TREASON

After 4 relatively mixed albums, Gryphon would put a halt in their road as conflicts in the band arose as members started to leave the group after their fourth studio album, Raindance. Greater London's very own folk band was starting to fall to its knees. However down, but not out yet, they would create one more album before departing temporarily. This album in the Gryphon community is divisive, to say the least, with some loving it while others seem to loathe it to the where they may call it the worst Gryphon album, however it may not be that bad, right? Well after hearing it?good lord the name Treason is a perfect name for this album because this is treason against the pure absolute sounds they stood for, even in Raindance.

During this time of progressive music, the public was starting to look away and looked onto other forms of music like punk rock, and the newly appealing new wave groups. While it did not kill progressive music, it did leave a lot of bands in the dust with only a handful still grasping at the stardom they had in the 70s, whether it be changing with the times and becoming more pop-like (Yes and Genesis for example), or just remaining popular due to how influential their sound had already been at the time (King Crimson and Pink Floyd comes to mind). It was also near the end of the 70s and the threshold of what made artistic intentions wasn't based on songwriting and musicianship but rather on experimenting with production and mixing, which resulted in the use of newly crafted instruments that were becoming a part of the mainstream like synths or the drum machine, and while a lot of bands and acts did stay good within the coming decades to come for the most part like with Kate Bush or Rush, other bands were left in the dust before they can pull themselves back up. Now, why am I telling you this? Simple, for Gryphon, all they have done was evolve to newer sounds to where almost all their folk attributes started to go missing, almost to where they can be seen less of a folk band and more of just your average joes from England trying to make a buck off the progressive rock wave that was slowly losing its glitter and gold with each year after 1976. They went high, but flew too close to the sun, and went crashing down, and Treason was the sun that burned their wings. Gryphon was progressive folk's Icarus.

The start-up to the album, the 10-minute ensemble of Spring Song, in just its first few minutes tells you that the charm the band once had has been lost to time as they shamefully utilize techniques bands like Gentle Giant, Yes, and Caravan had used before on previous albums, and much better might I add. No longer do we get those whimsical melodies of Midnight Mushrumps, those soft serene sounds of Red Queen to Gryphon Three, or even the wacky tunes of some parts of their debut and Raindance brought to the front. Instead, we get lackluster imitations of the bands that were popular within the 70s era of progressive rock. It is not fun, or unique. I'd forgive them if they tried to act original within this new realm of sound, but you can tell they took some notes from Yes when they toured together. It is one thing to shift to a more pop-rock stance, it is another to change your sound entirely, and it is another to shamelessly copy your contemporaries.

For more of the same, Round and Round continues that copy and pasted Caravan sound that the last song brought up, and not only that but almost to a scary degree. Poppy hooks mixed with a more soft acoustic ring but still creating a progressive atmosphere; that is definitely what Caravan would be all about and the fact Gryphon tries their hand at this sound could've been good if they didn't make it sound like a sham. Not only that but Flash in the Pantry replicates Yes to almost a T, but without the beauty the band they copy has. Scrap the song-by-song basis for this review that I was originally gonna do, and just listen to the songs for a second and see how much they hacked and stole. Spring Song was Gentle Giant, Round and Round was Caravan, Flash in the Pantry was Yes, Falero Lady was Supertramp, and Major Disaster is just Supertramp and Caravan again.

Honestly, I'd forgive them for making this album sound like a lot of different bands, hell I'd even forgive all the album has to offer if they didn't make it sound so boring. That is the worst part, they do not make it sound fun in the slightest. We aren't getting a progressive rock band trying to sound like other progressive rock bands, we are getting a medieval folk band trying to sound like other progressive rock bands. We are getting the worst side of the progressive rock coin, and it's not on the side of the pop coin either. This is a progressive album, but as progressive as a Machiavelli wannabe. This album is not like the retro progressive rock bands I have covered before like Spock's Beard or The Flower Kings, nor is this album like tribute bands you see around covering songs from the bands they love. It is an album that half-hazard leeches off the success of those around it in those trying times. However two songs do try to retain some of Gryphon's classic sound, that being Snakes and Ladders and Fall of the Leaf, which sound like tracks that'd be on Midnight Mushrumps. They're probably the only tracks that could be considered good, but after what this album makes you endure, they just make this all feel so lifeless.

With Raindance, there were remnants of that Gryphon soul. It may have been a more lackluster attempt, but their strength was still there. It was always still there. Here, there is no strength, no remnants. It is a mere shackled heart bound to the chains of what it has lost. It truly is Treason against what Gryphon had stood for since their first three albums. They truly lost their touch with this one, and probably the saddest fall from grace any progressive band has ever endured. At least they had come back in recent years so I have hopes that they would've improved, though not that optimistic honestly. This was truly a disappointment.