Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
I'm going to have to buy this new release!
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
That makes complete sense - I certainly didn't mean my comment as a slight at all, I hope it wasn't taken as such. "Valkyrie" is my favorite GH album, and I believe there are a lot of yours and Fred's vocals on that one.
I write most of the music and lyrics for the band I'm in, and there have been several times where I've said "well, I know "technically" better singers... but they're not here and this is MY story. So I'll just sing it myself!"
Review-agrim:
https://www.velvetthunder.co.uk/glas...und-resources/
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
^ Nice review Lorne. I haven't heard the album yet, having just ordered it a few days ago, but it certainly sounds promising. I agree with what you said about the term "masterpiece," and I agree that TIS is Glass Hammer's high water mark.
Enjoyable review Lorne.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
Great review, and my experience after a few spins is very similar to yours.
As much as I enjoy the "song-y" songs, my favorite part of the album are the three instrumentals in the middle. I would totally be down for a whole album of electronic-influenced tracks like "A Spell Upon His Mind" mixed with instrumental doom/stoner metal like "The Dark".
The only song I'm not terribly keen on is "The Ogre of Archon," but that may be because the power of the preceding three songs cast a bit of a shadow. The other negative is that I have to wait for the third album of the trilogy!
I challenge anyone to name a band that has had this long a run of high quality output across such a wide variety of styles. I would like to think their catalogue could warrant more discussion here.
Listened to the whole thing twice so far — once at home, and once in a car ride back from visiting my cousin. Really good stuff here. I think it is probably the heaviest from GH so far, and it’s pretty cool. I think that “Steel (Fleekus Major)” is actually my favorite track at the moment. That’s subject to change of course, and “Hyperborea” is a great track as well.
Been a fan of these guys since around 2004, and while I’ve preferred some albums over others, they deliver pretty much every time. The Inconsolable Secret didn’t appeal to me as much when I first heard it, but over the years I have really come to love it. I’ve got every release from 2000 onward, and some of my favorites would be Chronomotree, TIS, If, The Breaking of the World, and Chronomonaut.
I’m intensely interested to see how this trilogy concludes and ties into TIS. And I’m always game to discuss their music.
"what's better, peanut butter or g-sharp minor?"
- Sturgeon's Lawyer, 2021
About the electronic music, my plan is to release an album of that in conjunction with the release of my book, "Skallagrim - In The Vales Of Pagarna". That should happen next year (early I hope). I wouldn't think of that as part of the trilogy though. We've got something big (musically speaking) for the next actual Glass Hammer album. I think you'll like both though.
I do really like "Ogre" though, as it sounds nothing like any other song we've done (and I wrote it). I placed it in the best place I could on the album, but it does come out of left field, doesn't it!
Interesting release ….. thought I had tamed all spurious vibrations in my listening room. Apparently not, had to turn the sub down a bit (it’s a ‘monster’ sub).
I agree that the stretch of three instrumental tracks is a highlight. The song Hyperborea is also quite the Rush-fest. Steve’s bass sounds excellent on that, and throughout.
So now I’m on a GH binge!
So much so that if I were Steve or Fred I might not be all that surprised to get a call from Mr. Lee and Mr. Lifeson's solicitor haha. Hyperborea sounds in parts a little too much like Hemispheres. It never goes on too long, however, given the nature of the track. If imitation is truly the highest form of flattery, then the surviving Rush guys can smile as they spin this. There is a spot in Dreaming City where the Rush influence is pretty obvious as well (more 2112 there) but less pure imitation. Just my take listening through a nice set of cans.
Taken as a whole, this is a solid, rocking release. I like how GH can sound like such a different band separated by only one, or a few albums. Many prog bands and many prog fans like repetition, myself included. Hannah Pryor has a better voice for this kind of rock than previous GH vocalists, save maybe for Brad Marler long ago on Chronomotree. He had the style and tone, but not the same level of strength I hear in Hannah's voice.
My copy arrives later today....
I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.
I'm not too worried about a call from the solicitor I wrote the beginning and end of that song, and the inspiration was actually a very modern sounding indie song. It's just that guitar tone that sells it as Rush. I grew up practicing and learning bass to only a handful of albums, primarily, Yes - Yes Shows, and Rush - (you guessed it) Hemispheres. The first song I ever learned on bass was 2112! And what I end up playing on bass is often unavoidably a mashup of Squire and Lee. But I don't think anything in Hyperborea was lifted from a Rush tune. There is a chord that is called the Alex Lifeson chord. Check this out:
Don't remember if we used it on that song or not, but it is on The Ogre Of Archon.
Glad you like the album. We worked very hard on it. Hyperborea makes me smile every time I hear it!
Steve
Got my copy today; like it was said before, this album is a lot more guitar oriented and heavy riffs at that. But Fred's keyboards are still the main instrument specially on the longer epics like Into the Breach, The writing on the wall and Hyperborea. Hannah's vocals a fresh surprise and does actually change the GH sound we are used to (not as metallic as Nightwish). This Vol. 2 of the Trilogy is quite heavier than Vol. 1 City of Dreaming City, it seems the band is still very inspired by JRR Tolkien's writing and it shows. Great illustrations on this one as well, very happy with Skallagrim like you will be and can't wait for the third installment ;-)
Been listening to the new disc on loop today.
Man, listening to the track "Hyperborea" is like going in a time machine back to late 70's Rush. The bass playing is so good, and the keyboard tones are absolutely perfect. You could almost plop it right in the middle of Hemispheres and it would fit perfectly.
One of the things I like best about this band, is they make the music that I wish my old favorite bands were still making - but there's still a unique "Glass-Hammer-ness" to them.
I mean, if you want a great modern Yes album there's "If" and "Cor Coridium". Want a modern ELP release that doesn't suck? "Chronomotree" and maybe "Lex Rex" fits the bill.
They get knocked for being too derivative at times, but I strongly disagree. Listen to "Ode to Echo", "Valkyrie", "Three Cheers", or "The Breaking of the World" which I feel are all very unique sounding records.
Hell, I even like "The Middle Earth Album", but I'm a LOTR nerd. It sounds like it was a lot of fun to make, and the songs As I Walk and Mirkwood are just beautifully played and sung. If GH came out with an album with just medieval songs with pretty female vocals I'd buy it on day one!
Yes - I'm a fan boy lol
Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with you.
Glass Hammer have been an auto-buy band for me since around 2004. While some releases haven't hit me as hard as others, the quality has been consistently good -- and just when I think that they've settled into a "sound", they manage to throw a curveball.
I've heard them called "the Steely Dan of prog", which is perhaps an oversimplification, but I think that analogy fits in terms of their meticulous approach to making music.
"what's better, peanut butter or g-sharp minor?"
- Sturgeon's Lawyer, 2021
Bookmarks