THE WYRDING WAY

I have to start off by saying that I am an absolute sucker for the searing lead guitar playing of Mirek Gil--and have been since I first heard his play on COLLAGE's Moonshine. Though it is my opinion that Mirek has never achieved the gut- wrenching adrenaline highs of that album, I can and will never stop listening to his music--always in hope for another fix of those Icarus-like soaring solos. And so here we have another Believe album. It's their seventh since peeling off of the Satellite wagon in 2006 but first in seven years--and yet another lead vocalist. They've all been good (I particularly loved Łukasz Ociepa from 2017's Seven Windows) but Jinian Wilde might be the most complete one they've had.

1. "Hold On" (21:22) opens with a very catchy two chord motif that is performed as by a string quartet. For three and a half minutes--even when new singer Jinian Wilde joins in--remains really engaging, really enteresting. Then, at 3:30 the rock band bursts forth with a typically-awesome Believe motif: great chord progression with Mirek Gil's signature lead guitar wailing away out front but everybody else sticking close by in a rich/lush weave. Man! Has prog ever generated a warm, comforting sound better than this! Jinian does a wonderful job with creating those great vocal melodies one expects from Mirek Gil songs but also with the layered harmony and background vocals. At the 12-minute mark there is a complete break and restart from the previous motif, this time a little heavier with ominous church organ chords and deep thick bass notes that are balanced by mandolin-like picked arpeggi up top. Here Jinian tries to go fiercer with his vocals, alternating his assertive delivery of the lyrics with some of Mirek's signatory electric guitar flash-leads. After a long instrumental slow-build and vehicle for some nice Mirek Gil soloing, the music drops down at 19:30 to an acoustic guitar-plus-"strings" variation of the opening two chord motif. This is what plays out to the song's end. What a gorgeous ride! I'd do that again in a hearbeat! There are no real innovative or truly astonishing high points, but the overall quality and enjoyability definitely counts for something. (37.5/40)

2. "Wicked Flame" (11:44) I'm not sure what happened here but the mixing of Jinian's vocal track is both muted and far farther back than I would ever have expected. On the positive side, the recording/engineering and mix of all of the other instruments are incredible: Satomi's violin rarely gets this kind of forward presence or crystal clarity--though it still sounds perfectly set within the mix of the other instruments. Jinian's performance feels a bit forced and, therefore, false in the fourth and fifth minutes, but then an acoustic guitar strumming section bridges the music over into some fine string-woven heavy prog--almost string quartet-like even though some of the instruments in the weave are electric. This is by no means a bad song it's just got some flaws (besides feeling not-fully-polished). The cool instrumental groove that picks up at 6:40 is nurturing my soul, though the ensuing Mirek Gil guitar flourish falls a bit flat, but the following vocalized section feels like Jinian's best part of the song. (17.75/20)

3. "Shadowland" (11:21) opening with Jinian in the lead role, his vocal and melody choices are okay. The keyboard music beneath gets more and more interesting as they careen through the second minute, but then they coalesce into a full-band motif for a bit before cutting out and leaving a droning spaciousness for Jinian to try again. The progression into the heavy prog instrumental motif is this time almost perfection: great keyboards, great upper register electric violin, great supportive electric guitar and bass staccato chords, great drum punctuation. This is one of Believe's more interesting (and, for them, unusual) song constructs I've heard in long time. The instrumental section plays out for a few minutes with some nice violin soloing, electric guitar riffing, and doubling up by the two. At 6:40 we return to another sparsely-(synth-)supported vocals--which then takes an unexpected turn at 7:30. There's an overall very STYX- like feeling to this music--to this song. I think it's due to both the vocal and the unusual keyboard sounds used (which I really like). And then, as if on cue, a piano solo! Again, it's not a great song, but there's not much else as good out there today. (I always have this gnawing feeling that if some great producer were able to get involved with these artists they could easily produce one of the greatest progressive rock albums of all-time.) (17.875/20)

4. "By My Tears" (11:17) the first minutes of this song are very bland, almost flat, and definitely not very engaging or exciting. It just sounds like every NeoProg band of the last 15 years. In the fifth minute, however, the introduction of some great background vocals and fiery Satomi violin play lift the song from boring mediocrity to a different level. Mirek's superheated guitar begins to join in, to try to lift it even higher, but then the music steps back into a more Prog Folk palette and then, shockingly, at 6:45, into a symphonic/theater-like bridge of staccato chords progressing toward something crescendo like--which Mirek Gil tries to fill (but, once again, never quite reaches the mountain top). The weave that surrounds, supports, and lifts Mirek up over the next minute is awesome--and works to a degree as Mirek seems to come flying out of the melée like Tom Cruise out of a perilous situation. Wow! Now that I was not expecting. Another song that is really tough to rate. (17.75/20)

5. "Shine" (7:28) a very nice NeoProg song with somewhat simple and oddly incongruously mixed sound palette that happens to hit on several awesome ear-candy riffs and motifs. I do, however, feel compelled to rate this down slightly for "uneven" or even "layered" mixing. (13.375/15)

Total Time 63:13

New vocalist Jinian Wilde is quite talented, his highs very high, though he has some weaknesses that, hopefully, will be improved upon, I really enjoyed his workings of the background vocal arrangements. But the real revelation of this album comes from Satomi! Her keyboard play (and sound choices) are so creative. And it's so wonderful to hear her violin not only so distinctly but also moved forward into prominence in the mix. On previous albums' songs there were many, many times that I felt the violin was completely buried in the mix.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of quite enjoyable progressive rock music. The first song is the best but each of the others are close behind. The Wyrding Way definitely offers a refreshing reboot of the Believe sound and way.