Tuesday, March 7, 2017

IT "We're All In This Together"

Welcome back to the Closet Concert Arena fellow progheads!  This week we're venturing into the "far back" corners of the Concert Closet as the search for all things prog burrows into the rich soil that is the prog garden.  With all the crazy stuff happening on this rock we call home, the music coming from the prog garden has begun to take on an ominous tone.  The Mute Gods recent release is but one example of progressive rock hitting you over the head in an effort to pull you from your slumber.

Now another prog band steps up to the podium with a sound that is all at once foreboding, foretelling, relevant, and urgent.  Like Nikita Khrushchev banging a shoe on his desk at the UN, so does IT bang the ground in the prog garden with their latest release, "We're All In This Together."



IT has been tilling acreage in the prog garden for quite some time now; long enough to have laid down strong roots and delivered a healthy harvest.  Indeed; "We're All In This Together" is the fifth album IT has offered to the masses in twenty plus years...but for the immediate let us envelope ourselves in the this new release and discover the wonder that is IT...

The first cut released as a single is "Revolution" and it comes at you right away--straight between the eyes.  The percussion tells you this song has no intention of backing down; the tension mounts as short direct vocal snippets pierce the skin...and then chaos reigns down.  The song erupts like a levee unable to hold back the flood, and just as suddenly it rescinds.  You begin to assess the damage but your auditory canals are flooded once again...the tempo continues to run the gambit from complete bedlam to controlled restraint.  However; the message is bold and clear--you cannot and will not hold IT back.  The prog garden may just be ground zero for the new uprising...

The next track to catch my attention is called "The Path of Least Resistance."  An opening reminiscent of a police state clampdown, this piece enters through the headphones and traces a path directly to the heart.  IT continues to fill the canvas with dark colors, but more out of necessity than desire.  IT has the urgency of The Mute Gods, the angst of Seconds Before Landing, and the relevance of The Clash at their counterculture  best.  IT ties it all together in burlap with a bow made from old navy yard rope...

Liner Notes...IT calls London home, the place where many a great prog band got its start.  The band originally came together in 1994 using multimedia outlets to get their message out.  Almost a throwback to the 60's but with up-to-date technology, IT used videos playing behind the band to coincide with deep lyrics, a dark portentous sound, and a thought provoking intensity to grab the listener by the ears and dare you not to get involved.  By 2009 IT had four albums to their credit and continued to dig deeper, bringing profundity to the prog garden in songs dealing with all the madness and mayhem the world had to offer.

Going through the inevitable growing pains, maturing, growth, and just plain soul searching, IT was on hiatus after album #4...using that time to solidify the band and put together what would become "We're All In This Together."  The current line-up is Nick Jackson on guitar and vocals, Andy Rowberry on lead guitar, James Hawkins on bass, Ryan McCaffrey on keyboards, and Will Chism on drums.  IT is part of the Progressive Gears Records stable of prog bands and well worth immersing yourself in...

The last slice to fill out this week's prog buffet is titled, "The Working Man."  The song opens on the dark side as you would expect--but this is more rye toast dark than charred pumpernickel coal. There are slices of light cutting through the doom and gloom, much like rays of sunshine piercing the rain clouds after a thunderstorm rages across an open field...which makes the brightness that much more glaring.  Don't misinterpret; this is not a "clap your hands and hug your neighbor" happy upbeat tune. Rather it is a song that declares the defiance, pride, and determination of those that carry the weight every day without fanfare.  Top notes of Fire Garden permeate the air, as do hints of Lost In Kiev and Scarlet INside.  The Dropkick Murphys without the throat punch...prog for the introspective...

Learn more about IT at their website IT Band.  The new album as well as the band's previous releases can be found here...and of course this is my plea for you to support IT and all the bands that make the prog garden their home.  You can get more info on IT and other bands on the Progressive Gears label on Twitter @ProgGears, Facebook Progressive Gears FB, and on the Progressive Gears Bandcamp site Progressive Gears BC.  Don't think of it as tasking a risk--think of it as taking charge.

The clip posted below is a smorgasbord of tastes from the new album...designed to draw you in and capture your emotions like a siren call to the prog faithful.  If The Mute Gods put the world on notice, IT is telling you there is still time...but you have to stand up and act now.  Passion and grit drip from this album like sweat from the brow of a third shift factory worker...and the aroma is what satisfaction smells like...

                

So my fellow progheads, another week comes to a tumultuous crescendo...and the prog garden lets out a collective "hell yeah!"  These past few weeks have seen the Concert Closet venture into new territory in the prog garden.  2017 has indeed witnessed the search for all things prog trod several previously unwalked paths.

Progressive music has stretched its boundaries over the years...broadened its scope and reached for a bigger umbrella...but the mainstay has always been purpose.  It may not be political, ripped from the headlines, or the latest trend, but prog rock is at its best when it delivers a message. Sometimes you have to listen hard and shut out the peripheral noise to hear it, but the message is there...and so too, is The Closet Concert Arena, ever eager to bring you the best and brightest the prog garden has to offer. The search for all things prog continues...until next time...

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