CORVUS STONE II

I reviewed the debut Corvus Stone album all the way back in 2013 but never came across 2014's follow-up until recently, possibly because the debut left me somewhat confused with its strange mix of material which did not seem to relate to each other. However, it has been more than a decade since then, my musical tastes have changed, plus guitarist Colin Tench has died way too soon, all of which is bound to have a bearing on how I listen to this now, so this review may be somewhat different to what I would have written if I had heard it when it was released.

Corvus Stone were somewhat unusual in that they were an instrumental quartet, who then used different guest singers to provide voice to the songs. Also, they were determined not to make an album containing material which could be considered as being in a similar vein and the CD includes the statement, "This album is extremely varied. It does not follow any imaginary rules. It is not genre safe!". The band comprised Colin Tench (guitars), Pasi Koivu (keyboards), Petri Lemmy Lindström (bass), Robert Wolff (drums & percussion) and they were joined by singers Stef Flaming, Sean Filkins, Phil Naro, German Vergara, Timo Rautiainen, Blake Carpenter, and Andres Guazzelli. When I reviewed the debut, I found the variety somewhat disconcerting, but I see this one as a wonderful musical adventure.

We can go from a classical guitar interlude (which has the great title, "A Stoned Crow Meets the Rusty Wolff Rat") to rock, while "Scandinavians In Mexico" is so Latin and off the wall that each time it comes up I find myself checking the player to see if Corvus Stone has ended, and it is the next album on my list. The four musicians are able to play anything they want, so they do, and if they want to play fusion why not? The way they change styles is so precise that it really does sound as if different players are involved on different songs: it is simply remarkable. There were some elements on the debut which made me smile, and we have the same here as "Purple Stone" is probably the finest Purple cover which never was. Everyone plays their role to the max, with the drums driving the song, the bass providing a melody which is different to the Hammond while Colin is all over the place doing his best Ritchie impersonation. Blake Carpenter may not sound like Gillan, but he somehow captures the feeling and vibe, and if anyone was unsure as to which song they had taken for their inspiration for this, there is no doubt whatsoever when we get the first two lines and melody of "Highway Star" towards the end.

This is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, just because the songs are so varied, in which case just think of it as a collection of great material by different artists in different genres, and then it makes much more sense. An absolute delight.

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