Steam Theory – Asunder (album review)

Where the 1970s were an era of classic prog bands, the 1990s of prog metal bands, it seems  the 2010s are the time of the one man projects that may or may nog grow in to bands. Last week I posted a review for Oliver Rüsing’s Karibow, earlier I also had a review for Marco Ragni’Mother of the Sun, and (Robin) Taylor’s Universe. now it’s time for Steam Theory, a one man project of multi-instrumentalist Jason Denkevitz. Meanwhile, the list of pending reviews has a few additional ones (Tiger Moth Tales, which is Peter Jones) and Kalle Vilpuu’s Silver Ligning to name two).

Steam Theory Asunder

In case of Steam Theory, we are talking about a one man project, as said by Jason Denkevitz, who released his first album in 2010. On that album (Enduring Delirium), and 2012’s Helios Rider, some drummers and a keyboard player were playing their part – on the new album Denkevitz played all instruments himself. In the mean time, he has assembled a four-piece band though, to take the material to live performances.

On this album, which lasts almost 90 minutes, we are treated to 13 tracks, 3 of which are over 9 minutes long. The music of Steam Theory is described on the band’s web site as ‘Attempting to fuse several genres together, the goal was to maintain a priority on strong themes and melodies’. In that, Denkevitz has surely succeeded. Just looking at the notes I took while listening to the album, I come across the words ‘classic prog’, ‘movie sound track’, ‘prog metal’, ‘jazz rock’, ‘classical orchestration’ and even ‘psychedelic or space rock’ at various points. That, combined with the length of some of the tracks and the album itself, shows the strength as well as the weakness of this album: the music is heavily orchestrated, arranged in a non-trivial manner and very diverse. That makes it challenging and interesting to listen too, but also at some point almost impossible to grasp and to stay focused on. But I managed, and if I can do it, there must be more people who can.

So, what do we find on this album? From the opening, it is clear that orchestration, in an almost cinematographic way is an important piece of the music. Not a surprise for those who have read the announcement of the album, and certainly not bad. The first track, title track Asunder, starts like that, and gradually moves more into a rock feel, until exactly half way a visit is paid to jazz rock country, with a fretless bass and a shifting drum pattern as our guide. After this, the track goes off in an almost space rock direction.

The rest of the album shows more of the same heavy, sound track like orchestration, but still every track has it’s own merits. Adrift, which starts with an acoustic guitar with a mediterranean ring to it, later develops into a rockier piece with a guitar lead that borders on metal, and an instrumental part that is almost a classical orchestra. In a similar vein are the tracks Toys, Intar and Escape Velocity. The latter is a lot heavier than the former though – more metal like.

Completely different then those are Fireflies – which could be inspired by either one of the well known pieces The Typewriter, In the Hall of the Mountain King or Sting of the Bumblebee – and Shyft, which is a weird kind of Kraftwerk meets metal. Then, different again, is No Such Thing, which starts with a heavy, low, bass intro and builds up to a piece in which heavy rock and an orchestra compete for the lead. Heavy rock wins, with a biting guitar solo at the end.

The end of the album is marked by the 11 minute Saga, a true movie sound track, that is like a roller coaster ride. To difficult to explain, has to be experienced. Only thing left after this ride is Rejoinder, which indeed rejoins the listener with real life. An acoustic guitar and a (synth?) cello lead us back to reality in a calming way.

An interesting ride, that kept me busy for a while. I admire people like Jason Denkevitz for being able to play all instruments on albums like this. It is always clear though which is their main instrument, the acoustic and electric guitar playing are what makes most of the tracks really shine – even if, according to the liner notes, the main focus was on orchestration. For those who are into complex music (and most prog fans are) this is a recommended roller coaster ride, but be aware that it should be consumed in pieces, or on a long evening alone.

 

Track of the Day: Karibow – The Cry (Radio Edit)

German band Karibow, headed by Oliver Rüsing, are a German band that create music right on the edge, and beyond it on both sides, of prog and AOR. I reviewed their latest album Addicted earlier this week, but no track was available online to complement that review with a well deserved track-of-the-day. In the mean time, a video for The Cry was created and put online, so here goes…. Enjoy, like the people who awarded Karibow best progressive rock act of Germany did.

 

Karibow – Addicted (album review)

A perfect candidate for Angelo’s Rock Orphanage. That is what Oliver Rüsing delivered under the name Karibow on the album Addicted. There is a tendency amongst progressive (or symphonic) rock fans to dismiss everything that is ‘not prog enough’. As such, the band is missing amongst the list of bands and albums on many prog web sites, despite their bio states that they are influenced by (next to pop) rock and (neo)progressive rock, and they got the German Rock & Pop Award for Best Progressive Band in 2014. Exactly the type of band that led me to come up with the name Rock Orphanage.

KaribowAddicted

Certainly, the prog influences are clear on this album, there is a lot of keyboard/synth  work that goes beyond standard pop and rock tunes, even though the average track length of just over 3 minutes (not counting the two 8 1/2 minute tracks) makes it hard to build soundscapes or include many tempo (and time signature) changes. Luckily, Oliver Rüsing is very much aware of this – being one of those musicians that create the music they like (in this case already since 1997), without trying to fit a certain pigeon hole. As he told me himself: those who like AOR are as much an audience for Karibow as those who like progressive rock – with the track The Cry (Radio Edit) on the album as illustration. A radio ready rock track in the vain of perhaps Toto or Survivor, transferred to the 21st century – with vocals that contain a hint of Sting here and there.

16 tracks on a single album is a lot, and I won’t do a track-by-track on such a lot anymore, as it makes reviews a pain to read. Instead, let’s have a look at some highlight. First of all, there is indeed a lot of music on this album that is perhaps only borderline progressive rock, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. Certainly not to those who have a soft spot for bands like Toto, Survivor or even Styx (all in their better days). Tracks like the ballad Primeval, or Place to BeAlways There and Something will not disappoint in that respect.

On top of that, there are more complex and rocky tracks that are certainly part of the progressive rock landscape, with the instrumental F8 Al Ba6 and the varied 9/16 as best examples. For F8 Al Ba6 I wrote in my notes “This is what is all about, a layered instrumental with a keyboard driven tune, nicely supported by the bass and a beautiful lead guitar”. 9/16 is the track that comes closest to what we could call an epic, as it falls apart in different pieces, each with their own characteristics (rocking guitar at the start, keyboard driven melancholic middle…) and tempos. Not to mention a slow, melodic guitar solo.

Also there are small surprises here and there – like the Styx-like keyboard leads in Place to Be and Something, and the keyboard melody that reminds so much of a certain Vangelis track in Always There.

A final word on the production of this album, because after the mix was done by Oliver Rüsing and the mastering by Eroc (former drummer and producer of Grobschnitt). Because the mix is very dense on this album, Eroc tried to find a good balance between dynamics and loudness, and found it by applying mastering settings he had used in the past for mastering Maria Callas albums. That adds a nice anekdote to a fine album, that is certainly worth listening to for AOR fans, and for any rock fan who is in need of good melodies, nice vocals and balanced mix of more and less complex tracks. This one will spin more often in my house for sure.

Most popular posts since March 5th

It’s been a little over a month since I posted an overview of most popular blog posts here. So here’s the new set. I left the home page in this time, because it belongs in the list. After all, from there people click further. Also there are less tracks of the day in the list this time, because they appear only twice a week, to create more room for album and gig reviews.

Happy reading, if you find something here you’ve not seen before.

1. The Gentle Storm @ De Melkweg, March 26 2015 460 reads in the first 24 hours!
2. My life will never be the same, thanks to lonely Lisa (album review) The review that started me rolling last year
3. Home page / Archives
4. What to find inside? This Raging Silence – Isotopes and Endoscopes (Album review) Easter review
5. Colin Tench December 2014 interview  An interview that took 2 months to edit and publish 🙂
6. Elephants of Scotland – Execute and Breathe (Album Review)  Yesterday’s review, quite popular from the start!
7. Sylvium and Arena at Rock Ittervoort 28-3-2015  Pictures from a gig I visited. Gentle Storm pics will follow.
8. Track of the Day: Steam Theory – Asunder Great track, album review pending
9. Night of the Prog, Part 5: Let’s add Neal Morse and Lesoir! Best festival line up I’ve ever seen. Aiming for a press card there.
10. Manning – Akoustik #2 Album review, of an interesting acoustic album that everybody seems to be ignoring
11. Track of the Day: Jukka Tolonen Band – Carnival  Brilliant Finnish jazz rock track

Elephants of Scotland – Execute and Breathe (Album Review)

When you are good at something, you’ll be rewarded. That must be what it felt like for Vermont (US) based Elephants of Scotland. Founded in 2010 by Adam Rabin, they recorded their first album Home Away from Home in 2013. This got them invited to perform as opening act on RosFest 2014, a gig so good and well received that they released it on DVD afterwards. Thanks to my friends at House of Prog, at least indirectly, I met bass player Dan MacDonald in the chat room of Nick Katona’s weekly Mad Platter radio show, and he was kind enough to send me both their albums (in digital form) – for review. So here goes – a review of their second album Execute and Breathe, one for the debut will follow in a few weeks.

cover

As said, the band was founded by Adam Rabin, who takes care of the keyboard work and part of the vocals. He initially established the band with Ornan McLean (drums) and John Whyte (guitar, vocals). This trio was extended with bass player Dan MacDonald, who also sings his parts, after they ran into his ‘bass player needs band’ advertisement in a news paper. Given the prominence of his bass in the bands music, a perfect addition.

The album is filled with powerful, layered rock that I could compare to many of my favourite bands, but I’ll limit myself by saying that some of it sounds like a modern version  of 80s UK acts like Marillion and Pallas, with a bit of Rush mixed in. This becomes clear immediately on the opening track A Different Machine, which has a driving, punchy bass underneath a wailing keyboard – an immediate show of the energy this band has on offer.

This continuous in a completely different way in The Other Room, on which the guitar takes over the lead role from the keyboards. This allows John to show what he is capable off after 40 years of playing while Adam  takes over the vocal duties from Dan. An amazing track about someone using their telepathic abilities to influence others. A short, sinister roller coaster ride of 4 minutes.

This is followed by Amber Waves, which opens with a short keyboard tune and develops into a very well built up rock song, with different moods (with 8 minutes its a short epic with a few movements) that really shows how much of a modern version of aforementioned bands Elephants of Scotland are. Something new to hear in this one on every play.

On TFAY it becomes very obvious that John has a soft spot for Rush and has played as single person tribute to that band in the past. This is a track that, after the Floydian intro, easily reminds of late 70s, early 80s Rush (think Permanent Waves) – and John’s playing and vocals come close enough to fool a passing listener. Apart from the vocals, once again by AdamBoxless, could fit the same era, but has a completely different feel to it. Here bass and drums cooperate really to put down a bass well underneath keyboards and vocals that build a nice melody together, catchy but not even close to poppy at the same time.

The two parts of Endless, two separate tracks that together fill just over 10 minutes are the cream on the pudding this album is. Again, all influences mentioned before are evident, this one has keyboard walls, a very present bass, melodic guitar and a driving drum beat. The ending of (instrumental) Part 1 actually reminded me of a keyboard infested version of Rush’ 2112-Grand Finale. It is followed by acoustic guitar and keyboards on Part II, a brilliant contrast, which support Adam’s well sung vocals. The percussive work of  Ornan in the build up to the heavier, more up tempo piece that follows is something only an experienced drummer can come up with – just like the drumming he shows in the instrumental mid section. This Part 2 lets all four band members shine, through the tempo  changes and different atmospheres in the separate parts.

But cream needs pudding, and the pudding is what we find in the end of this album in the form of another very much Rush-like track, Mouse Trap. Oh boy, I made that comparison a few times now, blame it on John and Dan, they do sound like Geddy and Alex at times. Still it is the keyboard of Adam and the drum patterns of Ornan that make this into an original Elephants of Scotland track in the end.

In terms of production, I like the way the instruments are mixed here, all instruments can be clearly heard at all times (at least when played, dôh). In terms of sound, a little more dynamics might have been nice – for example in Amber Waves, the choruses could’ve been more dramatic if they were a bit less loud. However, that’s nit picking on a fine album.

I really enjoy this album, and recommend it to anyone who likes powerful modern prog. Looking forward to reviewing their debut and the DVD as well – the former has had a few spins already, the DVD is still in the shrink wrap…

Track of the Day: The Tangent – Spark in the Aether

The Tangent, the project of mainly Andy Tillison, that once included a large part of The Flower Kings, is still around. Around, and happy – as you can see in this video for the title track of their album Spark In the Aether that will be released later this month. See Andy bounce around on stage, and enjoy his music and lyrics. I know I do….

What to find inside? This Raging Silence – Isotopes and Endoscopes (Album review)

When I see words like isotope and endoscope combined in an album title, I get curious to their background. Certainly in this case, because isotopes and endoscopes play a role in an industry where I worked for a number of years: healthcare, and more specifically oncology equipment. Alas, the title has nothing to do with that, all I could find was that it sounded like a good title for an album, in this case the album Isotopes and Endscopes (sic) by This Raging Silence, a quartet hailing from Bristol, UK.

(Note: After publishing this review, Jeff told me the title relates to his personal experiences in the year 2014 -AH)

ragingsilence

The album has been in the making for a while now, and if all goes well it will be released shortly after this review appears, in April 2015. The band was formed by Jeff Cox (guitar, vocals) and John Tyrer (electric and acoustic guitar), who were quickly joined by Dave Appleford on bass and Garry Davies on drums. Cox and Davies were both members of the British heavy metal band Jaguar in the mid 1980s, a band that was co-founded by Cox in 1979. After a revival of the NWOBHM in the late 1990s, during which Jaguar was revived as well, Cox started focusing on writing solo material – which eventually led to the found of This Raging Silence, a progressive rock band.

On the album, which was kindly provided to me on CD-ROM by Jeff Cox, accompanied with some background information, and a request to review it, we find a slightly heavy rock music, interleaved with atmospheric instrumental interludes and influences from different sides.

The opening track Alone Inside my Head (Can we go there with an endoscope? Probably not…), starts with a cacophony of (mainly female) voices followed by a scream “I cannot stand itThe lyrics deal with, not surprisingly after this, observations of life, stress and mental illness. All this is a song that shows some influences from modern prog, including Porcupine Tree, mainly in the instrumental parts: keyboards creating a melody, that repeats, while underneath the guitars and bass add their own varying parts. The vocals of Jeff Cox on this one appear a little bit nasal – something that may take some getting used to, but I have no problem with it. The guitar and bass work, and certainly a guitar solo, show some of the metal past of the band members. At the same time the line ‘toxins they accumulate, so how do I communicate’ is catchy enough to stick in your head.

The love for rock, not so much metal, continues on Garden of Joy, which is an ode to Jeff Buckley, a major influence of Jeff Cox. It seems a straightforward heavy rock song to the casual listener, but it is a little more complicated on more careful listening. I am not too familiar with Buckley’s work, but through this track, and some background listening, certainly got interested in hearing more. A fitting tribute in that sense.

Confluence is the longest track of the album, with its 11 minutes. After an intro with the sounds of water and wind, or ghosts, and an acoustic guitar, a single guitar note comes in that makes any prog fan immediately shout ‘Gilmour’ – and more notes follow. After a guitar lead that is definitely following David Gilmour’s example, a Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree like soundscape is build up which is suddenly replace by a rockier guitar solo, before the vocals come in. This time, the vocals are slightly higher pitched and less nasal – showing a different emotion than in earlier tracks, a call for action “We all need to break these chains, under the weight of which we’ll choke”.

After this, Jeff Cox and his band take us on a camping trip to Lora Doone, a dark, scary valley in Exmoor. The lyrics deal with emotions and toughts of Cox, based on a real camping trip years ago. Dark, gloomy, sometimes scary, but with a positive ending. Musically this illustrated by acoustic guitar, almost Paul Samson (remember him, anyone?) like electric guitar riffs and powerful bass work. As scary as it may be, I’d like to go camping there now.

But there’s more travel – The Caves of Rojales in Spain tells of a Swedish woman in her sixties who lives there (part of the year) making her art. Based on a talk with her, the band created this track, where the music seems to follow the lyrics by switching from acoustic guitar to electric rock and back a number of times. At some point a verse explains that “A sail boat trip is so much better than riding on a train” follow by an instrumental that clearly mimics the noises of a train ride, translated to guitar and keyboard riffs.

In the end All is Forgiven. At least, that is the message of the closing track, which deals with the problems created by religion and intolerance across cultures. On this track, I suddenly understood why the band mentions Red Hot Chilli Peppers as an influence. Hardly a prog band, but this track borrows very cleverly some of the vocal style and bass sound of RHCP, but blends it with modern rock and once again almost psychedelic, Porcupine Tree like instrumental parts. With all that, it also is to my ears the heaviest track on the album, and one that I really like.

All in all, I think This Raging Silence may not be the band that is going to change the sound of progressive rock, but they are definitely part of that sound. Skilled musicians, narrative lyrics and a nice mix of influences and originals ideas is what I heard. Also, the sound of the album is very good, I like the mix – although in some places the bass and drums might have been a bit more on the foreground. A worthwhile and recommended listen!

Taylor’s Universe – From Scratch

It took me a while to get this album to sink in – I played it on and off for a few weeks before I realised this was a bit of avant garde, a bit of jazz rock and should be interpreted as such. Robin Taylor has been working under this name since 1993 and this is the 14th studio album of Taylor’s Universe.

fromscratch

An album that starts promising, with upbeat drums, a guitar and Minimoog taking a fast start. However, it slows down quickly and the opening track Other Meetings becomes more repetitive in nature. Repetitiveness is the issue with this album altogether, all my notes on the first 4 tracks contain that word in one form or another. This is not necessarily bad, but in this case I find it annoying – an album of a well established artist, who works together with a great set of guest musicians (I don’t know all of them, but they certainly are skilled when listening to the album) should not be boring. The fact that I feel the second track Beta X consists of a number of parts that seem to be glued together in a somewhat incoherent way doesn’t help either – but with the band being categorised as avant garde it may be that I miss the point myself.

This feeling remains throughout the first four tracks, although once you get the hang of it, it is pretty clear that the fourth track, Interrail, is an expression in sound of a railroad trip with a few stop overs.

On the sweet, soprano sax oriented Laura’s Lullaby the music comes closer to jazz instead of avantgarde prog, and more likeable to me. That continues in Für Louise, although the low, somewhat droning sound of the first 2 minutes might have been shorter. After this intro a jazzy, somewhat fun piece of, again jazzy, music with a lead role for the saxophone and Minimoog again.

Closing track Autumn River is an acquired taste, like the first 4 tracks. It consists of electric guitar and Ebowed guitar loops and doesn’t do much for me.

All in all, not an album that I will play a lot, but one that might be appealing to fans of avant garde music and more specifically Taylor’s Universe.

The Gentle Storm @ De Melkweg, March 26 2015

It was a rainy evening in The Heart of Amsterdam when we, with hundreds of others  lined up in front of the entrance of De Melkweg for the opening show of The Gentle Storms 2015 tour. A show that was planned to start less than a week after the album The Diary was released – as a proper tour in support of an album should.

After spending some time in the rain, we got inside just after opening act Stream of Passion, started playing. A fitting choice, having one Arjen Lucassen project opening for another, also because lead singer Marcela Bovio and bass player are part of the live line up for The Gentle Storm. Pity De Melkweg proved its reputation on not having the best sound, from where we were standing (right behind the sound guy!) the sound was a bit muddy, with the lows coming in a tad too strong. Then again, maybe it’s been a bit too long since I last saw a metal band play live. Stream of Passion does look and sound like a band that have fun on stage, everybody was moving around the stage, and interacting with each other and the audience. And Marcela’s violin still adds something special to the music. A short set, but a good warm up for the main act of this evening.

Stream of Passion setlist:

  • A War of Our Own
  • The Curse
  • Deceiver
  • Street Spirit (Fade Out) (Radiohead cover)
  • In the End
  • Haunted

After rebuilding the stage, or at least replacing some keyboards and guitars, the lights on the stage were dimmed a little, and familiar sounds started playing – for those who already had heard the album. A smiling and waving Anneke van Giersbergen ran onto the stage, dressed in leather pants and jacket, and a bright red blouse – shortly followed by the rest of the band, to guide us through the first track from The DiaryEndless Sea. Of course, the Gentle tour was already done, so we were treated to the Storm version of the album here. After Endless Sea, we got The Heart of Amsterdam, but from there the band certainly chose not to play the full album sequentially, nor to stick to just the album. In the end, the whole album was of course played, but in a slightly different order (weird, for a diary). Only The Gathering‘s Eleanor interrupted the flow.

Anneke solo

Half way, the moment everyone anticipated finally came; Arjen Lucassen coming on stage for this opening gig, which was announced by Anneke coming on stage on her own. With only an acoustic guitar she gave us her version of Wish You Were Here, and then the big, wel at least tall, man himself came on. Together, accompanied partly by Marcela and guitarist Ferry Duijssens (guitar) and Joost van den Broek (keyboards) they played the ‘gentle version’ of The Moment followed by three acoustic Ayreon covers: ComatoseValley of the Queens and Hope. Arjen played guitar, sang and in his soft, shy voice thanked everyone and the band for their hard work and support. One of the most modest people I’ve ever seen on a stage.

Anneke en Arjan

After this intermezzo, a one off, as far as we know now, The Gentle Storm continued with two more tracks from The Diary and a number of tracks from other bands and projects Anneke was or is involved in : Ayreon, The Gathering, Agua de Annique and The Devin Townsend Project. They closed the (long!) evening with a great version of Shore of India.

Gentle Storm full

The sound during The Gentle Storm was quite good, surprisingly after what I noted earlier. Somehow, the sound engineer managed to get rid of the low drones that mudded Stream of Passion. From the same place we were before, we could now hear all the instruments and really enjoy the contribution of the individual musicians.  Merel Bechtold playing a 7-string guitar as if she was born with it, bass and guitar duo Ferry Duijssens and Johan van Stratum, drummer Ed Warby, and keyboardist Joost van den Broek were the perfect companions for the voice of Anneke van Giersbergen and Marcela Bovio. The over 40 instruments used on The Diary were not included in the show of course, which made it all sound slightly heavier and a little bit more metal than the album, but for this live setting that was actually a good thing. A great show, for a very nice album, and played by a great band. Glad I get to see them again tonight – at Rock Ittervoort.

The Gentle Storm setlist:

  • Endless Sea
  • The Heart of Amsterdam 
  • Brightest Light
  • The Storm
  • Eyes of Michiel
  • Eléanor  (The Gathering)
  • New Horizons
  • Wish You Were Here (Acoustic, Pink Floyd)
  • The Moment (Acoustic, with Arjen Anthony Lucassen)
  • Comatose (Acoustic, Ayreon, with Arjen Anthony Lucassen)
  • Valley of the Queens (Acoustic, Ayreon, with Arjen Anthony Lucassen)
  • Day Seven: Hope (Acoustic, Ayreon, with Arjen Anthony Lucassen)
  • Cape of Storms
  • The Greatest Love
  • Waking Dreams (Ayreon)
  • Witnesses (Agua de Annique)
  • Strange Machines (The Gathering)
  • Isis and Osiris (Ayreon)
  • Fallout (Devin Townsend Project cover)
  • Shores of India

Track of the Day: Gentle Storm – Heart of Amsterdam

Anneke van Giesbergen and Arjen Lucassen have cooperated a lot the last 15 years. This years, they release another project together, The Gentle Storm, with an album called The Diary and an accompanying tour – of which I witnessed the opening gig yesterday evening at the Melkweg in Amsterdam. A very nice album (review pending) and a wonderful gig – which for the occasion also featured a short acoustic set with maestro Arjen Lucassen himself, who won’t be joining the full tour. Gig report will follow this weekend, and tomorrow evening I will see them again during Rock Ittervoort, together with Arena and Sylvium. Enjoy, like I always enjoy Anneke’s wonderful voice….