BREADCRUMBS

I have to admit it was a welcome surprise to hear that this great band was releasing a new album after so many years. And if there is a word for describing it, it should be: elegance. Jazz rhythms, guitar leaks, the astonishing voice of Matthew Parmenter, riffs, violins, mellotron,...all constructing delightful sonic journey. From the energetic title track, through the familiar Keep the change, which reminds of the sounds from their earlier works, to the jazzy Aloft and the emotional and classy Aria, the album is so well measured that it should please all progressive rock fans out there.

Four stars, strongly recommended.

Mathew Parmenter is back, after a long undisciplined hiatus, with a spanking new release on the ProgRock.com Essentials label. I have a particular fondness for 'Unfolded the Staircase', their now mythical masterpiece album, as it arrived in the early years of the prog renaissance back in 1997. Today I have an equal partiality for this new 2025 recording , as it will be released globally on August 1, on the above-mentioned label, along with my own musical project Enigmatic Sound Machines' Imperfect Silence. We are forever twinned. Adorned with a stunning cover and manned by talented Chris Herin of Tiles on guitars, longtime bassist Matthew Kennedy as well as drummer Henry Parmenter , Matthew rekindles the American prog torch with this impressive effort.

Wasting little time with mundane introduction, the whopping title track clocks in nearly 17 minutes of playing time, the eye perhaps in the crow's mouth but thankfully our ears still functioning full throttle. Within a few seconds, the brooding theme is set in dramatic fashion, an organ roiling around a coiling bass slither, an oblique electric guitar slice, the thudding drums, elegant piano and finally Matthew's voice seizing the moment. The jazzy intensity collides lovingly with the crafty story-telling delivery for which Matthew is famous for, cooing like a bird when necessary, hushing and talking when the need arises. He remains true to his form, often referred to in the past as the US Peter Gabriel, which is a lofty honorific, to say the least. The sound is pristine, with each instrument having its own space, the piano clear as crystal, the bass lovingly caressing the low end, the piano tinkling like unbroken glassware and the pulse solidly entrenched. Chris Herin is the big surprise here, though he has proved his versatility over decades of service in various releases including his recent solo album. We know he can energetically rock but hear him dance with his fretboard! His playing flirts with experimental phrasings easier found in jazz/fusion, yet intensely melodic by the same token. When Matthew states 'touch me', I felt a shiver on my arm, when Chris peels off a rabid surge towards the finale, my trembling only increased. Surely among the most devastating epics of 2025, as the commentary tackles the issues of our times, and hell, we all know what they are, as its shoved daily down our throats , at times in abject surrender.

Though plastic tapping money is the current sigh (wordplay!), "Keep the Change" has more to do with the shrug of the shoulders in dispensing with pocket intruders. Acoustic guitar takes the listener into an altogether different dimension, a bluesy, almost countrified Americana tune, footloose or fancy free that aims at the endless fascination with human conflict, an affliction seemingly impossible to shed. I immediately thought of a wise quote by a former president : "Perhaps we need some outside universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world". Food for thought and no breadcrumbs in sight. A gem of a track, certainly on the outer fringes of classic prog but Music is music.

From prog, to folk-rock, might as well dip now into a jazz furrow, adding some bluesy elements to boot, as on the cool "When the Night Calls to Day", a smoky piano and drum platform for some heartfelt lyrical expertly sung , with occasional bursts of Hammond organ to add to the Oblivion Express feel. The choppy amalgamation of rhythmic piano and the shuffling percussion is a masterful creation, the ideal set up for Herin to slither into moody crevasses of the mind. One thing for sure, there is little comparison with other bands, Discipline has their own muse. The same deliberate piano thread lingers on "Aloft ", two pieces blending into one, keeping the atmosphere intact and unsullied, the electric guitar soaring away into the clouds, like majestic bird searching for new horizons. Matthew then wields his patented violin, joining in on the flight, eventually both string machines dueling in the heavens above, a mesmerizing arrangement that mere words cannot describe. 'Enigmatic Ocean' meets 'Lizard' actually came to mind at one point. I consider these two tracks to be joined at the hip, as one.

Hmm, what could be left to discover for the ravenous fan ? "Aria" is an operatic torch song, tackling reverently that foremost progressive sentiment ever, yes, it's the love word , the one that after thousands of years of art, no one can still not quite perfectly explain. Its bombastic, overpowering and dramatic. Nearly 11 minutes of attempted expression can offer hope but still there is no revelation, perhaps in another life. Pain is never far away. Matthew has managed to present the four perennial human struggles, namely life, war, freedom, and love, and delivering it musically in the 4 major stylistics that permeate the widest panorama of styles within one genre, which prog most certainly can 'crow' about for eternity.

We all need more Discipline in our overloaded lives, as well as in our prog collection. Bravo, and welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. 5 morsels

Matthew Parmenter and company are back with yet another poignant yet powerful offering of simple-yet-masterful prog songs.

1. "Breadcrumbs" (16:56) I feel as if this song represents a couple of old friends who hadn't seen or played with one another got together for lunch, talked about the state of the world (America, Detroit), which fueled the question: "We've still got something to say! With our music! Do you think we've still got it?" and this was the result: three guys getting together in their musty old basement studio with Matthew's "young kid" sitting behind la batterie to help them out, coming up with some simple music that could serve to see if they still had chops (barely) and could still turn a phrase (yes, if extemporaneously and as generically as ever). They sat down, found an Elton John "Someone Saved My Life Tonight"-like riff to build upon, and then pushed "record" on their digital tape recorder--and this is what they got! Not bad for a bunch of old geezers! It'll serve! (31.25/35)

2. "Keep the Change" (7:06) the first song I heard from the album, I thought I was listening to something from around 1970--something from The Outlaws or a rock band whose music would soon become established as what we in the US of A would soon be calling "Southern Rock." I swear I thought it was some long-lost song I'd missed from an old Buffalo Springfield, Stephen Stills, or The Allman Brothers album--or even something from early Lynyrd Skynyrd or very early Bon Jovi. I never in a million years would have pegged this as a Discipline song or coming from the voice of Matthew Parmenter! In the end, it's a nice, solid song--even though it definitely feels like one of the new AI-generated songs meant to recreate an old sound or style. Amazing the power that maturity can spawn. (13.875/15)

3. "When the Night Calls" (5:25) I am not used to hearing this version of Matthew Parmenter: his voice sounds thin, weak, even frail while I'd been used to him being so almost-over-the-top theatric. The style and melodic choices are all him, it's just that the voice sounds like . . . something has happened to him! (Like life, you moron!) Interesting sound engineering with minimal effects deployed on the band--almost sounding like one of those single microphone Joe Jackson recordings--here used on a older Billy Joel composition. Great Discipline/Parmenter-like chorus. I love the simple near-Latin riffs the whole song is built upon, the little but very effective accents, flourishes, and solos from Chris, Henry, and Matthew's organ, as well as his brief little Demetrios Stratos-like vocalese warbles at 3:40. (9/10)

4. "Aloft" (7:46) this one sounds like an instrumental continuation of the previous song on which the musicians pick up different instruments to lay over the steady foundation of bass, piano and drums. As Matthew's piano riff provides the song's foundation we are thereby offered a display of some of Henry Parmenter's instinctual talents on the drums. Chris Herin's choice for guitar sound reminds me at first of some of Robert Fripp's "Frippertronic" like stuff but then, around the mid-point of the song he switches (or else Matthew takes a turn on his own guitar--or vice-versa) to something more in the realm of Randy Bachman's sound on BTO's "Blue Collar" (as well as Roy Buchanan's beautiful tone for his classic "Fly ? Night Bird"). Matthew's overdub of violin (joining in at 3:10) sounds a lot like something from Mark O'Connor in his old (Dixie) Dregs-Shankar days. And then there's the interesting injection of what sounds like an old Farfisa organ. Peaceful and steady, the song is quite a balm for people craving less-complex prog music. (13.5/15)

5. "Aria" (10:41) though far more delicate and jazz-crooner like, there are moments on this song in which the power of the old Matthew can be felt and heard--and definitely in the melodic choices he takes. Piano based for the first five minutes, once Matthew steps back from the vocal microphone the band enters into some interesting, very proggy instrumental music--for about a minute. But then things settle back into the piano's pocket and by 6:45 Matthew is back at the mic, Chris, Mathew, and Henry stepping into line behind him. Enjoyably, there is a full three minutes given at the end for instrumental work: some really nice low violin strikes, smooth lead guitar work and jazzy lounge piano work over Henry's steady jazz-support drums. It's very pretty, very engaging and soothing. There's nothing like a good old solid song as medicine for the soul! (18/20)

Total Time 47:54

I have to give it to these old reptiles, they do still have it! Still using minimal tactics to tell their stories with their usual and very effective power and force. Mega kudos, Matthew, Chris, and Mathew (and Henry!).

The band may have mellowed over the years but then, like a fine aged red wine, it just goes down so smoothly, so satisfyingly.

A-/4.5 stars rated up for consistency and sustained allure: it just keeps growing on you! I don't know how these guys keep doing it with such simple music but they do keep doing it!