ANGELS OF PECKHAM RYE

Dished out with a great range of stylistical ingredients THE WOOD DEMONS have stringed a superb chain of songs here on their full-fledged debut album. They are residing in London, I'm quite sure. In any case you will find a railway station named Peckham Rye situated in the south of the city. And so the album's story deals with a legendary vision the famous British poet William Blake supposedly experienced in his childhood while walking through that region. It is said he once saw an oak tree filled with angels spreading their bright wings. Anyhow, true or not, actually the tree was (re-)planted in 2011 by the way. The band had produced one EP beforehand in 2017, worth a try for sure, but this album certainly is a step forward, has very much to offer, full load so to say.

The line up hasn't changed during recent years, interestingly enough though they are recording with the involvement of two drummers in general. Enchanting, some Genesis reminiscences and Naomi Belshaw's heart-wrenching violin on the opener Arithmomania. Next follows the super relaxed The Odd Particle. John Silver provides fine repetitive bass lines. Equipped with Rick Startin's mellotron alike synths and Simon Carbery's nice lead vocals the folk tinged Big Game Fishing reminds me of Jethro Tull a bit. And then the band really rocks on Starstruck. Now the shortest track turns out to be my album highlight. Interminable Beige Thing comes with melancholic synths and electric violin again. Ahhhh, this always gives me the shivers. A great diversified album, the wonderful mellowness touches me much.

As a prog folk esthete, band names can attract or repel, and it was with high hopes that our team was asked to consider THE WOOD DEMONS for inclusion in our sometimes kind and gentle, sometimes wacky and savage, sub genre. Though they didn't pass our cattleguard, they were diverted into the crossover corral, so here we are. Nonetheless, fans of folk rock will effortlessly unearth a bounty of delights in 4 out of the 7 tracks on this, THE WOOD DEMONS' first full length release.

The opening number, "Arithmomania", carries a mystical chant through numbers large and small and their relationships to nature. It's an archetypal piece with which to kickstart the proceedings, and certainly formed the basis for my exploration of the group, as Simon Carberry's insistent vocals and the shifts of pace are both auspicious. "The Odd Particle" is one of two instrumentals, accentuating the more predominant delicate and atmospheric aspects, first mostly John Silver's bass, then on Naomi Belshaw's electric violin, which together augment the arrangements and really help engrave the group's signature sound. The most Celtic oriented number is the splendid ballad "Big Game Fishing", while the title cut weaves middle Eastern motifs into a decidedly English tale of a ghostly apparition.

The two rockers, like the surrounding numbers, confirm the group's mastery of their assignments. While they don't flatter the WOOD DEMONS' true strengths in melody and subtlety, the more I hear them, particularly "Starstruck", the more I see them as of a piece with the overall work.

"Angels of Peckham Rye" is a bold devil-may-care release that fans of accessible prog with a folk slant should take to readily. 3.5 stars rounded up.