Review by Mark Montgomery for MPM
interesting
/ˈɪnt(ə)rɪstɪŋ/
adjective
- arousing curiosity or interest; holding or catching the attention.
concept album
noun
noun: concept album; plural noun: concept albums
- a rock album featuring a cycle of songs expressing a particular theme or idea.
The word interesting is going to appear in this review a lot. I looked at other words to use instead, but they weren’t………interesting.
I love a concept Album. In fact, in my ever revolving top 10 albums of all time there are currently 3 of them. Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds will always be there.
Leviathan by Mastodon (Obvs) and Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf (yes, that is a concept album, I’m not going into that right now, maybe in another article on concept albums in the future).
A concept album has to be interesting. From the outset, it must capture you. It needs to be dramatic. It needs to grab your attention so you will stick with it.
The Murder Of My Sweet (TMOMS) has released their 6th studio Album – A Gentleman’s Legacy, a concept Album. The interesting… Er…. conception(?) of this concept album will need a little explaining. The family tree of Swedish Prog metal is interesting. Daniel Flores (Drums) produced this album, Flores is also the Drummer for Minds Eye.
Flores is no stranger to concept albums, and this album by TMOMS is actually Part 2 of the story that began with the Minds Eye’s 2007 Album – A Gentleman’s Hurricane. Joining Flores on this continuation is Bassist Patrick Janson who has been part of the line-up of Platitude, a big branch of the family tree, for years. Vocalist Angelica Rylin is also a well-established solo artist.
On guitar for this album is Mike Palace, who is all over the family tree! So, although it seems a little incestuous (what are you doing Step Bro Producer/Drummer?) it does come from an extremely good pedigree.
The album starts with an interesting intro. It sets the scene and the feel for the entire album. This album took 8 months to write and produce. 5 months of that was studio time, and it was time well spent. The arrangements are so well thought out, and the drumming, in particular, is interesting.
Nothing has been overdone, or played out in a self-indulgent manner, something Prog can do often. The way the guitars sound like synths sometimes, and the synths sound like guitars, or they both merge into each other is particularly………interesting. Listen to Kill your Darlings, the phasing intro is great.
I don’t want to give anything away about the flow or the content of this album, as you need to listen to it. It is an experience to witness. You need to do the entire album in one sitting, only then can you go back over specific tracks to flesh out the story you have built in your head. This is very hard to do in terms of song writing.
The mix is superb. I did get to a point where I thought the Bass needed to be a bit more interesting, but as soon as I thought that a bassline came out with an effect and arrangement that was so left field it actually made me laugh out loud with glee (If only there was a way of abbreviating that).
Halfway through this album it occurred to me that this doesn’t sit in the usual prog rock/metal pigeonhole, this can happily sit with the music in my collection that I keep to one side that I can play within earshot of the rest of my family without being frowned at. Not everybody is into Prog, Rock, or indeed Metal and that’s ok. But this album doesn’t need to be held back by those titles, this is good music to be shared.
Some tracks are lengthy, but do not feel as such, that’s the whole point of Prog, keep it moving but more importantly, keep it interesting.
One thing a lot of prog albums get wrong is the placement of a guitar solo, and the feel of the solo itself. This album has been very careful with guitar solos.
I did notice they are used as a change of pace, or a marker at around the three-and-a-half-minute mark more than once, this is a point in a song where attention can wain and it needs a kick in the arse to get moving to the next bit or just end. I have found that this tactic can appear lazy, but not on this album.
Because the solos themselves are interesting. Mike Palace on guitar is no show boater, and that, to me shows excellent skill and song writing. His guitar throughout plays a part of the story and becomes the focus only when it needs to.
The vocals are very well performed by Angelica Rylin. She becomes a character, and the story is incredibly well played and her performance keeps it interesting. I am sure Rylin would be a very good actress too.
The final track, Finding Closure is a mighty 9 minutes and 35 seconds long. But it needs to be, as it is a cinematic crescendo that paints so many pictures and has so many interesting flavours. The track marks the end of the album, but is it the end of the story? I kind of hope this will become a trilogy, or even an anthology.
Tracklist:
- Six Feet Under
- A Ghost Of A Chance
- Damnation
- The Wheels Of Time
- Winged
- Kill Your Darlings
- Fathers Eyes
- Rise Above
- Trick Of The Devil
- Heads Or Tails
- Please, Don’t Wait Up
- Finding Closure
LINE-UP:
Angelica Rylin – vocals
Daniel Flores – drums
Mike Palace – guitar
Patrick Janson – bass
