without You and Hide, the pair of love tunes on the record. Both will have you moving in your seat. Taylor, in particular, is a delight throughout the album, adding in well-placed additions around the cacophony the rest of the band lays down.
A great record from a band worth keeping an eye on. I also cannot recommend checking out their live sets (one of which is linked here) for some great jams. The Snozzberries are scratching an itch for some of us and I cannot wait to see where they go from here. Available on Bandcamp or their website.
Devin Townsend — Powernerd
Well, here's a chap who needs little introduction. Through the course of the years, Devin Townsend (aka “Hevy Devy”) has released 22 albums with his name attached (Devin Townsend, then the Band and the Project), plus 5 as Strapping Young Lad and another under Casualties Of Cool. The man is no stranger to the world of modern prog or extreme metal and is one of the hardest working musicians in the genre. And now, to continue his own brand of humor-tinged music we have his latest release - Powernerd.
The first thing to note on the album, is he apparently gave himself 11 days to write, and 1 to rehearse it before recording. Originally, Eloy Casagrande and Mike Inez were supposed to feature, but Eloy then joined Slipknot and Mike went to tour with Elton John. Darby Todd then came in at last minute to learn and record the drums in a single day. So the process was a fairly intense one.
All of Hevy Devy's trademark sounds are here. Melodies and harmonies flow over Todd's wonderful drum work, as Devin's vocals, both harsh and clean draw you in. It is heavy and gentle, fun and playful but serious when it needs to be. Some of the tracks like Powernerd are fairly straight forward, short and aggressive and not too complex. Think Motörhead, but Canadian, while others such as Ubelia offer a more introspective look and focus more on the atmosphere and his trademark wall of sound type style.
It's a solid piece of work, and while it is probably my favourite of his releases since Ziltoid (part 1), it suffers a bit from the fact the entire album can still be summed up by saying “It is a Devin Townsend album, it sounds like Devin Townsend”. So it isn't breaking new barriers, despite feeling a bit more impulsive given the parameters he set for writing it.
However, it is catchy, it is well written, it hits the highs and leaves you going between inner contemplation to banging your head and air guitaring. Devin has a sound, and he does that sound well.
Fans of his previous works, or Tesseract, Dream Theater and similar would enjoy this.