Heavy Planet hailed "Trails Out of Gloom" as one of the "best albums of 2010." Infernal Masquerade proclaimed "Trails" to be one of the "Top 10 Albums of the Year!" Imagine Echoes and Prognaut both raved that "Trails" was on their "Best of" year's end list, and Progressions Magazine gave "Trails" a perfect 16 out of 16 score, gushing that "Trails was "consistently enchanting from start to finish" and called it "Fantastic in every way" as they proceeded to give it their "highest possible rating!"
So what does a band do for an encore after accolades like that? For Fen, the answer will be given soon as the band has just announced that they're honing a new batch of songs for a trip back to the recording studio in December. Tour dates are sure to follow.
While no one knows what to expect from the fertile minds of the Fen maestros, one thing we do know is to expect the unexpected. Doug Harrison has said that the next album will be darker and heavier than "Trails," not simply a retreading of old sounds. Fen are eager to expand. Explore. The anticipation builds.
In other Fen news, plans are underway for a deluxe vinyl edition of "Trails Out of Gloom," intended to be released coinciding with the band's summer tour dates. As a special bonus, songs from Fen's previous, self-released album "Congenital Fixation" is being prepared for inclusion as a special bonus digital download with the album. Two great Fen albums for the price of one!
In the meantime, the "Trails Out of Gloom" CD is still available in limited quantities from the Ripple Music store Be sure to get yours before supplies run out.
And if you missed the video for Fen’s latest single, “Miracle”, check it out:
"Consistently enchanting from start to finish, Trails out of Gloom is one of the more rapturous releases you're likely to encounter in quite some time. It is fantastic in every way. Highest possible rating, 16/16." -- Progressions Magazine
"Trails Out of the Gloom is reminiscent of 70s progressive rock with a modern prog rock kick. Trails Out of the Gloom isn't as "spacey" as Pink Floyd sometimes get. But, like Gilmour's work, the solos simply soar and the guitars are truly beautiful and epic. It's heavy, in the way that a lot of progressive rock is heavy (like Porcupine Tree) but that has more to do with atmosphere than with amplifiers. Most of this CD is acoustic guitar and lighter rock'n'roll ... and yet the CD often sounds dark. It's a fascinating combination." -- Rough Edge
“This CD will impact you immediately, but the true brilliance of Trails Out of Gloom comes from further absorption. This is a stellar release. "-- Sea of Tranquility RIPPLE MUSIC STORE
Also available at CDBaby, Amazon.com, Ebay, and All That Is Heavy.com
Precocious. The act of being ahead of one’s times, developing early, talented beyond any reasonable explanation for being so damn young. Yep, that pretty much describes this blazing sopomore album from just-ending teenagers, ACIDIC. Forget any preconceived notions you may have about teenage bands before you pop this on your ipod. Yeah, I know, names like The Jonas Brothers or Hanson come to mind --at least my mind-- when I think of real young bands, but trust me that’s not what we’re dealing with here.
With an average age of just 19, I had no inkling of the maturity these guys bring to their music. And rather than playing some version of a snotty, anyone-can-do-it, Green Day-by-the-numbers, pop-punk, the boys of ACIDIC make it clear that they’ve studied well under the masters of rock. Sure there’s some Green Day here, and a touch of a whine in the vocals, but it never approaches annoying. Instead, all that I hear are the massive retro-classic rock rolling riffs, punky chops, and big guitar flourishes.
Along those lines, “Strata Red,” is one of the major standout tracks here. Kicking off with a big Bonham intro, the boys barrel headfirst into a rollicking Zeppelin riff that can only be described as totally solid. The guitars drop out for the first vocal verse but come roaring back with a vengeance, chugging and spurting, big and beefy. At this moment, I guarantee you, you’ll stop thinking of these guys as a teenage band. In fact, no further mention of their youthful age will appear in this review. What we got here are some serious rockers, locked in, and blasting it out with frenzied abandon. From start to finish-- including the easy-to-chant-along chorus-- this song is a winner. “Retrograde,” also stands out as the work of a band to be reckoned with. Riding a retro-riff so big and ballsy, I bet Tony Reed, the mastermind behind Stone Axe would be nodding with approval. There’s a touch of an emo feel here, mostly in the vocals, but again this ain’t no teenage punk band. This is full-on, Ripple approved rock and roll.
While those two tracks are my standouts, they’re by no means the only strong cuts here. “Tell Me,” blazes with a slicing intensity, “Closer to the Sun,” feels like it’s the boys first neo-epic, while “The Big Bang,” is their most Green Day-ish, radio ready, should-be hit.
Ok, so the kids are young. What we got here is some serious musical maturity and some even more serious musical chops. Keep your eyes on these cats. The kids are definitely alright.
If you were a casual reader of the Ripple Effect, you might think that we were members of Black Bone Child. I mean, simply search the archives and you’ll find more column inches devoted to this band than any other that has ever graced the Ripple pages. If we were any less confident in the rollicking, barnstorming brand of modern rock, swampy blues that these cats churn out, we may even begin to wonder if you waveriders could get tired of reading about them.
Fortunately, we don’t think about it that hard. And just as fortunately, the industrious Donny James and Kenneth M. just keep on cranking out one glorious burner after another.
Now these cats went ahead and took the D.I.Y. ethic of hard work and diligence just one step beyond, releasing two CD’s of new material on the same day. My Ripple brethren, The Pope, already reviewed the jaw-dropping, stunning acoustic affair that was Take You Blind. Now it’s my turn to try and find the words to summarize the total victory of groove and glory that is Alligator.
Joined in their home, White Door Studio, by guitarist, Jason King and drummer Steve Hudson, Alligator finds a band building off the momentum they created with their gobsmacker of a debut and upping the intensity to a whole new level. That’s not to say that Alligator is an entirely new musical beast. It’s not. Rather, Alligator follows right on the heels of the debut, building on the strengths of their performance and upping the ante big time for what’s to follow.
“Run Away,” kicks us off right off the get-go, thunderously loud and heavy, as the band jump right into a monstrous riff. Present is that definitive Black Bone Child, subterranean low and heavy bass tone of Kenny M. Present is the throaty soulful vocals of Donny James, more confident and engaging than ever. And present is the battering assault on the drums that is “Tucky” Steve and the added intensity of “Whiskey” Jason ripping the frets off his six-string. This is a full-on, dropped-into-the-swamp, rock and roll event. Listen to the flourishes of muddy guitar at the end of each stanza. My God, listen to that bass tone when it gets the time to shine alone. Feel the percussive force of the drums. Don’t listen to it, feel it I say! This is about as intense an opening song as I’ve heard in a while.
I don’t normally talk about production in a review, but since this whole thing is a studio-in-the-backyard, D.I.Y. effort I gotta say that the boys have grown in the studio as well as in the performance. This is an album that rewards deep listening, paying attention to the recording, mixing and production. On “Run Away” alone we get a perfect mix that just blasts the funk of the bass right into the front of the sound without drowning the vocals or guitars. Subtle guitar ticks and flourishes abound. The drumming and percussion are impeccably tight, in your face when it’s supposed to be, and lurking in the background when it serves the song. Everything just sounds bigger on this album. The bass is bigger, the guitars, the drums. And when I say bigger, I mean huge—like ten foot tall Gibsons with telephone lines for strings.
Black Bone Child always had their own sound, more than a fusion of their influences. If “Run Away,” attacked like the best White Stripes song you’ve always wanted to hear, the guitar tone of “Be Your Man,” brings on visions of the more bluesier Zeppelin. Another terror of a song, this sums up all that Black Bone Child is. Following an attention-grabbing drum intro, the guitars layer on, open-bodied and full. The band launches into a melody that instantly grabs my inner ear before the whole thing stops on a dime and a blazing guitar slices through the mix, shooting the song off like some swamp, mud-beast rising from the murky water. What we got now is a foot-stomping, ass-shaking, bring-on-the-sweat, groover. Having seen this song performed live, I can tell you that none of its passion got lost in the studio. The boys play it as if they were on stage performing to 10,000 fans. I can almost imagine Kenny’s right foot in constant motion, stomping out the beat.
In fact, that can be said of the whole album. Nothing got lost from the stage to the studio here, every song brings that packed-club intensity. And best of all, despite its bracing attack, Alligator still maintains all the warmth and intimacy of the best of Black Bone Child. “You Oughta Know,” unleashes another wave of escaped-from-the-marshy-bog rock and roll. Donny’s voice is in fine form as the band bash out another bluesy, garage monster, with a vocal/guitar chorus sure to convert the uninitiated.
No review of this album could exist without special mention of “Baby Baby.” Yeah, I know it’s self-serving, but when the band debut’s a song on our very own radio show, playing it live acoustic on-the-air just one day after writing it, well, fuck it, that’s special. Turns out that “Baby Baby” is one hell of a song, Ripple involvement or not. With Kenny blowing his lungs out on harmonica, Donny soulfully rasping over some scratching guitar and handclaps, “Baby Baby” is enough to cause the whole damn barn to ignite. Throw in some serious string-bending guitar breaks, killer harmony vocals from Kenny, and a verse that just begs for audience screaming, and we may have the definitive Black Bone Child statement. The encapsulation of all that the band brings in a two minutes and forty-four seconds of driving intensity.
I said earlier that Alligator was released at the same time as Take You Blind, so you may wonder why it’s taken us so long to review it. Simply put, having both Black Bone Child albums come to our door on the same day was just too much. Both Pope and I blew a mass of brain cells as our steamy man-love affair for these guys went into overdrive. Take You Blind, was such a passionate, intense album that neither of us could imagine anything ever standing next to it. Finally, with the passage of time, I could get Alligator into the CD drive and give it a fair listen. And I’m happy to say, that Take You Blind has a worthy companion. An album that gets fuller and more addictive with each listen.
Gents, I raise my glass to you. Next whiskey’s on me.
What were you listening to in 1993? I know I was listening to whatever was floating around the airwaves of California’s Inland Empire. Tangent: The Inland Empire is no empire unless you’re a meth addict or have an unhealthy appetite for porn. Anyway, odds are I was listening to something from Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Live, Faith No More . . . basically any of the alt rock, grunge, or bizarre metal of the day. I certainly wasn’t listening to Syn’s album, Matter of Time . . . and that’s really a damn shame. This album is shockingly good by all accounts. It has strong songwriting, excellent musicianship, songs that have a perfect balance between ballsy rocker to sweet and sentimental ballad, but the album never gets sappy; catchy tunes that become instantly recognizable, and I have my brother-in-arms, Racer, to thank for turning me on to this gem.
It was one of those fabled Rasputin’s bargain bin dives some years back where we were driven slowly insane by the repetitious clickity-clack of plastic CD cases, cold concrete floors driving joint ache deeper into our bones, and the open hostility of shop keep’s and fellow shoppers due to our senseless banter and idiotic behavior. Hey Racer . . . remember, you double dog dared me to break dance in the aisle! Anyway, at some point in the six hour marathon, he handed me this disc from Syn and told me it was good, give it a listen, try it . . . you’ll like it. So, I did. And, I did and still do. Obviously. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be tippity-tapping on my keyboard to tell you about it. The music on this gem is rock, but it hits the listener from a number of different directions. One minute a little Kentucky fried, a little swampy, but not really full on southern rock, then Syn dips their big toe in the murky waters of grunge/post-grunge, before throwing in huge elements of good ole modern rock vibes.
The first two tracks on this disc are impeccable rock songs, full of hooks, catchy melodies, nuance, rich vocals, and high quality musicianship. “Love On My Side” is simply beautiful and a great way to catch the listeners attention, powered primarily by some slick, though somewhat raw production work, and vocals that have aged for anywhere from seven to ten years in an oak keg somewhere in the back hills of Kentucky. The constant hum of the Hammond organ provides the song with that southern feel, but the song doesn’t come across the same as a Skynyrd or Allman Bros. tune . . . maybe it’s the modern recording of the track that makes it sound more vibrant, I don’t know the reasons, but it’s a solid track. “Love On My Side” initially reminds me of The Wallflowers first album, but that quickly vanishes once the vocals push their way to the front of the mix. The song just has an earthy, organic vibe to the whole thing; it lacks all pretention and just evokes emotion on so many levels.
“Bleed” follows up the lead track in perfect fashion, a heavier dose of straight up rock led by some serious wah’ed out guitars. This track has a bit of that early 90’s Pearl Jam driving rock feel, but the vocals sound like a mixture of the late Michael Hutchins (INXS), especially as he croons his way through the verses, and the quasi-banshee wail of Chris Cornell. The guitar solo is something straight out off of Ten, which isn’t a bad thing, full of dynamic wah pounding action; tapping a bit of that Hendrix vein as the notes bend to unnatural notes. In 1993, this song could easily have been in rotation with any of the “grunge” bands, especially Pearl Jam, as it has that classic rock meets modern aggression thing going on . . . crisp production mixed with the classic rock n’ roll swagger.
“Hey John” is a nice sentimental ode to John Lennon. The song is packed with Beatles references and these guys do a good job of making it an interesting song when it very easily could have come across as sappy and full of gimmick. The vocals on this track come out sounding like a bizarre mixture of Dave Matthews and Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, but they’re effective in conveying the emotion of war and peace and the apathy of society towards the violent world we all live in. Gotta’ say, I love the bass tones and sound the production team got out of the drums! Both instruments sound huge without overwhelming the song, without burying the message of the song or crushing the guitars as they strum out their melodies. Pretty frickin’ cool song!
Matter of Time closes as strongly as the disc opens. “Take It Back” is another ballsy rocker littered with some damned fine guitar work, heavy textural stuff, volume swells, huge waves of chorus and delay . . . simply put, great elements that add flavor to the music. Note the low end work as the bassist strays out of the pocket just enough to keep the listener guessing, adding flourishes of interest as the guitars create ambient sheets of sound. The vocals, as they’ve been throughout the album, are a solid, powerful entity. It kinda’ has that Live sound, especially in the guitars, but also in the way Syn composed the song, grandiose and epic while remaining confined in a five minute piece of music. Album closer, “Matter of Time,” is a piece taken straight from the mind of Page/Plant. The arpeggios plucked from the acoustic six string combined with the vocals give the listener the sense that something big is happening, something epic, and sure enough . . . when the band goes electric and the chorus hits it’s crescendo, it’s like all of those great Zeppelin moments revisited. This song also has me hearing a bit of Doyle Bramhall II, in particular, the Welcome album.
I can’t find a damn thing on Syn other than a few references that they did exist at one time or another, and that they released Matter of Time. Other than that, they seem to be another band that’s been lost to history, another carcass left to rot on the side of the rock n’ roll highway. It’s really too bad too coz’ if this album is any indication of potential future music, then we could have had a nice collection of honest, high quality rock that would have made the 90’s feel like less of a wasteland. Though they constantly remind me of other artists, they never sound so much like anyone else that it sounds like they’re lifting anybody’s schtick. There’s a good combination and balance of old and new sounds mixed within these songs and the album is worth every cent that you spend on it, especially since most of the copies that you find will be in the bargain bins. Matter of Time rocks, it soothes, it’s soulful and high energy and ultimately, a gem of music that was grossly overlooked when other, much less adequate, music engrained itself in our social conscious. - Pope JTE
