THE BLACK CHORD

Astra pay tribute to classic 70s prog with a cosmic intergalactic mosaic of sound and fury.

I was so impressed with Astra's 'The Weirding' masterpiece that as soon as I laid eyes on this enigmatic new album, 'The Black Chord', I had to have it. Immediately, the style of Astra's modrn space rock meets classic 70s prog, is prominent. The album takes us on a mesmirising journey that at times is sumptuous tranquillity and at other times launches into heavy space guitar collisions. Every track offers something very special and never disappoints. I am in awe at how Astra capture the 70s sound and yet inject, and even reinvent, a modern approach to progressive psych rock.

'Cocoon' begins with howing solar winds and then ambient spaciness building with menace. The echoed guitar howls over, a drum beat settles into a steady measured pace. The glissando Hackett like guitars of Brian Ellis begin an improvised psychedelic melody. A riff locks in with twin guitars overlayed, and a fusion of keyboards smolders along tinging the edges of the sound. The music is uplifting as it builds to a faster cadence. The repetition of the riff is broken by a frantic keyboard and guitar run with very fast arpeggios. An intonation of lead guitar swells over and then is saturated by a bubble bath of synths. A wonderful melody takes over and caresses my ears, and I am in prog heaven. This is an inferno of prog excess, an instrumental with a very distinct 70s style sound, with odd time tempos, and percolating liquid keys. The guitars are drowned out by synths that fade and we hear manic drumming from David Hurley and more wind howling to end this awesome opener to the album.

It segues straight into the mammoth 'The Black Chord' that is a mosaic of colour and musical motion, with a windtunnel of keyboard, and some unusual chilling sounds leading to Conor Riley's piano phrases. The piano keeps some semblance of melody before we hear the psychedelic vocals of Richard Vaughan in early Pink Floyd style. Lyrics include; "Told the tall tale, Chapter and the verse, On the balance, Bounty and a curse, Into bright white, Only to reverse, For the Earth, Swallows whole." There are accents of acoustic picking and grinding organ with tons of tron. The music is fuelled with high octane guitars, with echoes of Hawkwind or early Genesis. There is a great progressive riff, and some spacey vox as it builds patiently. Some nice effervescent ambient pads fizz through as a delightful guitar chimes out heavy riffage. The bass of Stuart Sclater permeates the sound with comparable pulsating heartbeats. The tempo switches are dynamic and cutthroat razor sharp. There are touches of King Crimson, Caravan, Yes and Hawkwind imbedded in the billowing soundscape. It is a glorious cosmic journey with wavebreaks of modulating synthetic rhythms. The epic track transgresses into a lengthy shimmering organ, heavily phased guitars and sporadic drumming. It is an incredible master track full of sound and fury, a cacophony of cosmic musak topped with lashings of heavy psych prog like swirls of cosmic debris. A masterpiece of vivacious musicianship.

'Quake Meat' is an astonishing prog paradise. After a rapid fire killer riff the extreme psychedelic flanger vox crash through. The guitars of Ellis and Vaughan are ruthless and unremitting, and this is as heavy as I have heard Astra; no distortion, just very cool riffs. Ellis burns with a lead guitar solo and there is a break in transmission. The space effects soon swirl across like glacial planetary clusters, with celestial synths, and chunks of vociferous flute warble as a wah wah guitar break intercedes; Prog grandeur. Hawkwind blasts of stormy interstellar rays wash over and more phased vox punctuate the horizons. This is mind blowing music; incredible!

'Drift' begins with acoustic vibrations and a synth intro as softened vocals sweetly blend over. The atmospheric and sumptuous beauty is drfting along serenely with hovering mellotrons allowing the music to breathe. It is a lush short piece that acts as a welcome transmission, sandwiched between chaos and mayhem.

'Bull Torpis' is a crazy instrumental with lashings of insane keyboard wizardry from Riley and ultra heavy 70s guitars from Vaughan and Ellis blazing like a fire. The riffs are sensational with a frenetic time sig but the thing holds together with exquisite bass from Sclater and deliriously irregular drumming from Hurley.

'Barefoot In The Head' is an absolutely divine Pink Floyd homage, even inserting similar 'Have A Cigar' riffs, and harmonised spaced out vocals. Lyrics include; "Burning out and barefoot in the head, I'm hanging by a thread the writing on the wall, Lost and bound inside the grey machine, And nothing in between can break the final fall." The mellotron strings are icy cold and overlayed are the incredible spacey lead guitars that soar into the stratosphere. A cavalcade of guitars ends the album with riff upon riff and multi phased lead breaks creating a massive wall of sound. The glissando lead guitars careen off the scale and shimmering keys build to a crescendo. It builds to deafening white out, with droplets of synth and mammoth mellotron waterfalls cascading over, the guitars of Vaughan and Ellis clash together in the maelstrom and then it suddenly cuts off. And another masterpiece track is the result. I just wish it was not over so quickly.

What can be said about a band that sounds so pristine and spaced out, with some of the most amazing musicianship I have heard for a long time. It grows on the listener and is truly inspirational showing how music can sound contemporary and yet remain genuinely reverant to the golden sound of the 70s. Astra encompass everything that I love about prog, odd time sigs, symphonic mellotron soaked scapes with heavy psyched up guitar riffs and gentle meandering vocals. There is nothing better than hearing the modern band maintain the spirit of the 70s in such an affectionate manner. It is never contrived or forced because Astra are true to themselves and consistent in their inventiveness and innovation; not stealing but merely honouring the heritage of prog. This album is a paradise for prog addicts and definitely one of the masterpiece albums of 2012 thus far.

One of the few 21st century progressive rock outfit's capable of producing an authentic retro-style sound, San Diego's Astra burst onto the scene back in 2009 with their outstanding analogue-drenched debut 'The Weirding'. Released on both CD and deluxe gate-fold vinyl(yum yum) 'The Weirding' made many of the days modern prog acts seem cheesy and insipid by comparison, the group's muscular blend of earthy, metallic riffs, dense mellotron swirls, other-worldly lyrics and lengthy, complex song suites harking right back the genre's early 1970s golden era yet also encompassing a decidedly contemporary edge, thus lending Astra a unique and powerful sound all of their own. Three years on, and happily, the boys are back with a brand new studio offering, something that has been keenly anticipated by Astra's growing legion of fans ever since it was announced last year that April 2012 would be the slated release date. Featuring the same five-man line- up of Richard Vaughan(vocals, keyboards, guitar), Stuart Sclater(bass), Conor Riley(keyboards, vocals), Brian Ellis(guitar) and David Hurley(drums, flute) and recorded in their native California, 'The Black Chord' picks up right from where it's predecessor left-off, more-or-less utilising the same formula that made 'The Weirding' such a progressive masterpiece. Right from the grazing instrumental mysticism of 'Cocoon', which provides a suitably dense beginning, 'The Black Chord' once more demonstrates both Astra's love of classic prog and heavy rock sounds and their consumate musical abilities with instruments old and new. Fans will be pleased to hear that 'The Black Chord' has much in common with 'The Weirding', yet this is no facsimile album. Simply put this is shorter, sharper and slicker than before, with less musical wandering and a slightly more focused set of compositions that once again feature the group's stylistic hallmarks of carefully-wrought mellotron-and-moog passages, bouts of sustained rock riffery and a heady, hazy atmosphere engineered by the old school instruments. Sometimes the group maybe lose their way a little, as on the otherwise excellent title-track, yet the balance between dissonant roars of proto-metal psych-rock and celestial sections of shimmering calm are nevertheless maintained throughout, all the while peppered with Vaughan's hash-piped vocals. Finally. 'The Black Chord' ends in suitably bombastic style, initially with the oddly-named 'Bull Torpis' which serves up another helping of fantasy-flecked retrograde prog, before the screeching power-psych metal of 'Barefoot In The Head' brings the curtain down in suitably epic style. Following up 'The Weirding' was never going to be easy, especially considering that album's mature and highly-intricate sonic imprint(thus sounding like a genuine product of the 1970s from a veteran outfit) yet this sophomore release shows that Astra are no one-trick pony. Although 'The Black Chord' doesn't deviate too far from the sonic stall set out by it's predecessor, it's still a remarkable album filled with the kind of classic progressive grandstanding that is hard to find in these digital days. Undoubtedly one of the premier modern groups, Astra have here produced another excellent album; we await the next one with baited breath.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2012

Vintage atmospheric psychedelic prog

Well, I dunno if that is the right category for the music of Astra. Well, for most of you, you will find this album as retroactive prog music in the past as you might find elements of Pink Floyd, Nektar, Hawkwind, Genesis and bits of ELP. But for me this can be categorized as new inventions influenced by vintage prog sounds and the band has successfully crafted the music uniquely - hey, try to guess any band on planet earth that sounds similar with their music! It's hard, really. You might find in some style of keyboard or guitar that is similar. But I really don't care who actually influence the band as I enjoy the music very well.

The first thing I like about the music is how it flows in crescendo from basically silent part and it goes faster as demonstrated by the opening track Cocoon (8:45). Oh man .... I do enjoy the flow of the music which moves eventually from the slow parts into much dynamic parts with great combined work of guitar and keyboard. The second track The Black Chord (14:59) has different style but still find its roots of seventies prog sounds. You might find some nuances of King Crimson as well right here with this track.

The second thing I like about this album is - of course - the vintage sounds that blend nicely seventies sounds into modern prog Look at the second track which happens to be the album title, you find everything you expect from seventies prog. Not only that, the melody through its vocal line is marvelous! You might find a nuance of King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man but played in psychedelic style. It sounds awkward but it results great music and excellent listening experience!

The third thing I love is the composition. It has basically strong and memorable melody - try second track Black Chord or sixth track Barefoot In The Head - even though other tracks have great melody as well. The harmonies resulted from contributions of musical instruments - guitar and organ / mellotron are really excellent. There are many great guitar solo combined with mellotron / organ work and very good vocal line.

Overall, this is an excellent addition to any prog music collection. For those who were there in the seventies, I guarantee you would love this album as you would find elements that connect you directly to your teenage world. Try first and second track, you will be amazed! And then go spin the last track, I am sure you agree with me. Otherwise, how prog are you man? ..... Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

The fans had to wait nearly three years ... but now the unique sound of ASTRA is back. Their sophomore album 'The Black Chord' blends psychedelic with symphonic ingredients in its own inimitable way, based on a really virtuoso implementation at times. The line up remained steady during recent years, so does the sound ... in general. Which means this will please all those progressive music lovers who already have enjoyed the predecessor 'The Weirding'.

Although guitars and keyboards are equally prominent as usual I would emphasize the latter here. Conor Riley and Richard Vaughn provide a cornucopia of impressions - Moog, synthesizer, piano, mellotron and Hammond unlimited - you won't miss anything on this occasion. By the way ... guitarist Brian Ellis is in control of the beloved mellotron too, not in ASTRA though, however at least when it comes to his diverse solo projects, which I also like.

An ambient/spacey intro leads us into Cocoon which bears several repetitive motifs, however slightly modified over the course. Evolving from mid to up-tempo rocking this a gripping affair really. The title songs differs while certainly gaining a symphonic outfit featuring more complexity and turns. Besides distorted vocals Quake Meat shows a wonderful spacey interlude, followed by the floydy Drift and Bull Torpis which I only wished to be more extended due to a very melodic implementation - great track.

'The Black Chord' is a substantial effort provided with strong vintage references to the glorious 1970s, especially Pink Floyd and Genesis are shimmering through here and there. Supposed to be manufactured as vinyl, hence the total length is limited. Overall presented as good as the debut at least - a recommended affair again for sure. You shouldn't miss this band.

An album that has a well-produced retro sound with solid performances and meaty compositions but it is lacking the hooks and melodies that would bring me back.

1. "Cocoon" (8:43) is an instrumental song in the space-psychedelic/Komische rock instrumental jam vein. (8/10)

2. "The Black Chord" (14:59) has a gorgeous beginning but the runs into a few rough patches. Nice Yes-like guitar and Mellotron melodies in several places. (9/10)

3. "Black Meat" (6:41) takes a step backwards in terms of sound and structural choices. In my opinion this is a much less mature and well-thought out song with subpar performances that don't gel well. (6/10)

4. "Drift" (4:39) is a soft, low key presentation of simple instrumental support for some interesting layering of vocal harmonies. Interesting but just lacking that melodic sensibility necessary to hook the listener in. (8/10)

5. "Bull Torpis" (2:56) opens with a very RUSH-like familiarity--even though it is keyboard-led and the guitars never get up to Alex LIFESON competency. I fail to see the need or purpose of this one. (6/10)

6. "Barefoot in the Head" (9:13) (9/10) has more of a PINK FLOYD/ELOY sound and feel to it.

Four stars.

Well if ASTRA's previous album "The Weirding" did it for you then you'll love "The Black Chord". They continue in that same late sixties, early seventies Psychedelic style with plenty of mellotron and vintage sounds. This one is quite a bit shorter than the previous one clocking in at just over 47 minutes.

"Cocoon" opens in a mellow way as spacey winds arrive. It's building until the guitar is lighting it up as the drums pound. The tempo picks up after 4 minutes. This continues until it turns spacey late to end it. "The Black Chord" is a 15 minute beast. The guitar, drums and mellotron lead early then the piano joins in followed by vocals before 2 minutes. It turns instrumental before 4 1/2 minutes then settles back after 6 minutes. The vocals are back after 7 1/2 minutes as themes are repeated. The guitar is ripping it up late.

"Quake Meat" has an excellent instrumental intro then the vocals arrive 1 1/2 minutes in before the intrumental work takes over again. It settles 2 1/2 minutes in with mellotron. It's intense again after 4 minutes and vocals follow. "Drift" opens with gentle guitar and synths. Reserved vocals join in this melancholic sounding soundscape. It's fuller after a minute as contrasts continue. Lots of mellotron too. "Bull Torpis" is spacey yet heavy. The mellotron storms in followed by the guitar after a minute as it starts to solo. Just a great track. "Barefoot In The Head" is named after the book author Brian Aldiss wrote which I guess you could say is in the (ahem) counter-culture domain. This one reminds me of PINK FLOYD with the vocals and heaviness. Later before 8 minutes we get some ripping guitar in a repetitive soundscape.

Recommended to space cadets the world over.

Nearly four years have passed since I purchased this album, and it has become an important disc for me as it was one of the first I bought after I discovered the significance of both prog rock and this site. As I have stated in other reviews, I had only ever heard of progressive rock once when it was mentioned in an Austin Powers movie in reference to the Alan Parsons Project. Yet my music collection included many of the albums that are on this esteemed web site. When I finally understood what prog was (thanks to Wikipedia and this site here), I began seeking out progressive artists, and Astra's striking album cover caught my attention on Amazon one day while I was searching for modern day prog bands.

My impression has not changed over the years. This is always an enjoyable album to listen to. It's not too long (unlike their debut, "The Weirding") and the tracks are kept at a reasonable length, completed perfectly in their given time frames. As I listened to this album yet again tonight, though, I was once more struck by the impression that this is really space travel music. You'll know what I mean when you hear the slow and gradual building up of the first track, "Cocoon". It takes you for a ride over the surface of a barren but exotic planetary landscape at sunrise before launching you to the stars and through gaseous nebulae and spiraling galaxies.

Astra are five lads from California who know how to capture the cosmic rock of the early seventies. Somewhat like the child of 1969-71 Pink Floyd and Hawkwind but inheriting Pink Floyd's more laid back style, Astra are big on Moog synthesizers and Mellotrons but of course including electric and acoustic guitars along with the quintessential bass and drums. One member is also credited with flute. A retro band to be sure but a very good one. The music is not hugely complex but rich in textures, the Mellotron used to create that space age fantasy soundscape. Acoustic guitar doesn't figure in much except in "Drift", and when I hear it in "Barefoot in the Head", the guitar notes are more like sparkles of twinkling starlight glittering through gaps in the obscuring nebulous gasses in the slowly shifting dust of a starfield.

The music is generally quite laid back and slow but it can break into gallops, the brief instrumental "Bull Torpis" being the one track the moves along at a hurried pace. There are suitable flourishes of guitar solos and keyboards, and the vocals are soft in that old Pink Floydian way and sometimes distorted slightly to add to the spacey effect. I believe there are two vocalists and their harmonized vocals also fit right with to the overall effect.

Though not everyone views retro-prog favourably, I think in a case like this where it is accomplished so well one has to give credit. This is one far out piece of work. If there is any flaw great enough to deny the album a five-star rating it's the production sound. I'm not sure if it was intentional but the dynamic range seems to be lacking. I'd love to be able to hear the music captured more clearly and the life of the instruments rendered more generously. This is a step up from their debut which had a much inferior sound quality. I can only hope that if they ever get around to recording a third album it will be better produced. But again, it almost seems as though it was done intentionally because the lack of dynamic range doesn't totally dampen the music. Perhaps they were going for this kind of effect.

A worthwhile album to check out, and gosh darn it all, Astra, guys, get another album out sometime soon, will you? You do stellar work!

If you're going to do retro-prog thing you're already running the risk of churning out something that prog fans have heard all too many times before; Astra manage to avoid that pitfall by not opting for the standard circa-1972 Genesis or Yes influences that dominate the work of so many other retro-prog and neo-prog groups, but instead go all out to recapture the sound of a somewhat earlier phase of progressive rock, that organ-tastic era from 1969 to 1971ish where the roots of prog in the earlier psychedelic scene were much more apparent and the divisions between psych, prog, and heavy music were not so finely delineated. The end result is an album which could have happily come out with a Vertigo swirl label back in the day alongside the likes of Cressida, Catapilla, or Colosseum.

It took three years but the San Diego progressive psychedelic space rock band ASTRA returned in 2012 with its followup album THE BLACK CHORD which found all five members making a reprise with their amazing chemistry to craft another slice of excellent retro prog with all the cool sounds of mellotron, moog, synthesizers and styles from the early 1970s. The album even featured artwork from the artist Arik Roper and continued in the vein of the debut but benefited from a high production budget and a larger audience that had been won over by the debut "The Weirding" which pleased both fans and critics alike.

THE BLACK CHORD continued the psychedelic space rock aspects but tamped down the blatant Pink Floyd influences and also crafted a faster and heavier album than the debut. By turning up the prog influences and focusing more on the heavier Red-era style of King Crimson and the more demanding period of Yes such as on "Relayer," ASTRA added hefty knotty and at times even angular fortifications to its otherwise hypnotic space prog. With keyboard workouts reminiscent of Genesis' "Trespass" (especially the track "The Knife") and twin guitar attacks that featured the heavy prog focus of bands like Uriah Heep and more modern bands like early Anekdoten, ASTRA's second album was not only more demanding in terms of progressive rock but offered a more expansive style of playing.

A much shorter affair than the 79 minute debut, THE BLACK CHORD which featured six tracks only barely exceed the 47 minute playing time. Remaining roughly 2/3 instrumental and the rest with vocals like the debut, THE BLACK CHORD featured more upbeat compositions that threatened to drift into metal territory but never quite took things all the way. The band 's chemistry had clearly coalesced even further into a fully oiled machine at this point giving the band the confidence to tackle some of the most complex time signatures that prog can offer albeit within the context of well-crafted melody based musical motifs that equally sucked you in as easily as the more chilled space rock tracks of "The Weirding." Very much still looking to the 70s, the album is dominated by mellotrons, memotrons, minimoogs, moog rogues, echoplexes, Hammond organs and even a grand piano. While not the primary focus, the occasional flute parts drift in and out as do moments of acoustic guitar.

The opening track "Cocoon" was an interesting track title thus fueling more rumors and claims that the band's previous album was a secret soundtrack of the 1985 film of the same name. The track immediately distinguished THE BLACK CHORD from its predecessor with a beefier production, faster tempos and a significantly improved leap in technicality, yet without sacrificing the very space prog mood setting psychedelia that was laid down in the debut. While the space rock dominates much of the album, the clear nods to Meddle-era Pink Floyd had been replaced by more original takes on the space prog sound with no clear connections to many bands however the occasion Floydian slip does occur as do moments that are reminiscent of classic Hawkwind. While the heaviness on the debut was more of a proto-metal Black Sabbath sort of chord oriented accent, on THE BLACK CHORD the heavy guitar riffing delivers more complex progressive workouts bringing bands like Anekdoten or even Captain Beyond.

Overall THE BLACK CHORD found ASTRA improving on all levels with a more complex album and a more refined style that sounded more original than retro despite the obvious warmth of the 70s tones and timbres delivered through the analog equipment. In many ways the heavier and faster aspects of the album do put a damper on the more chilled out space prog vibe of the debut but it's like comparing apples and oranges and in the end it's a good thing that this band didn't just take the cookie cutter approach and simply make a "Weirding 2." The maturity on this album and the development over three years should have propelled this band into the big leagues of modern prog with the likes of Porcupine Tree but it didn't quite work out that way.

While the band didn't call it quits, drummer David Hurley did leave the band in 2013 which left the rest of the band unable to cope with idea of a new percussionist with all the members citing the perfect chemistry of the original five would never be the same. The band took a hiatus which at this point has been over a decade. Three members ( Conor Riley, Brian Ellis, Paul Marrone ) went on to form Birth in 2017 and released an album in 2022 however ASTRA has remained on permanent hiatus for over a decade. All the members have stated that they are slowly working on a third album and when it's completed it will emerge but considering all the members are busy with other projects there's no telling exactly when that could be. Whatever the case, these guys are worth the wait with two excellent albums that each showcased a different aspect of the band's wealth of playing styles.