VALKYRIE

Here's a concept album about the trauma suffer by those who survived the war and how this trauma can take many forms in life. In the recent past years, the band wrote individually, so the songs were eclectic. Now Fred and Steve wrote together the concept like they did in the early days. They took the time to find the best guitar parts to go with that concept and they worked a lot more with tone before recording. I was disappointed with their last albums, the songs were a bit sloppy and I thought I was tired of the band sound. But when I listened to this new one, I discovered a new sound and a new direction which is not obvious in the first song "The Fields We Know" But in the second song "Golden Days", some heavier guitar parts surprise me and some new keyboards sounds. I could even hear some Crimsonesque of the late period vibe in some places. The epic "No Man's Land" is the most complex and dramatic song with some dark atmosphere, an avant-garde passage. There're some recurrent themes bringing the song to some cohesion despite many moods and rhythm changes. I never heard a song like this from the band. "Nexus Girl" is an electronica, post-rock interlude that is showing another time another side of Glass Hammer. The title track is in the pure band symphonic style. "Fog of War" show some Geddy Lee and Chris Squire bass style with some heavy prog music. "Dead and Gone" is another highlight starting as a ballad but the pace picking up in some dark atmosphere and with some groovy instrumental parts from every musician. The album end peacefully in a post-rock atmosphere.

I think that the band has succeeded here with some concise songs, you can feel the work behind this just by listening to the sound of each instrument. If the keyboards of Fred Schendel are still playing a big role in the band sound, this time, the others musicians have more space to create an album that has a richer and fuller sound