CORVUS STONE

Once again we have a proof that music has not a particular nationality, it is a worldwide element that gathers us together and makes us fly and feel better. A new result of this premise is the band named Corvus Stone, led by Colin Tench, and complemented by some other great musicians from different parts of the world, who created and released in 2012 a self-titled album in which we can appreciate a carousel of sounds, musical genres and concepts. The album has 21 songs and a total time of 80 minutes (yes, a long one).

"The Curtain Rises" is the classic one-minute introductory track, an instrumental one that opens the gates to the musical realm of Corvus Stone. "October Sad Song" shows Tench's abilities with guitars, both acoustic first and later electric, while keyboards and drums make their work as a cool complement. The music is a strange mixture of prog rock with some soft blues hints, it is easy to dig and enjoy. "Highway to emptiness" is a shorter track which again shows the guitar tendency and a cool rhythm that will make you move your head.

The first song that features vocals is "Ice King" which has a different sound, here they implement some kind of scary sound, like a horror movie passage that at the same time brings some hope and future, hope you get me. "I'll leave it all behind" shows the other side of the face, here keyboards take the leadership and the mood becomes happy and joyful, in some way reminds me of Medeski, Martin & Wood. Here I have to say something, the album does not follow a line, it constantly changes so in moments one may perceive it is uneven.

This feeling happened to me in these last two songs that have nothing in common. "Corvus Stone" is one of the longest tracks, it is a rollercoaster of sounds, a salad of textures and nuances. Here I have to confess that in moments the music is lost in space, there are moments where my attention is lost as well because it did not catch me as I would love to, the first three minutes pass so fast and seems that nothing happened, later they begin to play with the sounds, to make pauses and let us know their coordination, but I must say that I expected more from this particular title-track, though I like the last minutes with piano, guitar and a somber sound, it is not that memorable.

"Moron Season" is a nice song, vocals return and the joyful sound appears again with keyboards as leader, with cool bass lines and drums, the humor element is present here, and they even make a brief tribute to Deep Purple here. "Horizon" is a short instrumental track that offers a new passage of rock, blues and prog. The "Intermission" is a 40-second acoustic guitar track, nothing more. And then all of a sudden "Moustaches in Massachusetts" begins, here I am not sure if the production wasn't the best, but when the Intermission begins we can hear a cut and later Moustaches starts. Returning to the song, it is again an instrumental track where keyboards and guitars share leadership, both create cool passages while drums and bass accompany them.

In "Pilgrims" we can appreciate that Corvus Stone likes to be different in every single track, they do not repeat themselves which is a good point, however, there are moments where changes sound forced, in this song we can listen to several forced changes in my opinion, though it is a good track overall. The humor returns with "JussiPussi", it is undeniable they wanted to include the humor in their music, so one can easily enjoy it, I assume. "Iron Pillows" is another carousel of prog rock, with nice colours implemented by keyboards. "After Solstice" is one of my favorite tracks here, I love the cadence of the guitar, it is put in the right moment in the right place, also, keyboards are the best couple here, while drums and bass produce a great complement.

"The Rusty Wolff Attacks" is a drum solo, cool. And it opens the gates to "Lost and Found" which has some kind of funeral drums, accompanied by keys as background and then soft vocals and acoustic guitar, this is another fine composition. "Scary Movie" has some hints of what the title suggest, it is actually one of the most fresh and original tracks of this album, I love the constant drums, the background keys and the raw guitars that appear all of a sudden.

The longest song is "Cinema", the only one that passes the ten-minute mark. Contrary to the other long song, this one does have a nice structure, an appealing sound that catches the listener's attention, I like how it is involving me little by little until I am practically inside the music, with images transmitted in my mind. The bass lines are a great guide. The passage that begins after the fifth minute is beautiful, relaxing, mindblowing, with excellent instrumentation and a delicious sound in general, this might be my favorite passage of the whole album, with exquisite acoustic guitar and a great keyboard background.

The last part of the album is composed by three short songs. First "You're so Wrong" which is a soft rock track, with nice vocals that remind me of some US rock/blues bands from the 70s. Next is an instrumental version of "Ice King", which sounds nice. And the album finishes with "Ten Inch Lisa" which is just a 30-second track of nice acoustic guitar.

Well, I liked this Corvus Stone album, the project is ambitious and with a bright future, but I would like to make a couple of suggestions, the first, that the album is really long, so there are moments where I felt tired and lost interest, and second, those forced changes and uneven passages, it is my appreciation of course, but I feel these two thing damaged a little bit my experience, this is why I will rate the album with 3 stars.

Enjoy it! Thanks Colin for the introduction, congrats for the album, it is a very good one.