THE BARDIC DEPTHS

Rather straightforward, simple Neo Prog with some lush atmospheric soundscapes and pulsating prog that have been set up to support the existential and anti-war themes as were discussed between authors C.S Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) and J.R.R. Tolkein (The Lord of the Rings).

1. "The Trenches" (8:35) a two minute intro of passages from letters written between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein between the two World Wars over atmospheric synth washes then vaults into motion to support a fairly easy-going but steady music with a familiar proggy sound palette. Then, int he fifth minute there is a shift as a more slow military march with synth flutes and synth strings plays while soldiers' voices can be heard beneath saying things like "Fire!" At the six minute mark a more insidious proggy motif takes over to support Dave Bandana's vocal. At 7:45 everything drops out leaving a treated "distant" vocal to sing its dirge. (17/20)

2. "Biting Coal" (7:50) slow, oscillating atmospherics underline samples of conversations in some Scandinavian language for the first half before things take a turn and Dave sings a Roger Waters-like vocal over gently-strummed acoustic guitar and lush atmospheric synths. (12.75/15)

3. "Depths Of Time" (12:35) one of the most unlikely and unexpected masterpieces of the year 2020! (23.5/25) a. - The Instant - emotional sax play over spacey synth washes and some ticking from a clock. (8.5/10) b. - The Flicker - 1980s New Wave techno disco adult jazz! Could be THE THE or SIMPLY RED. Very cool and unexpected. Refreshing and very engaging! This could've been a hit for NEW ORDER or DEPECHE MODE! (5/5) c. - The Moment - return to plaintive sax but this time over full band at half the speed and half the everything of The Flicker." Brilliant sax play, Peter Jones!--enhanced greatly by the heavy reverb. (10/10)

4. "Depths Of Imagination" (5:01) slow, thick PINK FLOYD-like music to support spoken word recitation of a passage from C.S. Lewis about creating the "fairy" world. In the second minute things turn a little more bluesy as Dave sings about the brotherhood of writing about imaginary worlds. Not much meat or variety to the song. (8.25/10)

5. "Depths Of Soul" (6:40) spacious space sounds enter and fade beneath a simple quote from Tolkien before sax, bass, and drums kick in to support lead guitarist Gareth Cole's attempt to establish melody and mood. When everything finally gels and shifts into drive at the end of the second minute, its pretty cool PINK FLOYD motif that Dave sings over. The Peter Jones (TIGER MOTH TALES) sax soli in the fourth minute is great--as is the "Lothlorian" chorus and background synths and organ in the next section. (8.75/10)

6. "The End" (7:37) electric piano and flute sound opens this before being joined by Dave's sad lyric and sad cello. Very frail and emotional. At 1:45 it's as if a whole new song starts, but it's just a lane change--to speed up a little. Dave's got a very pretty melody and sound construct here. Harmonica and deep bass notes alternate with piano chord hits in the fourth minute creating a little discordant tension. Piano then tries to take us out before giving way to organ and cello. At 5:25 there is a little pause with some pitch-bent synth chord before the song kicks out onto another side-street--this one with tom-tom play, bluesy guitar and Mellotron male chorus bank while Dave sings his final verse. Very engaging song. My favorite on the album. (13.75/15)

7. "Legacies" (9:28) there's a very serious intention to the this song as a delivery mechanism for a message: "We define the edge"--as well as more quotes read from the Lewis-Tolkien letters. Nice that it's supported by very nice music and some great solos in the end from Dave's synthesizers and then a running duel between guitarists Gareth Cole and Robin Armstrong. My third favorite song on the album. (18/20)

Total time: 57:46

A very pleasant listen if somewhat singular in its palette and mood (i.e. other than "The Flicker").

B+/4.5 stars; a surprisingly solid near-masterpiece of atmospheric, thematic progressive rock music. An album that I think I'll return to quite often for a while.