STATIONS OF THE GHOST

What's up this time, Fred? EARTHLING SOCIETY's goal is to offer something different with every album, come what may. The release sheet promises that this one 'takes you into the misty realms of Lancashire witch country', a wild and beautiful landscape without a doubt. Expressions like 'occult, kraut-angst acid, halloween, gothic' are given - so according to that I expected something hard to digest this time. Above all when opening myself to the cover art including old-fashioned letters ... sunset ... dark horizons will appear soon ... uaaahhhh - it's the time of ghosts, scarecrows ... and dark mooded songs to accept here?

Not really! Okay, Fred Laird's vocals need getting used to, are rather acid, slightly modified, echoed ... and some spooky samples respectively effects are appearing occasionally. However, while ignoring the lyrics, I have problems to comprehend this hype ... never mind, what the band offers music-wise is excellent as usual fortunately, simple as that. You can await songs with profoundness in opposite to plain jams, that's for sure. Compared to the forerunner 'Sci-Fi Hi-Fi' Luis Gutarra has joined as a new crew member. His bass guitar goes really funky here and there.

On Dark Horizons for example, basically arranged with a proper straightforward drive, a kick in the ass in best Hawkwind tradition. Somewhere in between though the bass makes the signal for an excellent spacey jamming interlude, including nice organ input and wonderful soaring guitar walls. Vocals sound close to Native American chanting here. Overall an extraordinary composition in my humble opinion. The title track is the shortest piece on this occasion, designated for the kick-off - ambient, based on sonar synths, very melancholic. Even country and folk impressions appear futhermore, the repetitive The Halloween Tree resembles a krautrock atmosphere with oriental touch and acid guitars, reminding me of Amon Düül 2 in some way.

The longest track Child Of The Harvest comes like another shooting star - an opulent outfit, very entertaining song structure, even with some sing along opportunity plus cool saxophone.and nice mellotron/organ contributions by Joe Orban. Music fans who are keen on unlimited, well thought out psych/space stuff should grasp firmly here. EARTHLING SOCIETY and 4 Zero Records surely can take a pride in offering such a new release spiked with enjoyable songs all over.

'Stations Of The Ghost' - Earthling Society (7/10)

It is refreshing and enjoyable to hear a modern psychedelic rock band that doesn't make the style into a tongue-in-cheek mockery of itself. Despite their humble beginnings, the Earthling Society has since developed into a prolific, and rather well-regarded act, although they are still largely unknown to those outside the progressive music community. Although the modern trends of psychedelic music have gravitated towards an integration with current pop/alt rock music, Earthling Society stays fairly on track with prog rock proper, a melange of the old and new that I have come to expect from the prog scene. 'Stations Of The Ghost' is a concept album of sorts that deals with a number of occult and 'spooky' subjects. Although it feels like Earthling Society is tugging in too many different directions throughout this album, the end result is one of the better pieces of psychedelic music to have come out of 2011.

While the majority of prog rock these days incorporates elements of the 'classic sound' into their music, it's rare to hear the old and new styles so seamlessly blended as it is with 'Stations Of The Ghost'. I usually find the 70's worship to defeat the purpose of progressive music, but Earthling Society are clever enough never to let those sounds overpower the modern aspect of their music. It creates a sound that isn't quite 'keeping up with the times', but certainly isn't living in the past either. That may be Earthling Society's most memorable trait. Something that makes 'Stations Of The Ghost' notable as a release in itself is that Earthling Society touch upon a myriad of psychedelic styles throughout the album. It starts off on a fairly atmospheric note, travels through the vistas of space and stoner rock, then baroque pop, and ends on a sitar-filled mellow out moment. It is very cool to hear all of these sounds within the course of an hour, but as a result, 'Stations Of The Ghost' seems to lack a distinct identity, and that's something that's almost always present in the albums I consider to be 'excellent'. Even so, the music here does not fall short of its hype.

From the standpoint of musicianship, Earthling Society execute the sometimes wildly varying moods with convincing passion and depth. The production manages to capture the details, but it does not have that organic quality that would have let the music come to life. In truth, 'Stations Of The Ghost' is not an album that will change my perspective on psychedelic rock or the modern progressive scene, but Earthling Society are doing more than enough intriguing things here to keep this album valid past the year of its release.

Very nice psych/space prog!

This is one of the genres that actually got me into progressive rock, so it is always wonderful to discover new bands whose talent and originality is shown in every single track. This happens with UK outfit Electric Society, whose 2011 release "Stations of the Ghost" show a fresh and addictive space prog. The album consists of seven compositions that make a total time of 57 minutes. So fasten your seatbelts and prepare for this journey.

It opens with "Stations of the Ghost" which is a two-minute introductory track, where we can listen to soft, atmospheric, space prog that little by little is being developed. I imagine like landing on a ship and then arrive to a new planet. This piece leads to "Dark Horizons" which is the first track in the new planet (hope you get me), and also the first that shows the rock element on it. I love the guitar sound and how synthesizers begin to create wonderful landscapes and atmospheres; there are also some vocals far away, and a great bass and drums sound that perfectly complements the music.

"The Last Hurrah" has a much laid back sound, with acoustic guitar, a soft synth background and male vocals with some effect. A couple of minutes later there is an instrumental part where the progressive rock sound is really evident, without abandoning the inherent spacey essence. Later the vocals return, and though the structure might be repeated, the song never bores. This might also be the catchiest and easiest-to-song track of the album.

Now we have a big one, because "Child of the Harvest" comes with 15 minutes on its back. It starts with a calm sound, with soft distorted guitars over a rain; a minute later vocals appear, along with drums and synthesizers, so now the track is beginning to be truly built up. A thing I like a lot, is that combination of both, acoustic and electric guitars; and a thing I must mention because it is really worth it, is the addition of a saxophone in this track, man it sounds wonderful, really! What a wise choice. In songs like this, one can really let the music do the talking, close your eyes, and transport it to the band's realm. Pure bliss!

"The Halloween Tree" is a shorter track that besides its spacey environment, shares a kind of mid-east flavor with the acoustic guitar. It leads to another biggie, entitled "Night of the Scarecrow" which since the first seconds let us know that it will be a true psychedelic trip. The repetitiveness on the structure is never boring, on the other hand, thanks to the vast diversity of elements, notes, textures, etc., they add, the song is totally addictive, hypnotizing, mindblowing. The beauty of this is that you can imagine being on various places and situations, so the music flows according to the story your mind is creating. With this, I support my argument that we don't need drugs or alcohol to have a wonderful trip.

The album finishes with "Lola Daydream" which is a more relaxed, but still trippy song in which the slow-tempo rhythm will transport you back to the earth, to your world. Well I am happy with this album, I really enjoyed it since the very first listen, and my love for it grew in every new spin, so I highly recommend it mainly to the space prog and psych fans, but I also recommend it to the average progressive rock follower. My final grade, four strong stars.

Enjoy it!