LEGENDS OF THE SHIRES

Shall I commence saying that the first acoustic guitar chord just melted me? or that the vocals at first almost sent me home? Or maybe just that this drummer-guitar guitar-drummer duo/trio is just too much?? What a trip has been?

The shire (Part 1)? perfect, exquisite, beautiful and too simple to be true? which lead us to Small dark lines, fast, powerful and poppy, a brief showcase of what to expect from this amazing album, all instruments saying "I'm present, I'm here!", catchy hooks and choruses. The first epic delivers itself on The Man who saw through time, and the title (an appealing one) kind of predicts the greatness of this song. James, Anderson and West simply make everything so much easier for an inspired Groom to display the band's power to deliver so many arrangements, some complex some less, all of them so incredibly well thought/crafted, it flows so easily? almost 12mins of greatness. Btw, I do like the alien-robot-like intro and out. Trust the Process brings unquestionable furiousness with a consistent and flawless rhythmic section, great riffing by Groom and powerful vocals, roughness maintained throughout the whole "process". This is song led by somehow odd melodies, but everything works so perfectly, Gentle Giant-like playful vocal harmonies almost corky at times, but again? so well put together by the band for a full experience? masterful to my ears. There's some epic vibe in the last quarter of the song, but a different type of epic vibe, like an 80's dark pop one, if that makes any sense. Bass and drums are back again for the first line of the hugely catchy Stars and Satellites, maybe the brightest song of the trip, almost too poppy to belong tho this specific ride but nevertheless less good or memorable than the rest of the great songs from this album. There's like a PF-Gilmour episode halfway through that balances the power metal side of the band effortlessly blending it with the commercial pop sound they can't seem to get away from? I see only brilliance. On the Edge closes the first album (did I forget to state it was a double album?, my bad!) lifting up tempo, supported by James frenetic drumming and Groom's heavy almost Sabbath-like riffing. A very interesting Keys-guitar soloing tandem and then The Cult-like vocals by Morgan, who really does a great job in the entire album with a proper and nice range. The Shire (Part 2) opens the second album with a piano-based copy of part 1, but this time around the band expands the storytelling for double the time making the melodies stay longer in the listener's both short and long term memory, appropriate indeed. Snowblind is perhaps the proggiest of them all and clocking slightly over 7mins delivers some of the heaviest and at the same time very melodic guitar playing by Groom, love & rage based lyrical content plus unearthly drumming by James again paving the way to those twin guitar melodies and the 70's inspired virtuoso keys and then back to straight pop metal again, they just do this so well, their formula is solid. Subliminal Freeways disrupts the madness with some more epic sounding modern pop metal? I really enjoy Grooms riffing style, his soloing is always memorable with well thought melodies that invades the brain after the first listen. Short and precise? State of Independence feels like a continuation to The Shire (Part 2), with the same nostalgic feeling but this time kind of bringing the saga to an end, more powerful and a little darker that its predecessors. Superior Machine has all the ingredients of a single, even though no progressive rock band strives to have music considered radio hit friendly, this album does have a few tracks that could easily tease with this reality? Treshold? No offense meant whatsoever, the band has that particular way of composing and creating arrangements that sound so familiar, yet complex at times, yet soft progressive metal at others. The Shire (Part 3) works as a transition brief instrumental to my favorite track of the musical experience, the one that brought me back and back again, the song that I invest almost an hour of music listening to finally get to it, Lost in Translation. For me it has everything a song has to have to grab me by the throat and never let go again. The heavy riffing, the storytelling-like lyrics, the atmospheric keys in the back providing the epic pillars to the memorable choruses, and that bass line, my GOD! That bass line that accompanied by the octopus sounding drumming lead the way once again to the guitar-key soloing battle, a band's blue print. 10 minutes of beautiful and powerful prog. A Floydian similarity can be heard kind of changing the mood around the third fifth of the song, a break masterfully designed before bringing the tempo for a reprise towards the end, perfection. Swallowed closes the double album with the same birds it opened, piano instead of acoustic guitars and the melodic feeling of Te Shire saga, with the Floydish input only this time more in the vocals and the guitar playing. Unquestionably a unique band, with a unique sound and unique formula, never a copycat of anything or anyone by any means. 100% recommended! THE END!