One of my preferred Neo-Prog bands from Britain has reappeared after a way too long privation , a 15-year hiatus to be exact. Their second album, 2005’s “Rhetoric” was a splendid work which also contained one of the finest compositions ever, the stellar “The Letter”. A track I still venerated to this day, as a fine example of crescendo in a progressive rock context. Six years later they released “Against Reason”, which was most kindly received both critically and from fans around the globe. The seasoned band has remained intact, only one change in the line-up as Martin Meads has handed his drum stool to wily veteran Gerald Mulligan (Sean Filkins, the Anabasis and along career with Lee Abraham). These are truly first-class musicians: Tim Birell on guitars, the ever-present Mike Varty manning the keyboard arsenal, bassist Jim Murdoch and a fascinating vocalist in Mark Colton. There are also some backing voices provided by Lawrence Colton and Sam Collins, as well as a flute spot by Claire Kennedy. Nearly 82 minutes of music, which would count as a 2 LP offering back in the vinyl only days! Eight longish, fully developed and mature prog rock tracks to sink one’s teeth into after such a prolonged famine.
The pulsating “Losing My Reason” wastes zero time in settling into a consummate concentration of musicianship that should force those tired eyes closed, the ears now given full control and letting each note penetrate deep into your nodes. It’s a bombastic, throttling ten-minute behemoth of melodic power and sensorial liberation, as the interweaving guitars and keyboards conjure up a tornado of churning vapors , the rhythm section forcefully pushing the pace, as well as Colton getting all revved up with fervent despair, much like “the Letter”.
The more sedate “Table for One” maintains the sonic architecture with the injection of acoustic guitars and Colton telling his tale about loneliness in a hectic world, the resolute organ exuding the agony of isolation, paranoia listed on the menu, poisoned wine available by the bottle or glass, the linen stained by the previous gluttons and an unfriendly waiter bored with his unforgiving humdrum. Perhaps a lovely razor blade sorbet for dessert, courtesy of a slicing Varty synthesizer dagger. A melancholic ride ‘where each thought is a memory’ and then later, ‘struggling for self control to chase away the shadows ’. Feeling ? What feeling !
Colton gets into a sorrowful romantic mode on “Tell Us Why”, a slow-burning rant where choirs swooning in the orchestral background, topsy-turvy electronic adding to the mood. Its not pretty but totally engaging, as if discussing the sign of our times, where fanatics ‘ people kill people much better with guns’, the senseless pursuit of confrontation, anger, revenge, and tit-for tat aggression. One of the more eminent anti-war compositions in recent times. As an amateur historian, I perhaps know, but still can not understand… We have not learnt anything after all these centuries of conflict, which is why we still have to ask WHY. Pathos.
Two epic mastodons are up next, Credo dedicated to not allowing to brake (break) the emotional accelerator , “Flowers by the Roadside” dives into a much sterner outlook, the primal bass carrying the load throughout, the careening electronics inducing vertigo and imbalance, ‘that leave a bitter metallic aftertaste’, the vocal elevation powering into a higher realm of consciousness, the sonic hypnosis remorseless and decisive. A now neglected post-funeral recollection tossed onto the curb, that does not bode well for the future, ‘lost inside the silent scream’. The lyrical bleakness is painful, ‘begging for redemption, praying for release’ ? A quarter of an hour of simply devastating stuff!
As if to complete the coffin nail being banged ruthlessly in, what a more suitable segue than a title such as “Fool’s Paradise”, where we, the hopelessly duped masses, get played by promises unfulfilled, bold-faced words that are nothing more lies and two artificially contrarian sides that need each other to justify their need for control (us and them). Modern civilization has advanced so much in the past three millennia that we can now be content with 2 opposing choices (how convenient, wot!) that have achieved absolutely nothing, in fact regressing into chaos at an alarmingly pace. Two social colours (see the last song title, please) yet we are surrounded by a multi-hued universe where every colour gets to shine brightly. Musically, the entire instrumental spectrum is addressed, flute patches, shuffling tempos, and dark atmospheres combine to sow doubts. The electric guitars attempt some emanation of hopeful resolution but that is what the blues are all about. Lemming heaven divided we fall.
“Bonkeraria” is not a long-lost Puccini opera but a Credo desire to keep the manic road ahead at the very least illuminated, with an almost Bond-like twangy guitar leading the highway, amid a fair amount of detailed turbulence from Mike Varty’s various ivory vessels (what a V fest, I am slightly bonkers, me self). The overbearing neo-Gregorian choir is a clever winner, expertly inserted to raise the ire as well as the fire. Adding fuel to the flame, an absorbing instrumental masterpiece that is my favourite track here.
Another two colossal towers of energy to finish off this escapade, the enthralling “Round and Round” nominates Murdoch’s bass to galvanize the arrangement, boldly eschewing the linear routine and carving this gyratory tale of ‘hamster roulette’ called life. Mulligan’s drums are bustling along with circular precision, the revolving vocal is adamant and ruthlessly efficient, as it swings from hard to desperate. A dozen minutes + of orbiting blood and guts symphonic prog of the finest vintage, recalling early Marillion or IQ. Intoxicating!
Finally, we arrive to the 10 minute (on the nose) “Left or Right” which I had alluded to earlier, a succinct recap of all the stormy subjects discussed on this album, the human condition being the sine qua non epitome of progressive rock inspiration (no, its not Harry Potter!) since Woodstock (the original 1969 explosion of consciousness). ‘Crossroads nowhere left to turn’, perhaps time to look at a once highly successful social construct, way back in the past, where people can decide and not politicians, for most if not all have failed rather miserably. Forget the two extremes, let us find common ground via popular debate and well thought out decisions. I know of one place that does it quite effectively. No more false promises, please. Curtains.
For you neo naysayers out there, the subgenre has never been in better shape, what with Pallas, Tribe 3, Red Sand, Cydonia, 25 Yard Screamer and now Credo putting out incredibly tight albums within the span of a month. An absolute masterpiece, this.
PS : I waited deliberately to write this on October 23, the album’s release date, as it’s my father’s birthday (RIP) and also the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
5 doctrines of faith.