Tuesday, March 19, 2019

The Inner Road "The Majestic Garden"

Welcome once again fellow progheads!  Hopefully your mind and spirit kept up with the clock as we leaped ahead into daylight savings time.  Don't worry if you're sixty minutes behind when arriving at The Closet Concert Arena this week--there is always room for one more!  The search for all things prog is a bit special for me this time around as the journey takes me back once again to the UK to check in with a friend I met by way of this blog...

The Inner Road is but one project spearheaded by Steve Gresswell and "The Majestic Garden" is the band's fourth release; two years in the making and released just two weeks ago.  The Inner Road tends to fill the halls of the Concert Closet with a rich full sound, so let's get right to it, shall we?

 Leading the way this week is the album's title cut and it opens with quite a ruckus...as is the trail Steve usually traverses.  Keyboards take center stage as the headphones erupt with a cacophony of boisterous sound.  Extremely upbeat, the canvas is streaked with bright colors akin to a confetti cannon on New Year's Eve.  The Inner Road travels around the prog garden yet tends to call the symphonic section home.  There are aromatics of Emerson, Lake & Palmer wafting in the air along with a splash of Camel.  

Moving a bit further down the play list I find another attention grabber, "Fire of Life."  As the song opens you feel as though a tremendous church choir is about to erupt all around and then suddenly...Trans Siberian Orchestra is bouncing off the walls of your mind.  This is an extremely exciting piece of music that explodes all over the canvas.  Steve is once again wreaking havoc with the keyboards but it's all good...oh yes!  The frenetic pace continues as the music rains down like a summer fireworks display...

Liner Notes...This latest incarnation of Inner Road is founder Steve Gresswell who serves as producer, songwriter, and keyboard player accompanied by Carl Anthony Wright on guitar.  Steve has worked with many stellar musicians during his career and Carl raises the bar with his work here.  As a frequent visitor to the prog garden with Coalition as well as The Inner Road, Steve has tilled a lot of acreage in many sections but the ornate, full-bodied sound emanating from the symphonic corner seems to be his wheelhouse.  Spend some time under your headphones and you will agree I'm sure...

The third course this week is a song called "Water Well."  This piece is a beautiful melange of keyboards and guitars as Steve and Carl feed off each other's energy.  The canvas is streaked with explosions of bright primary colors as a kaleidoscope spins in my head; there are top notes of Transatlantic and Spock's Beard wandering the halls of my mind.  Steve pushes the keys to a fever pitch and Carl is only too happy to accept the challenge as he lays the guitar bare.  Hot fun in the winter time...

Learn more about The Inner Road and find all their music at their Bandcamp site The Inner Road.  There is also Facebook and Twitter @innerroad  for those looking for a peak behind the curtain.

My musical teaser for you this week is another earful, "Mother Earth."  Steve and Carl shine as bright as the sun bouncing off a rear view mirror on this cut.  The music cascades all around the inner lining of your skull, leaving a brightly colored trail of sparks.  The Inner Road has put together a high energy album much like hot sauce for the mind...just don't use it sparingly...

                       

Once again time has slipped away as easily as snow melting in the sun.  Traveling The Inner Road with Steve and Carl made for a high octane week that coincides perfectly with Mother Nature's roll out of spring in a few days.  As the soil in the prog garden begins to thaw, I anxiously await the new crop of prog music headed for the Concert Closet.  The Inner Road has opened the door for the next leg of the journey; only time will tell where the search for all things prog will lead us restless listeners.  Until next time... 

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Kinetic Element "The Face of Life"

Greetings from the tundra fellow progheads!  Regardless of where you call home, the groundhog fooled us all this year.  Fortunately the Concert Closet is heated and quite comfortable...and currently following a GPS guided search for all things prog across these United States...

Being always on the lookout for the next big thing, I discovered the new release from Kinetic Element, "The Face of Life." This album literally just hit the streets and I am excited to give it a listen.  While the roots of the band are in the cozy hills of Virginia, their guitarist laid his tracks down from sunny California (more on that later).  So join me as we partake of the latest from this neo/symphonic prog rock band...


Dropping the laser on the start of the disc leads me right into "Epistle." The song opens so quickly you feel like you missed the first two minutes; the symphonic aspects come right at you.  There are top notes of Yes and Genesis roaming freely through the entire cut as guitar work provides a perfect platform from which the vocals leap into the headphones, permeate the veil, and reverberate through your head.  It would be easy to say Kinetic Element paints the canvas with loud colorful strokes--but would it be totally accurate?  This is a band that cuts a wide swath across the prog garden every time out.  Let this one pour down on you like a sudden rain storm in July...
 
Moving the laser farther along the CD I discover "All Open Eyes" and once again Kinetic Element bursts through the gate with gusto.  Keyboards and guitars lead you down a brightly lit path toward musical bliss.  There are aromatics of Gentle Giant and Camel wafting across the room and swirling about your cranium, the music a siren luring you across the prog garden.

Much like the Genesis masterpiece " Supper's Ready," this song goes through time, tempo, and mood changes the way Pete Townsend goes through guitars.  Kinetic Element shows off their ability to be ornate without being pretentious; the headphones burst with energy as the music flows through your entire being.

Liner Notes...Kinetic Element is based in Richmond VA and the line-up on this album is Saint John Coleman on vocals, Mike Visaggio on piano, organ, and synthesizers, Pete Matuchniak on guitars, Mark Tupko on bass, and Michael Murray on drums.  Pete, no stranger to the Concert Closet, laid his guitar tracks down from the the warm confines of Irvine CA, hence the need to travel coast-to-coast for this leg of the journey.  Mr. Matuchniak has traveled many a lap around the prog garden; Kinetic Element is a fine feather in a well worn cap...

Kinetic Element came into existence in 2006 to perform Mike Visaggio's solo work "Starship Universe" at the Pop Montreal festival that year.  The band signed to Melodic Revolution Records in 2013 and continued their upward trajectory.  Many miles, festivals, headliners, and a few line-up changes since that time led to "The Face of Light," the third album in their catalog.

My last choice for review from what truly is a tantalizing music buffet is "Last Words."  A softer opening than previous, this song floats gently across your auditory sensors and wraps itself around your soul. Vocals and keyboards take center stage on this cut, flowing as smoothly as melted chocolate down the side of a New York cheesecake.  There is an Asia/Yes vibe here as I sense Mike alternately channeling Rick Wakeman and Geoff Downes while pouring his all into those ivories...

Learn more about Kinetic Element at their website Kinetic Element.  You will find links there to purchase this album and all the band's music.  You can also wander behind the curtain at their
Facebook page and Twitter @kineticelement.



I chose "The Face of Life" as your weekly teaser for two reasons.  First, I am always intrigued by title cuts; they usually convey the main focus or message the album is attempting to convey. Second, it's just a beautiful piece of music.  Everyone gets to "strut their stuff" on this song as Kinetic Element waltzes across the prog garden with heads held high, and justifiably so.  The band's ability to channel early Genesis once again shines through as time changes, mood swings, and a liquid tempo will leave you wanting more--even after nineteen minutes plus!  I pick up aromatics of The Strawbs and Gentle Giant simmering under the surface as well.  There is so much here but nothing makes you feel overwhelmed; just sated.  Taking a journey across one's life should be this complex and yet this simple.  "The Face of Life" will remind you of why you got into prog in the first place...

                   

And just like that the flame is extinguished as the candle burns down...melted wax pooling in your mind as the music fades.  Kinetic Element is a band that is very comfortable wearing the symphonic prog moniker--and they wear it well.  To be able to come across as ornate without drowning themselves out, all the while packing so much strength and emotion into five songs that carry you away for about sixty minutes of utopia...just another reason to stay in the prog garden a good long time, thank you very much...

Never forget what brought you here and keeps you coming back...the search for all things prog can be a wondrous journey indeed...until next time...