SONGS FROM THE SOLWAY

Originally released in 2011, Dean Marsh has now revisited this EP and reissued it in 2024. It has been remixed and remastered along with some new instrumentation and has also been given some new artwork to make it stand out from the original. It brings to life folk stories and tales from Dean's home county of Cumbria, and he provided instrumentation and lead vocals, while Luke Severn provides lead and backing vocals on one song, Rebecca Watson lead vocals on two, Natasha Jaffe adds cello on one and Faliq Auri, Uilleann Pipes and Whistles on another. These days Gandalf's Fist are a full band, but this takes us back to the time when it was just Dean and Luke and allows us to hear a band experimenting with folk influences into their prog.

Mind you, we get way more than just folk influences or Neo, as Gandalf's Fist have never been satisfied with sitting for too long in any particular sub-genre, and for a fine example of a band always pushing then just listen to "The Regency Rascal" not only is it by far the longest song on the album but there are plenty of guitars in here, and it makes me think of a modern day Horslips with stacks of grunt and power. I don't know why Dean saw fit to revisit this EP more than a dozen years after it was originally released but given I did not come across it first time around I am certainly pleased he has as it has allowed me to catch up a little bit on their history. I love that on their Bandcamp page they say, "Gandalf's Fist are your new favourite Cult band waiting to be discovered!" I don't know about being a cult act, but there is no doubt they are one of my favourite prog outfits and this is another joy from beginning to end and is well worth discovering. If modern prog is your thing, here combining with lots of other influences from folk to metal, then seek this out immediately, if not sooner.