| The
Review |
Glass Hammer's latest offering, The Inconsolable Secret,
is a 2-CD Progressive Rock album that eclipses their previous
concept album masterpiece Lex Rex in nearly every aspect.
Musically, the sound of both Lex Rex and Shadowlands
are represented and built upon exponentially, and the addition
of Matt Mendians (Live at Nearfest and Lex Live) as GH's studio
drummer will simply shut up the long time grumblings of fans
and reviewers alike. The band experiments with styles never
heard before on pervious albums, and the wide range of sound
benefits the overall feel of both discs and highlights Babb
and Schendel's growing maturity in songwriting that comes
with their eighth major release. The production work is crisp
and pristine, with a balanced sound. No instrument is ever
too loud for need of overpowering the others, and having heard
the album on a variety of systems, it seems to play well without
much tweaking.
Lyrically the album centers around a 60+ page epic poem
by Steve Babb entitled "The Lay of Lirazel" which in its own
right is an incredible work, and is included with other goodies
on the digipack-enhanced first CD.
Disc One, entitled "The Knight" contains two songs that
are very much done in the fantastic "stripped down" sound
of lush vocal harmonies, organ, mellotron, synth, bass, and
guitar that made Glass Hammer famous. It opens with 'A Maker
of Crowns' a powerful song that has a piano, organ, and a
synth riff running throughout that harkens back to Camel's
work. The 25+ minute epic 'The Knight of The North' has many
sections and moods that work together as a whole- you never
realize that you listened to near a half-hour of one song.
At 7:50 into this track, there is a blaze of inspired synth
and Hammond work, but there are simply too many highlights
to mention; the piece closes strongly with warm choir and
orchestra.
Disc Two, or "The Lady," is a cohesive set of songs that
tell a story just as Lex Rex had, book ended by two tracks
over 10 minutes in length. The beautiful female vocals get
to take center stage multiple times, showing the incredible
talents of both old and new girls. 'Lirazel' remains a favorite
of mine; although I wish it was longer! Many of the instrumental
and symphonic pieces in the middle of CD two evoke a very
"movie score" feel to them- you are taken along for the ride,
like something out of The Lord of The Rings. 'Mog Ruith' is
an explosion of drums and keyboards fit for a battle scene.
The soft ballad 'Through a Glass Darkly' evokes emotions that
run deep, and fits nicely within the set. 'Having Caught a
Glimpse' has soaring vocals and melody, and culminates in
an incredible way, bringing themes and cues from other songs
on the album to bring disc two to a close, which sent shivers
through my whole body.
All this incredible orchestration, especially at the
end of 'Having Caught a Glimpse' almost worries the keyboard
fan in me slightly. Fans need to make sure GH never forgets
the sound that Lex Rex and Chronometree made famous.
That small reservation aside, which in no way detracts
from this work as a whole, this is a must buy for any fan
of Yes, Kansas, Echolyn, or keyboard-driven symphonic prog
as a whole. Special mention must be made of the wonderful
cover art and new logo created by famed artist Roger Dean.
One wonders how they might top this album, for Glass
Hammer once again has taken a myriad of musical influences
and made it completely their own:
5/5.
|
