BLOOD MOON

Peter Jones and his highly-skilled Red Bazar mates are back with another, their sixth, studio album release.

1. "Fall On Your Own Sword" (7:26) too rudimentary/old school metal for my brain. In fact, I find it hardly listenable (unless you're really into lyrics and you want/have to figure out what they're singing about--then, Good luck!). I find it hard to believe/fathom that this is Peter Jones on the lead vocal. (13/15)

2. "When the World Burns" (5:34) gently-picked classical guitar chord progression with Peter Jones singing in a delicate Wind and Wuthering-era Phil Collins/GENESIS voice. Awesome vocal melody, powerful goose-flesh-causing electric guitar solo in the fourth minute. Interesting/unique Ozzie Osborne-like group vocal response in the fifth minute, and then we're back to the opening theme with Peter Jones singing us to the song's end. (9.3333/10)

3. "High Velocity" (6:26) a hard-drivin' instrumental that really shows the band in all its technical prowess as well as their commendable full commitment to their unique vision(s). This reminds me of something Steve Vai might do. Each of the individual musicians deserve big praise for their individual skills and performances--and for the fact that somehow they've congealed their talents to produce a nicely cohesive song. (9.125/10) 4. "Start Again" (9:14) this one starts out sounding like one of Peter Jones' classic soft-prog ballads. Great melodies (as usual) sounding a lot like a nice LIFESIGNS or FISH ON FRIDAY song for the first five minutes, but it's not until the song's seventh minute that the band really starts to fully display their progginess. Pretty versus powerful; The Beauty and The Beast--only here the Beast is never really fully-loosed. Again, kudos to all band members for their great individual contributions to a solid (maybe great) song. These veterans are all very much prog experts. (18.375/20)

5. "The Baron's Eyes" (7:41) drums and bass announce the potential for some metal but then the dirty electric guitar arpeggiated chords steer the band into a different direction. Peter and a second vocal enter confirming for me that the album's opening song was not Peter Jones: it was this second dude. As intimated in the song's opening, the metal elements begin to show themselves with the takeover of the second vocalist and then come to full fruition at 5:33 when the song goes full metal--which then carries through to the end. (13.125/15) 6. "Fighting Force" (3:48) NeoProg that begins to show the band's diminishing store of new/fresh ideas; it's too "heavy- prog-by-the-numbers." The musicianship is fine, the twists and turns, but it's the "ancient" sound palette that irritates: the "ancient" keyboard sounds, the "ancient" chunky bass sound, the stereotypic lead guitar tones, the poor (weird) drum sound captured. (8.5/10)

7. "Over" (7:31) this scratchy Peter Gabriel voice could be Peter Jones (we all know of his chameleonic vocal talents-- which, of course, leads me to suspect that he could be the mystery metal vocalist of the two heaviest songs on the album, "Fall on Your Own Sword" and "The Baron's Eyes"). A very nice, very well-composed and executed song with great melodies and prog hooks--both vocally and instrumentally--and some great lead guitar work from Andy Wilson. The sudden and unexpected delivery of the scream vocals in the seventh minutes even help elevate this song into what I'll call the best on the album. (14/15)

8. "Blood Moon" (12:36) this powerful song sounds like the fairly-competent piecing together of many old musical ideas, riffs, and motifs. The points of detection come in the "dated" guitar and computer keyboard sounds chosen as well as with the 1980s vocal delivery. Otherwise, this is a pretty decent, well-crafted prog epic. (22.125/25)

Total time: 60:16

I'll give these guys their props: though they are all over the place with their styles, they are certainly 100% fully- committed to each song. These are immensely talented musicians with some fairly good (though inconsistent) compositional ideas and sound engineering support. The gut feelings I'm left with after completion of listening to this album (straight through) each time are total confusion and ambivalence: There are some great songs, great sounds, ideas, and performances from these seasoned veterans, but there are also some songs that feel either astringent, maybe even outright acerbic.

B+/4.5 stars; a collection of inconsistent and sometimes dated-feeling sounds and songs that is elevated by the creativity, commitment, and skillful talents of these prog veterans. Recommended to all prog and metal lovers for you to make your own determination.

"Fall On Your Own Sword" for deep-rooted prog metal, on a Threshold chiselled with a powerful riff, a rocky voice; prog metal with a groovy finale for a change from proggy archetypes. "When the World Burns" has a melancholy melodic tone, over a moving guitar arpeggio, like 'Forbidden Games'; Paul's pads resonate and give this crescendo a solemn character before the explosion of the expressive guitar solo. "High Velocity" in uptempo! Refined, punchy prog metal, a speedy instrumental with a jazzy-prog edge from the keyboards, an immersive moment demonstrating the band's intense musicality. "Start Again" for the deep ballad, bathed in sounds of Alan Parsons, Toto; light, consensual with its programmed rise and the important part played by Mick's bass on the funky finale.

"The Baron's Eyes" is interesting for its funky new-wave alternation with shimmering synths and its heavy riff, typical of Foreigner AOR. The break moves into the spheres of the progressive cosmos before returning to the lands of Riverside and prog metal bands, Symphony X or Ark with Jorn Lande, demonstrating the opening. "Fighting Force" is an uptempo instrumental surfing on powerful, melodic prog metal, with Andy's guitar in evidence for the melting marshmallow velvetiness. "Over" brings together their musical soul with a throwback to the 90s. The association of bands who tried their hand at aging prog for a sound somewhere between Ark, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Toto's heavy era.

Note the nectar guitar solo. "Blood Moon" in sound synthesis, with a metal riff to make you swoon, a rousing chorus and a tune reminiscent of many a prog band of the last few decades, including Rush. The track rises like an endless wave from Cars to Kashmiri Led Zeppelin, from backing vocals to Nightwish, and everything in between. A long cinematic fade-out with a Flash-like outro for... lightning.

Red Bazar's album is typical, burnished by the progressive red-hot iron; virtuosity, rhythm, soaring flights, mellow breaks, a melting-prog ambience creating emotion and memories. Origine on Progcensor.