THE GENTLE ART OF FIRE WALKING

First off i'd like to dedicate this review to keyboardist / stick player Marty Saletta who just recently passed away. This was the final album for the DARK AETHER PROJECT and the only one that Marty played on for them. Some might remember him as being a member of CHAOS CODE, he just played on their debut ("A Tapestry Of Afterthoughts") before joining this band. It's probably not a coincedence that the favourite albums of mine from those two bands are the ones Marty played on. Allen the drummer in tribute said that Marty was "Absolutely the most generous & positive guy i've known". Another who knew him talked about Marty playing goalie on their hockey team and often playing at 4:30 am (because that was the only time they could get ice time) and then off he would go to work. Anyone who loves hockey and Prog is my kind of guy. Another mentioned that Marty was always willing to let artists borrow his equipment at the "NearFest" concerts, including Martin Orford of IQ a couple of times. RIP Marty and thanks for the music.

I guess the biggest change on this album from the previous one "Feed The Silence" has to do with the lineup changes. Marty on keys i've talked about, Jennifer Huff on vocals in place of Ray Weston is an improvement in my opinion, and John McCloskey is the new guitarist. "Crossing The Threshold" is the opening instrumental. It's dark with gentle guitar and keys to open. Electric guitar comes in with drums as the sound builds. The guitar starts to light it up. Nice. It settles back 4 1/2 minutes in but then the guitar starts ripping it up again as synths come in. It ends as it opened. "Night Embrace" opens with drums as bass joins in,then we hear Jennifer for the first time. She sounds great as the synths come in. The tempo picks up after 1 1/2 minutes. Contrasts continue. Some excellent bass on this track. Guitar takes off after 3 minutes. "The Gentle Art Of Firewalking" is another instrumental. Lots of touch guitar and stick on this one.The guitar starts to get aggressive 3 1/2 minutes in, nice drumming too.

"Mask" is laid back with chunky bass as reserved vocals join in. I really like the chorus when the sound gets fuller. Love the bass on this track, synths too. "3rd Degree" is a more uptempo guitar drive track. The bass and synths are excellent too. "Shades" has this outstanding intro of bass, guitar and drums before we get some angular guitar which was plentiful on their last album. More fat bass throughout. Vocals come in as angular guitar continues. It's KING CRIMSON-like after 2 minutes as touch guitar comes in. "Sparks Fly" opens with heavy guitar and drums as synths come in with force. I like the way the guitar solos over top later. Angular guitar follows. Just a killer track ! "Embers" is the 9 minute closer. Spacey and haunting to open. This song is about a breakup. Deep bass before 1 1/2 minutes. We get both female and male vocals singing the same lines sadly. Melancholic synths come in. A meaningful and emotional song.

This is worth 4 stars in my opinion. In the liner notes the band thanks ANEKDOTEN, SOLARIS, DISCIPLINE, ILLUVATAR, HAPPY THE MAN, NEBELNEST and THINKING PLAGUE.