Spock's Beard- Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep

Complex, atmospheric, yet undeniably heavy, this new release from a leading light in the Prog world doesn’t let down fans of odd time signatures and ever-changing song structures. None of the songs on the album clock in at any less than 5 minutes long, which means that within each song, there is plenty of room for every member of the band to stretch their musical legs.

It is hard for a band to replace any member, however the greatest challenge or both band and listeners must be a change in singer. However new boy Ted Leonard does a great job as replacement for Nick D’Virgilo, continuing with the soaring, melodic vocal lines which are a staple of Spock’s Beard’s style and retaining the spirit of classic Progressive bands which Spock’s Beard hold as their obvious influences.

Each track’s length means that there is able to be a definite sense of development; many of them starting with a more relaxed feel, gradually building to a climactic section of riffs and solos. The track ‘Afterthoughts’ even includes an a cappella refrain, just to add something even more different to the mix.

Overall, the album is great for a more interesting, challenging take on rock music. The mixture of atmospheric sound effects and technical passages allows for a great blend of modern sounding and more traditional styles of progressive music.

8/10

Live Review- The Von Hertzen Brothers @ Assembly Hall Islington 05/04/13

Whilst a room attached to a town hall doesn't immediately look like it lends itself to being a venue for a rock gig, Islington’s Assembly Hall gave the event a sophisticated atmosphere.

Opening up the proceedings were Barbe-Q-Barbies, a Finnish all-girl rock band. This seemed like an odd choice in comparison to the other two acts- playing more straight-up rock and roll with a mixture of punk and glam thrown in for good measure. Their set was fast paced and full of energy, with no frills attached. 

When Haken took to the stage with their complex and highly involved music, the atmosphere became more serious. With their faces set in concentration, it was still plain to see that they were revelling in their constantly evolving and changing music. The music, which took ideas of progressive rock and metal music, with the added element of instrumental Jazzy, circus-metal breakdowns, during which the singer- following on the tradition of Jazz musicians- left the stage to allow the instrumentalists to have the full glare of the spotlight. The band’s high level of musicianship was shown by their use of more unusual guitars- 7 strings and 8 strings, along with a 6 string bass, which added to the texture and range of the music. Debuting a new track which went down well with the audience, the constantly changing time signatures still ensuring that people trying to keep up with the music were kept on their toes.

The Van Hortzen Brothers’ set took in many tracks from their latest album, Nine Lives as well as tracks from their earlier releases. Live, the Von Hertzen Brother’s showed that intelligent music does not have to be flashy or ostentatious, which allowed them greater freedom of movement on-stage, whilst still playing intricate parts and taking full use of the vocal harmonies which are part of their trademark sound. Highlights of the set included an electric performance of the lead single from Nine Lives, ‘Flowers and Rust’, which proved to the audience that underneath the intricate and exciting effects played on an old fashioned Moog synthesiser, The Von Hertzen Brothers are still most certainly a rock and roll band.

(All photos Nick Webb, 2013)

The Von Hertzen Brothers- Nine Lives

Progressive and melodic, yet at times heavy and more doomy, Nine Lives shows that The Von Hertzen Brothers have a very broad view of what Rock Music can be. Their compositions range from atmospheric, Pink Floyd-esque sci-fi trips, to heavy rocking ball breakers. During all of this mix, however, this Finnish group remain very melodic and soulful.

The band uses their great musical talents to make interesting and complex music which doesn't come across as ostentatious or too flashy. They make use of more interesting scale choices and unusual harmonic progressions and folky aspects of music from their native Finland. Lyrically, they are influenced by as diverse subjects as the works of William Blake and Indian philosophy. Musically, the band relies upon atmospheric songwriting and vocal harmonies for their progressive edge, staying away from million note solos and ridiculously fast passages.

Nine Lives is VHB’s 5^th album, and their biggest to date, coming after 2011’s Stars Aligned, which began to break them in the UK, and gained them recognition with nominations in the Classic Rock awards.

The album opens with the groovy rocker “Insomniac”, which shows that the band can remain melodic whilst playing heavy music. This is followed by the album’s lead single, “Flowers and Rust”, which flows and spins from light melodies to harder choruses. These differences in styles continue throughout the rest of the album, each track showing a different side of the band, yet remaining a coherent whole.

Overall this is a fantastic modern prog album which manages to avoid falling into many of the traps which contemporary progressive music tends to fall into (Putting far more emphasis on harsh vocal sounds or being much more over the top with speedy passages and complex instrumental and solo sections than is necessary.)

8/10