ALL OVER EVERYWHERE

Why does Dan Britton mix and effect his vocalists so strangely? Or are they recorded for playback on some rare and unusual audiophilic system that I have no access to? Also, I just don't like his choice of plug-in acoustic guitar sounds--they sound too little like an 'acoustic' guitar. Some pretty songs and arrangements that somehow went wrong in the mix/engineering (IMHO). "Art of the Earth" [9/10] is an excellent song despite it's odd sound (mix). Love the flowing, weaving use of vibes with the keys and guitar. Trinna Kesner's vocals are, at least, better than the males he's used in "Birds and Buildings" and "August in the Urals." And her lyrics are good. Good album. Three stars.

This is what I call a "headphones" album. Not only because the music is evocative and is better served by a careful listening, it's also because of the production's choice (probably) to keep the vocals volume lower than usual.

The opener, "Art Of The Earth" is a good start. I'm not the first in saying that music has a colour. This song is a "blue-night effect". The sensation that it gives me is like the relax before sleeping after a hard working-day, but at the same time there's something weird emerging from your sub-conscious. I don't find other words to describe it.

"Endless Night" is folky. It's one of the songs on which the vocals are in the background and in this case it's a pity because this is a very melodic song. One that's very close to my tastes. Somewhere between Joan Baez and Linda Perhacs. I have given a high number of listens to this song in particular. I really like it.

"The Shroud" goes back to the athmosphere of the first track, just a bit darker. Like we are now in the REM phase. A dream is begun and the connection with the real world is gone.Effectively the title is dark enough. To be honest I didn't pay much attention to the lyrics as I'm more captured by the music. I think that "Crossover Prog" is a good definition for this band. This song makes me think to King Crimson, but in the same time there are clear classical influences.When the volume is higher it makes me think to Kayo Dot, too, even if not so experimental.

"Honesty" is a melodic song. Slow and relaxing so that even if not in the foreground, the good vocal qualities of the singer can be appreciated. In the instrumental parts driven mainly by strings and keyboards there's a connection with the previous tracks. Some little dissonances are there to remind us that this is a band with its original sound.

"After All The Years": not noisy as Kayo Dot, but artsy and experimental in the choice of sounds and in some passages. Other are folky and in addition the singing is melodic and sweet. Those are contrasts that make it very interesting. This is another track that deserves many listens.

Alternating the most experimental tracks to the melodic ones is probably a choice, not a coincidence. "On A Dark Street" is melodic. Darkness and night are a recurring element. Looking at the album from this point of view the choice about the voice's volume seems to have more sense. It makes the music more ethereal and dreamy.

"Until The Sun Begins To Fall" belongs to the "even" tracks. Even if it has very melodic moments its mood is of the "artsy" kind.

The closer is about an epic, instead. It's the longest track and the most symphonic. An excellent closer with connections to the 70s without being neo-prog. I hear reminescences of Camel, Genesis And King Crimson but made of what is the typical sound of this band.

A debut more than promising. Not easy at the first impact. It requires time to get into it, but it's not wasted time. Suggested to ANY prog collection.

All Over Everywhere is a collaboration between Dan Britton, who will be familiar to veterans of this site, and a classically trained musician, and folk fan, Trinna Kesner, who won't be. It strikes me as being a true collaboration, so what you get is an interesting mixture of what most of us would pick up as more traditional progressive rock fused with symphonic and folk sensibilities, and I will immediately state that if this sounds like a description of outfits such as Blackmore's Night, Renaissance, and the like, then it certainly does not sound that way, because it is very difficult to place this record in a box such as "inspired by" or "fans of such and such a band will like this".

That is a round about way of saying that the album is difficult to pidgeon hole, and that, for me, is a good and healthy situation.

Ten musicians, including, of course, Britton and Kesner, are credited on the CD. Fans of my favourite instrument will particularly appreciate the mellotron swirling everywhere about this work, whilst those who like their progressive rock to take on a more classical symphonic flavour will enjoy the instrumentation of strings and woodwind.

Vocal duties are taken on by Megan Wheatley, another new name to me, and she has a wonderfully mature voice, which makes it all the more a shame that she spends the entire work struggling to be heard clearly. For no better example, I would cite the short On A Dark Street as being a prime example. Her voice is simply gorgeous, especially when she hits the higher notes. For a further discussion on this, see my end comments regarding production.

There is a melancholic feel to much of the music, with the exception of the final, and longest, track Gratitude. Until The Sun Begins To Fall and The Shroud are especially dark and downbeat.

My personal favourite on the album is Honesty, a four and a half minute piece of wonderful music, featuring a lovely vocal performance set against a background of quite exquisite orchestration, keyboards, and acoustic guitar.

The woodwinds backing Wheatley on After All The Years, courtesy of Kelli Short, add a loving texture to the decidedly reflective vocals, and, in fact, the entire instrumental passages here, including very good piano work, are chamber in their execution, and will be enjoyed by all who appreciate and respect the vast influence that such classical music has had upon progressive rock from the very outset.

Gratitude, as stated before, is the longest track here, and the only one to clock in at over ten minutes. It is the closest thing on the album to what we would describe as more traditional symphonic prog, with elements which do bring to mind parts of Trespass and also classic Yes. It is a very much more upbeat affair than most of what preceded it, and you really do enjoy allowing the keyboard led instrumental passage to wash over you. A fantastic piece of music, it closes the album on a definite high, and very much provides this listener with the hope that this will prove to be a long term, and improving, project.

I have discussed the many highlights present on this work. It is a good album, and one which gets better with repeated listens. However, there is one factor present which, to my mind, prevents it from being a truly excellent album and into the realms of a very good one, and that is the production. It is, to be very blunt, extremely disappointing, virtually drowning out a wonderful vocalist at times, and, even with a state of the art home cinema system as we own, making the listener have to work far too hard to appreciate and differentiate between the very solid, complicated, instrumentation prevalent. It really has to improve on future releases.

With this in mind, a three star rating from me, although possibly an extra half star if we had such a rating. A good album which promises much, and one which will be liked by prog fans who appreciate classical elements to their rock, folk fans, and also, dare I say it, those who also appreciate their prog delivered in more time accessible smaller chunks.

Lastly, I would record my appreciation to Dan Britton who kindly provided me with a copy of this CD.

I was very charmed by this album, borne from collaboration of Dan Britton and Trinna Kesner, supported by a league of their talented musician friends. This ethereal music has interesting tonal presence, being similarly open and distant, yet however warm and firmly composed, supported with professional arranging and performing. Melodic themes are dreamy and hopeful, creating a strong sensation of relaxation. The musical instrumentation used on the record is large, and the mellow Mellotron flute sounds are enriched with sophisticated arsenal of classical and ethnic music instruments, creating both personal and solid sound texture. The singing voice is tender, pleasant and quite educated sounding, giving a perfect human touch to the instrumental basis of the music, and fitting to my personal taste very perfectly. Some referring to other bands could be classic era Renaissance with lesser dramatics, more spacey approach, and more detailed musical elements shimmering in the distant outskirts of the delightful songs musical boundaries. Also the airy realms of "High The Memory" composition of Yes came into my mind as one association, and similarly some romantic impressionistic sequences from Kate Bush records. From my own personal listening experience's perspective this record presented me a new unique sound, falling in line of progressive rocks stylistic frame of reference, but not mimicking those earlier bands styles, instead emphasizing personal creativity. The composition quality line is also fine, and it is difficult to name any weak links from the song list, personal favorites residing in the mellowest tracks like "Art of The Earth", "Honesty" and "Until The Sun Begins to Fall". The album covers give nice personal final touch, with its warm, humane and casual design, and I would warmly recommend this pretty record for anybody open to tender and personal art music.

US based project ALL OVER EVERYWHERE is the brainchild of composer and instrumentalist Trinna Kesner, with music and concepts mainly developed by her over the years. But they didn't get the chance to unfold until 2007. At that point in time she got in touch with Dan Britton (Cerebus Effect, Birds and Buildings, Deluge Grander) who liked her concepts and lent a helping hand in getting them realized. The end result of this collaboration was released on Britton's label Emkog Records in the summer of 2010 as the album "Inner Firmaments Decay".

The blend of folk, classical and art rock of the vintage symphonic school is an intriguing and engaging one on final number Gratitude, which is the major sales point of "Inner Firmaments Decay". But the chamber rock tinged efforts that precedes it aren't too shabby either, and should find a receptive audience amongst those who enjoy melodic ventures of that nature. A taste for analogue sounding production and what appears to be somewhat of a lo-fi approach is in order though, and those addicted to slick, digital high end productions may be put off by that particular facet of this venture.

Great debut from this new Dan Britton's project!

Well my first experience with All Over Everywhere was with the two songs featured on the Emkog Sampler. Since then I felt interested about it, though the vocals were not my real cup of tea, the music I listened caught my attention. So I fortunately got this first All Over Everywhere CD entitled "Inner Firmaments Decay", and am very happy with it.

The album features eight songs and a total time of 41 minutes. The first song entitled "Art of the Earth" has a beautiful sound, the piano-keyboard work is great because creates an excellent atmosphere, playing with different nuances and textures. Before I forget it, I must say something, the music here, has nothing to do with Deluge Grander or Birds and Buildings, other Britton's projects, so don't expect anything like that, you better expect something fresh and experimental from this American talented musician.

"Endless Night" is a nice track that in the beginning took me to a happy place with smiles and joy, the vocals here sound excellent, very well placed and sharing the duties with the instruments, in order to create an ambient of cohesion and building a short, but strong song. There are several instruments involved here, some of them difficult to appreciate at first, but put your headphones on and you will listen to a nice salad of sounds in so few minutes.

"The Shroud" has some dark or nervous mood, the use of keyboards creates several colors and images. The female singer has a pretty voice, however, as I mentioned in my Emkog review, the vocals sometimes sound too far, which to my ears was not the best decision, since I think there are moments where they need to have the main role, but they actually sound far, like just an accompaniment. Let me clarify, that this feeling I have, is only in some moments, not in the whole record, so please, don't think I don't like it.

"Honesty" is a nice track, soft and gentle, with pretty good instrumentation, several elements that work as a whole structure, and some others that sound as background. I really like the use of guitar and of course, keyboards. There are moments on this song where one can close the eyes and let the music transport you to another moment, another time, another world, when you can only enjoy it and feel pleased.

"After all the Years" is a pretty nice song. Though in moments I could say that it reminds me immediately to previous songs, I cannot say they sound the same, no. Each and every single track has its different elements, goals and sensations. Before minute three there is an instrumental part I enjoy because it takes you to another place, marks the change on the direction of the first minutes. After minute four, there is a brand new instrumental passage which is terribly beautiful, piano, viola and clarinet sound together creating a reflexive mood, a moment worth repeating and enjoying.

"On a Dark Street" Is a short but nice song. A soft and gentle sound created by acoustic guitar, accompanying vocals and some other string instruments. In moments I cannot deny the vocals caught my attention but in a negative way, I would have liked a sound where they didn't sound that far, but more intimate, I have no problem with the tone, but with the way the voice was used. Sometimes that distracted me from the music and the piece as a whole, but actually that did not have repercussions in my final enjoyment.

"Until the Sun Begins to Fall" is another short piece with a calm and nice sound, sometimes the music becomes relaxing, tranquility and peace all over everywhere. The guitars together with keyboards make a nice relationship, and help the music being better.

The last song is also the longest, "Gratitude". Ten minutes of a nice symphonic, in moments pastoral sound that one can thank because it provokes a sense of passion and tranquility, without leaving the love for the music, for what we are listening, which is the most important thing. The music in this song is progressing little by little, each second creating new images and feelings, that long instrumental passage is extraordinary, pure beauty and an excellent example of progressive rock well elaborated.

This is a good album without a doubt, one that I am sure will be nicely received among progressive rock fans, and of course, those who already know Dan's projects. The music here is great, but well, you know the only thing I didn't really like, which actually did not affect my listening pleasure. My final grade is four stars.

Enjoy it!

Being a fan of Deluge Grander, I was excited to hear of this project of Dan Britton, along with Trinna Kesner and a largely acoustic ensemble of lush instrumentation. The music on this album gives new meaning to the term 'hauntingly beautiful', and even though the album, at about 41 minutes, is very short, the music more than makes up for it. The album starts off well with 'Art of the Earth', which, like most of the cd, has hints of Deluge Grander, Kate Bush, Cirrus Bay, and something familiar that I can't quite put my finger on. The album picks up mid way through with 'After All The Years', a gorgeous little mini-epic with some great chords, a la Cirrus Bay, or Genesis at their most beautiful. Yet the composition here is quite unique. 'Gratitude' is another highlight, awe inspiring and powerful. My only complaint is that sometimes the vocals aren't loud enough, probably mixed quietly on purpose, to highlight the lush instrumentaion, and I'd rather have that than have the vocals too loud which is all too common. A beautiful album though, and each song has its own charm and beauty, adding to the overall spell of a lovely and enchanting late fall afternoon.

I think it is a kind of a problem when you have 100 other albums ready to be reviewed, many of them screaming out for more attention due to upcoming interview researches........ and you simply cannot stop playing one album. Like I am now experiencing with this album.

My guess is also that there will be a lot of twiddling with the mixer buttons on a media player or a stereo rack for those who dare listening to this album. I am even sure perfectly good albums will be returned to the online shops due to this album's pretty special sound. So let me first start to say that there is nothing wrong with your media-player, mobile phone, Ipod or stereo rack. Don't twiddle around with the buttons. This album has the most special sound I have ever heard on a progressive rock album. The only other example I can come up with is Darkthrone's Funeral Moon album and that is a necro-retro black metal album. The sound on Inner Firmaments Decay therefore takes some time to get used to. It is also a very effective soundscape and I am now resigned to receiving a lot of albums in the future with the same type of sound. Inner Firmaments Decay is without any doubts a trendsetting album.

When overcoming the sound, what lays behind this wall is eight brilliant songs of a quality I have not heard from a new album for a very long time. Most of the songs kind of complement each others and floats around in the air. The two exceptions is the final two tracks Until the Sun Begins to Fall and Gratitude. The latter song was also included on the Emkog Records sampler and it made me order this album. If I am not mistaken, Dan Britton has stated that Gratitude is the best song he has ever been involved in. And that comes from a man who has been involved in some of the best albums released during the last five years. But I believe him. Gratitude is a truly stunning song and the best song on this album.

I am now supposed to describe the music here. In fact, I should had done it two paragraphs ago. An untraditional review of an untraditional album, then. Music wise, sends my thoughts in the direction of Kate Bush. Not so much vocals wise, even though Megan Wheatley does a brilliant job here. But it is more like Kate Bush music arrangements I am referring to here. I think fans of Kate Bush will love this album...... well, I am one of her fans. Other music references is laid back jazz and folk music. Yes, jazz is a good start. But symphonic prog can also be added to the mix. The above mentioned final two tracks is clearly symphonic prog and the ten minutes long symphonic prog epic Gratitude has a lot of subtle Genesis vibes. In short, this album is basically melodic based in the jazz, folk and symphonic prog tradition. I guess that should appeal to most of the ProgArchives members. The album also have some good avant-garde vibes which also should appeal to that segment of ProgArchives too. This album is by no means easy listening and it takes a heck of a lot effort to get into.

I will conclude this review with my claim that this is one of the best albums which has graced ProgArchives for the year. The sound on this album is revolutionary and is probably a trend-setter. On the basis of all these factors, I am awarding it five points in the knowledge that it will be a much talked about album in the years to come too.

5 stars

Well, that was quick addition. And even faster reviewing I hope.

This album is different from other Dan Britton related projects with the closest being probably Deluge Grander (at times, don't confuse it with Granger, which is someone else, ahem). However, "Inner Firmaments Decay" (the name is the name) both surely belongs here and is great album, as I will explain later.

Trinna Kesner as far as I know worked with Dan Britton two years ago on Bantam to Behemoth (by B&B), as vocalist in one track. I'm not aware of her other work, but she's quite capable of making music that moves one's soul (and mind, but not body, there is different music for this kind of effect), assuming that this magical and wonderful music is "figment of her imagination" (as Moon Safari once said).

As Trinna mentioned in interview with our interviewer guy Torodd (see forum - interview section), it's not odd-signature Prog at all. However, that doesn't matter for me, because this album has some other elements to substitute for it. Strong melody section, songs that flows so easily, dreamy-like soundscapes, simply magical atmosphere that simply is. Everything underlined by keyboards and orchestra. And many other instruments as well that creates this big bunch of music that shines with fullness (well, assuming that fullness can shine).

And of course with charming vocals. My girlfriend said that it sounds like what Madonna could be if she was better. Whatever it means.

4(+), terrific, not terrible. Said Prog fan Marty.