Back in 2013 I was trawling the web one night and came across an album called ‘Celestial’ by Darrel Treece-Birch which seemed interesting, so I grabbed it and gave it a positive review. What I did not know was that Darrel at the time was not only keyboard player with Ten and Nth Ascension, but was somewhat unsure of his solo direction, and my review provided him with confidence. Since then we have kept in touch and I have reviewed his work both solo and with bands, and I was incredibly moved to find myself and Feedback thanked in his latest release as Darrel Treece-Birch’s Atlantea. This has been released through Lion Music, a label I have not worked with since moving to NZ in 2006, although back in the day I used to review everything they did, so I am looking forward to renewing that relationship as well.

This is the beginning of a new chapter, as DTB has not released this as a pure solo album, but instead has given it a project name and in this instance that is exactly the right thing to do as what we have is a departure from the past. Although he is known as a keyboard player, here Darrel provides all instrumentation apart from some guitar solos and some bass, bringing in seven singers to make this album a reality. Of course, there are plenty of keyboards as one would expect, but there is some lush bass as well as Darrel moves between prog and some nice melodic rock. Darrel refuses to sit within one particular genre but happily moves between different elements, using the different singers to provide different styles over the top. George Aspiotis features on a few songs, but his roughness over the top of the heavier “The Watchers” works incredibly well, while the more reflective and shimmering “What Price is Life” benefits from Eóin de Paor’s more melodic approach and his reflective bass (he is a member of Rush tribute band Moving Pictures so I am not surprised he does both very well indeed). Some albums which move around can sound disjointed and work poorly, but that is not the case here as one looks forward to discovering what is coming next. The singers all have different takes on what they should be doing, giving their own flavour and a special mention must be made of David Reed-Watson as “One and the Same” has an abrasive attacking posture which is designed well for him to demonstrate his chops over the top.

Polished and well removed from what he does with Ten, Darrel demonstrates yet again what a consummate musician and artist he is in his own right, and this album is well worth discovering if you are a fan of different facets of melodic rock.

Rating: 8/10

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/DarrelTreeceBirchMusic/
https://www.lionmusic.com/