ELISABETH

An Epic Spiritual Journey

'Elisabeth' Beats on the Oaken Doors of Greatness

Everything about this album- sumptuous instrumentation, mastery of the musicians with their instruments, breadth of vision and depth of scope, interweaving of tonalities, textures, the painstaking, time-consuming, patient sculpting hour after hour of precision and power and passion, obsessive attention to every minute detail, every massive and grandiose swell, every sweep of the melotron, the thoughtful use of acoustic guitars, the punchy and hard-driving bass, those crisp, tasteful, powerful drums...

Everything in these sixty-two minutes and fifty-four seconds reveals the blinding, blazing talent of two key musicians, around whom they have gathered a host of supporting players and singers.

Beats HARD on the Oaken Doors

João Pascoal and Sérgio Ferreira have put body, soul, mind, and spirit, hours, days, weeks, and months- in fact, YEARS to bring this to life. They have spared nothing, left no stone unturned, swept the path clean again and again, started afresh, pursued with relentless zeal the impossible quest for perfection- and they come awfully damn close.

It's about as Perfect as it gets.

'Elizabeth' follows the concept, then completes it, begun with the Griot debut, 'Gerald'. Lyrics speak of pathos, loss, betrayal, unquenchable love, willingness to sacrifice life itself, longing for wholeness.

Where 'Gerald' told of a simple man on a quest, 'Elisabeth' picks up the pieces, faces soul-shattering challenges, and refuses, REFUSES to stop, to hold back, to surrender- unless it is full-throated love.

That's Why I Say 'Spiritual'

Not in the sense of some kind of cult or organized human religion. Rather, of the soul- the quest of the indomitable spirit.

Music

It is, after all, music we progressive rock lovers seek, yearn for, travel many miles in search of, spend many dollars to obtain and then nearly memorize.

Music- and here João and Sérgio deliver, in spades, and rushing streams, and raging rapids.

Let's see...in one track we might have a simple acoustic guitar set the stage, only to have jazz-tinged melancholic sax wailing, then to the grandiose melotron sighing with the sort of throbbing bass, driving drums, and heavy guitars that would make progressive metal guys swoon, only to subside into gentle piano or organ, and soon a soaring synthesizer going wild...

A music lover could get lost in the garden of earthly delights. One could revisit, repeatedly, and find more within. The listener can only shake her or his head in bemused wonder.

So, What is the Caveat?

For me, what keeps this album beating at the oaken doors, yet not quite forcing them open- yet (I am convinced these two creative souls will find a way), has to do with the vocals.

Most of the vocals are handled by one singer, and sooner or later I became distracted because although the vocals were on pitch, the melodies were numerous, timing impeccable, I longed for some variety, some drive, some passion.

Most of these vocals had a breathy, wistful quality- and there were simply times I wanted edge, the singer and the listener pushed to the brink that the music led us to. And then over- as the two ill-fated lovers chose to do.

My rating

It should be obvious I am more than impressed- I am elated, astounded, delighted. We are in the presence of greatness. The masterpiece is still to come...and this one comes pretty darned close. 4.25 blazing beacons.

The first minute and a half of this record constitutes a bold statement of intent: this record is going draw from all 4 corners of the prog world and serve up a genuinely diverse listening experience. Robert Fripp's mellotron, Keith Emerson's organ and piano, and even Misha Mansoor's extended range guitar riffing all manage to find their place somewhere in this record. I am sure there are influences that I can't even begin to recognize and appreciate. And yet all of it is pulled together into a tasteful tapestry that is still, somehow, thoroughly modern sounding.

Although formally the brain child of Portuguese musicians João Pascoal and Sérgio Ferreira, Elisabeth relies heavily on contributions from musicians from all over the world. A global project in scope, the album continues to push its ambition by incorporating a mini-novel to accompany and further flesh out the story told by the music. I am a poor evaluator of literature and so will refrain from passing any judgement. But I certainly respect the attempt at cross pollinating different art forms.

For all the record's strengths, I do have one gripe. Vocalist Maria Branco who performs the lead vocals on all the tracks but the last is clearly a talented and competent singer. But her versatility is limited which is a problem for a record as diverse as this one. For the softer and jazzier passages, Maria's voice shines. But as the music progresses to heavier passages, her delivery stagnates. There were several points on this record where I found this jarring.

In sum, this is definitely one of my favorite records of the year thus far and is essential for prog fans of any stripe looking for good new music to in which to sink their teeth.

Elisabeth, the second album by the portuguese Griot, is a very interesting conceptual work, an impeccable production, where progressive and jazz styles are merged, but which give them their own space to make them recognizable. There is no musical instrument that is in excess, each one has a reason to be and add value to the compositions.

The best of the work: the intense and painful A Weak Foundation and Retrospection, where the terrible losses of mother and father generate a devastating effect on the central character, the thoughtful Unearthing the Past, and the powerful and hopeless Making Amends. But undoubtedly the tension remains present throughout the development of the entire album.

On the other hand, in my opinion Elisabeth has a debt on the vocal part. Although Maria Branco's voice is consistent and of good tone, doesn´t leave the mold. It may work at times, but it's probably not what many of the great sound constructions require, taking away from drama rather than enhancing it.

All in all, Elisabeth is a very good album and highly recommended for those who like the genre.

Portuguese band Griot were formed in 2014 by João Pascoal (bass, guitar, programming) and Sérgio Ferreira (drums, programming). In 2016 they released their debut concept album 'Gerald', and now they are back with 'Elisabeth' which concludes that story. Alongside the debut they released a 21-page book telling the story, and here they have gone even further by releasing one which is 60 pages long. Most bands, if they go to these lengths, provide lyrics and artwork but what we have here is a full-blown short story, so does the music accompany the book or is it the other way round?

Neither of the lead singers, Maria Branco and João Rodrigues, were involved in the debut album but here they definitely own the characters they are portraying although there are some times, such as on "Atonement" when Maria does veer slightly offkey and her voice is more delicate than I might have expected give the force of the accompaniment.

Musically the album is quite diverse, and even though there are many different musicians involved (including 3 other guitarists, 3 keyboard players, brass, woodwind and strings) it does very much feel like a band album as opposed to a one-off project. One is never sure quite where the music is going to lead, as while it is progressive rock throughout there are times when it becomes more theatrical as there is quite a story to tell, veering between elements of Alan Parsons Project and Clive Nolan. Lots of strings and held down chords, alongside often powerful (and always varied) drumming, provide the platform for Maria yet sometimes she sings in a fairly quiet tone and her vocals are brought back into the music as opposed to being thrust forward which gives it a very distinct sound. Guitars can be strident and strummed, or totally absent from proceedings, and keyboards may be modern or very dated, all of which provide width and breath to the music.

Overall, this is an interesting album musically, and all power to the guys for putting so much effort into the package which goes with it, I really wish more bands would think of that side of it.

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗜𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀

I find that this album was pretty well recorded, but it just doesn't have the most compelling of tracks. The production and engineering is quite modern, the mix is quite guitar heavy, barying the keys a bit. There is a very detailed string section on this album that actually quite compliments the songwriting on the album, the strings also fit very nicely with the mix of the album overall. The album cover has a very pastoral feel, well painted, something you would see from a band like Hands or Genesis. The artwork on the cover nicely fits the mood of the album, similar to how Wind and Wuthering's cover fits the mood of the music found on the album.

I am very happy that I got to opportunity to give this album a fair shot, but overall I'm not very impressed. The songs are well produced but given the songwriting style on this album, it can't be similar to the material found on albums by Citizen Cain. Some good, well written sections scattered on the album, unfortunately the good sections are covered by moderate and amateur songwriting elsewhere.

3*

Good, but non-essential