RESISTANCE

IQ experienced a breakthrough on 2014's Road of Bones, as a new keyboardist and returned bassist spurred a creative period that led to a full double album of brilliantly written, tightly constructed and played prog, a new peak for them. 5 years later, they come back with another double album of material, and as much as I love Road of Bones, this manages to top that. A first disc of shorter songs that all seem to thematically connect and cohere followed by a second disc with dual epics and more shorter songs? Yes please. Let's dive in:

A Missile: This is one hell of an opener, with hard charging and super heavy riffing breaking out of the gate into a stone cold classic. The organ and synthesizer complement the heaviness perfectly, but this song breaks through when it adds the second chorus, breaking out of the darkness to epic bombast courtesy of Neil Durant's synthesizers. The usual slow breakdown section is nice and eerie, with the keyboards sounding JUST a tad too "midi", but it doesn't take away from the song. Also evident on this song, which will become a theme with this album, Paul Cook's drums are going so fast and so chaotic it feels like the whole enterprise is notes away from flying off the rails and collapsing. That it never does is testament to their tightness, but man this guy is cutting loose on this album.

Rise: ambient keyboard intros with some haunting lyrics from Nicholls in the opening, leading to the heavy yet atmospheric riffing section. The riffs keep dropping out for more of the haunting vocals, and it's so hard to describe but the overall effect of these choices creates an emotional reality for the song that grabs you and holds on. Nicholls desperate lyrics about angels dying, the age of man, create this feeling of a far off battle for the soul of the universe, which reflects the album's cosmic cover beautifully. The song builds and builds to a crashing climax, with a soft coda at the end. IQ manages to make these songs memorable without needing to break into the usual prog fireworks of solos because their composition strength has grown to the point where the band themselves are the flash, rather than the chops.

Stay Down: stunningly beautiful piano melody starts us off while Nicholls sings about time standing still, mournful and sad. Chiming acoustic guitar begins to accompany this, before picking up to double time while the classic choir mellotron accompanies. This is basically a Genesis passage, but it works and is of a piece with IQ's sound. Beautiful stuff, and the melody then gradually becomes sinister as Nicholls' voice rises higher and higher and the song takes a dark turn. The moment he cries "Damn your eyes and you stay down" is the purely masterful work of a band that knows how to craft their emotional and cathartic climaxes. The crashing guitar and drums give way to a drum roll with some lovely guitar lead work from Holmes, the first we've heard him play as soloist on the album so far. That restraint makes it all the more worth it when it comes. The urgent drums underpin Nicholls' final vocal section that drives to the final crashing climax. Just masterfully done.

Alampandria: Spacey keyboards dominate most of this sort song before a short rock section with vocals and a guitar solo end it, but that brevity belies the feel of the song, which almost feels like a continuation of Stay Down's harder climax. All strung together intentionally for maximum impact of emotional climaxes and the necessary lulls and interludes.

Shallow Bay: Nice mournful piano notes, and a good slower paced song with a great emotional sound. Mellotron backing up a nice beat and melodies from the bass and guitar. Just a perfectly written and developed song with great shifts in key and tone, followed by one of Holmes' classic soulful soaring guitar solos.

If Anything: a beautiful slower paced ballad, with a drum machine of all things, that is a beautiful pacing choice after Shallow Bay brought the first part of the first disc to an emotional high. Low keyboards, fretless bass, classical guitar all accentuate Nicholls' beautiful vocal. The early fadeout makes room for some crashing sounds, like the darkness from earlier returning, and several haunting organ chords take us into the next song.

For Another Lifetime: A carnival calliope sound gets this 15 minute epic closer off to an off kilter start. The melody goes from creepy and odd to more emotional and back again, as Nicholls' lyrics predictably seem both meaningful and meaningless at the same time, but always seem perfectly suited to the music. The band kicks in with a slow moving section, progressing the eerie melodies from before into some great lead guitar parts with synths coloring in the margins to complete the atmosphere. The bass has some great riffs and licks. Nicholls' sings in the new section before the tempo kicks up and the synth and guitar leads take the song into another gear. Another slower but much heavier section follows, with some creative riffing and dark mellotron voice parts continuing to intensify the atmosphere. This heavier section seamlessly segues, bit by bit, into a more upbeat and uplifting melody in such a brilliant series of shifts. This final section ends, classically, with beautiful guitar solos and mellotron choirs taking us up to the heavens, and a piano and vocal ending to bring a nice coda.

The Great Spirit Way: Harvest of Souls topped the Last Human Gateway, Without Walls topped Harvest of Souls, and now the Great Spirit Way tops Without Walls as the best epic IQ has done, and maybe the best song they've ever done period. Starts out usual, with spacey atmospherics and then the drums kick in with some excellent jazzy fills to build up to the stunningly vibrant first opening instrumental section, guitar soaring and drums positively hitting every beat there is to be hit and then some, before introducing the first vocal section with some unpredictable riffing and building keyboard chords that all mesh together beautifully. The drums are going so nuts underneath it seems again like the train is going to run off the tracks but the band keeps up with him, driving forward with force and beauty like they've never done before. Nicholls' beautiful lyrics complement the music nicely. The band finally slows down after charging ahead for a lovely 6/8 instrumental melody section with all instruments interplaying effortlessly. Nicholls' vocals in this section continue with the cosmic spiritual theme that seems loose but intentional. It ends after the 7 minute mark, with the keyboard theme from the opening returning to lead the band into a more intense and complicated section as Holmes' guitar takes the lead melody, and Cook's drums continue their ramshackle attempt to constantly be adding fills while still driving the band forward and brilliantly succeeding. Durant's keyboards complement Nicholls' vocals nicely as the lyrics take a more sinister tone. Durant adds a tasteful synthesizer solo that doesn't overstay its welcome and fits perfectly with everything else. Drums remain in overdrive constantly urgently champing at the bit. The driving music settles down slightly, and the piano and classical guitar duet with melodies as the drums slowly drop out, and the cavernous bass synths carry the music down to its quiet interlude section. Keyboard theme returns again, with intermittent bass and bass drum thumps to remind us the band isn't gone, they're just resting. Piano melody starts to creep in as Nicholls' voice sings us through the rest until the drums roll in to build to a new section, with synth melody taking over a la supper's ready and driving the song back up to a new peak. Following this, a glorious reprise of the opening section and beautiful 6/8 time section again, with the organ truly shining while the bass riffs wherever it wants to, just the sound of a band totally in sync with one another. The song winds down beautifully into classical guitar, a tour de force. There's a direct segue into?

Fire and Security: Weakest song on the album, but a nice creepy little song with good playing and a good guitar solo

Perfect Space: I've listened to this song many times but cannot pin it down. In 8 minutes, IQ morph this song through so many stages its impossible to classify. More of that breakneck drumming, driving this song through. Extremely excellent playing from everyone, continuing the high water mark this album is setting.

Fallout: The final song on the second disc, and the second 20 minute epic. This one is less climactic than a bit of a comedown for the album as a whole, which is a nice way to end it. Ending on the great spirit way would be a bit cliché. A spacey opening section lads to a nice vocal, and this song takes lots of unexpected turns. Lots of great guitar solos from Holmes, who has been mostly restrained throughout the album.