THREE SIDES TO EVERY STORY

Some time ago, a friend of mine called my attention to a recently new prog rock band from Greece. I'm talking about Mother Turtle. Mother Turtle is a prog rock band from Thessaloniki, Greece that used the moniker Hogweed. It was formed in 2011 as a jam band. It's influenced by the great bands of the genre. They try to adapt the different elements of prog rock into their music, taking advantage of the artistic freedom that prog rock provides, to create their own world.

The album that my friend told me to check first was their sophomore album, only titled "II". As he insisted with me that it's a great and a very original album, I decided to check it. I must confess that after a first listening it didn't impresses me too much. However, and as that happened to me with many other albums during all my prog life, I decided to check it several other times. I never rate an album or do a review of it with less than four or five very attentive listenings. And I must confess that I changed radically my opinion about it. It's really a great album. And as I was so impressed with it I decided to check too their two other albums, their debut and the third one. And I confirmed that both were also great. But, what impressed me most is that all three albums are great in their own way, because they're three completely different musical proposals. The influences were so diverse and vast that I decided to review all their three albums here.

So after reviewing all three albums, I must confess that I didn't expect to be contacted by the band inviting me to review their new album. Usually I'm a bit reticente, as I explained some other times, to accept these invitations. I've many other things to review and I don't have much time to spend with reviews of new bands. However, in this case, I couldn't say no to a band that impressed me so much. So, it was with big expectations that I checked and reviewed this album too.

About the three first albums of Mother Turtle we can say that their debut is a mix of classic prog rock with a heavy touch that fits perfectly well in the modern neo-prog sub-genre. Their second album, considered by many as their best work, is a very eclectic album with many diversified prog styles, but that all flow together, not sounding like a chopped up hodgepodge of styles, but in a cohesive way. On the third one, we can hear some spacey and psychedelic influences as well as some jazz parts. The addition of a violin and a sax brought more textures to the overall sound of the band.

This new album of Mother Turtle, "Three Sides To Every Story" is a minimalist album with only three tracks with pure instrumental music. It continues the fusion of jazz and metal. When I read that Mother Turtle started as a jam band, I can see perfectly why. I always have the sensation that their music is based on jam improvisations. But, they do it very well. They're perfect in creating minimalist music, powerful pure instrumental music, from prog, to avant- garde. In reality, they don't need to use words to express their feelings. Which is most curious is that on this last album they're only three musicians. Mother Turtle started as a quartet and they became to be a sextet on their second and third albums.

About the tracks, we have only three here. The first, "Zigu Zigu" is the smallest track. It's a track with a very heavy riff that develops as a jam all over the album. Apparently, it seems to have a feeling of confusion with variations all over the theme. In the end of the track there are some funny spoken words about the track inviting us to relax and enjoy. The second, "Notwatch", is a much more complex track and lengthiest too. It has some folk melody and mysterious feelings that remind me their second album. This is also a track with great jam improvisation. In the middle we have also some vocals, kind of Middle Eastern vocals, which give to the track some calm jazzy flavor too. The final climax is very good. This is a better track. The third "A Christmas Postcard From Kim" is my favourite track. It's a heavier track with a very strong riff opening and where again we have the usual jam improvisation. The heavy and strange piano melody is shuddering. The female voice is sighed in the middle, while the great instrumental music has been maintained, and the middle section enters into a psychedelic atmosphere. The metal returned, accompanied by some quirky sound effects and harmony and a narration of a human voice. Then the music faded like how powerful an epic must be. One last thing. The track is surely linked with "North Korean beloved lider". It can be seen by the aerial sirens that we can listen here.

Conclusion: This is another excellent issue of Mother Turtle. This is the heaviest thing they made till now, I think. The band doesn't stop surprising me with great works. Still, maybe I expected a bit more of them. Mother Turtle gave me very high expectations. But don't get me wrong. I'm not saying this is a minor work. What I intend to say is that they did a too much minimalist album in length and instrumentation. And I'm not saying the band couldn't fill perfectly well the overall sound of the album. Still, I've the feel that something is missing. Mother Turtle got us used to a more complex sound on the previous works. The use of violin and sax on the two previous albums was great. Despite the use of some keys, I felt the absence of a keyboardist. It could have been even a better album, with the use of more instrumentation.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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