RETURN TO ARDA

Being a big fan of Celtic prog rock and the legendary band Iona in particular, and deeply admiring guitarist Dave Bainbridge's solo work, I latched onto Dave Brons, a second guitarist with Bainbridge's Celestial Fire project. His second album released in 2020 "Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost" was an absolute stroke of genius that literally blew me sideways in its unrepentant beauty and virtuoso playing. That album remains among the top five for that year!

He is back with another epic, best described in the introduction in the booklet for the imminently released "Return to Arda": "The musical journey you are about to embark on will take you across the Western Sea of Middle earth to the woods of Lothlorien, climbing the heights of the Misty Mountains, and finally ascending to the sky on the wings of Eagles to gaze down on the beautiful world below". After almost three years of forced isolation for a humanity that is above all social creatures, surely was a tragedy for some but artistically pain and suffering is often the inspiration for many to look at hope and survival as an outlet for their muse. From Portuguese Fado, to Hungarian gypsy music, to Umm Kulthum, Irish/Scottish folk music and may other traditional music forms, sadness was always intertwined with salvation. Within silence one can find sounds unimaginably creative. The album is divided into three parts: Sea, Soil and Sky. Arda was a Celtic word for Earth. Another most appropriate quote from Dave: "Unable to leave our houses, or meet up in person, we felt disconnected from the beautiful wild places and people that have become so important to our mental wellbeing here in the Shire. Perhaps that is why this music is do full of longing for those things". Footnote: rarely have I come across a booklet that not only provides context, lyrics and explanations but also has the courtesy of offering a Listeners Guide. The meticulous package is only surpassed by the incredible music within the grooves. Hence, listening to the fascinating sounds while reading the libretto is really the optimum choice for any fan out there wishing to go on an incredibly moving journey. Dave and his numerous guests will be your guide.

Part 1 the Sea: The celestial choirs beckoning the lost wanderers to find some solace, as "the Song of the Sea" offers Sally Minnear's soaring voice, like a raft on the vastness of the ocean, the ebb and flow of power and grace, the majestic piece effortlessly sets the mood of what is to follow. Dave Fitzgerald's sinuous sax adds a sensuous undertow to the proceedings The crushingly ravishing melody of "When Snow Thaws" would melt the proverbial iceberg floating ominously off the coast, Dave's sizzling guitar rivulets toy coyly with Frank van Essen's spiraling strings, mandolins and acoustic guitars (seconded by Daniel Day) suggestively softening the atmosphere into an immaculate finale, where the river finally meets the sea. Upon the first strains of "Beyond Where the Waves Break", any sane music lover out there will need to kneel in abject wonder at the overpowering melody being played, Dave showing an almost painful restraint that is quite unfathomable, all feeling, all emotion, with occasional scorching electric bursts that would make Oldfield or Holdsworth shudder in admiration if not adulation. John Biglands' timpani and cymbals add a suave thunder, as the guitar deflects off the whitecaps.

Part 2: Soil: Upon reaching terra firma, an uplifting sense of arrival and hope is clearly displayed, as the arrangements are now more grounded (excuse the pun), rooted in a more conventional progressive folk format, the drums more assertive and binary, the whirling and circuitous guitars in agreement with the pipes played by Catherine Ashcroft as Sally sings of liberation, looking towards the horizon in a sense of discovery. "The Call of the Mountain" really touches home on a personal level, as the exhilaration one can feel, standing atop a snow crested elevation (in the summer) is unparalleled. I have in fact, a picture from 2003 whereby I am on the peak of a Swiss alp taking a picture of an airplane flying BELOW me, as I shiveringly click the shutter. This piece conveys the irresistible power of nature's monuments, as one can actually, hear mountains sing. "Beren & Luthien" is from the Lord of the Rings, a prog stalwart subject that never gets boring. Therefore, it should not be unexpected to identify the arrangement as a flawless soundtrack for the timeless tale of choosing love over immortality. Throw in the whistles, the strings and combined with the thrilling guitars, bass, and drumming. More Tolkien inspiration on the uber-Celtic "Joy Beyond the Walls of the Word", where the exuberance of the whirling sounds is tinged with both profound melancholia and thoughtful promise. The resonating echo of a twinkling solo piano, played by the illustrious Dave Bainbridge, reverberates through the densely wooded trees and lush thick landscape, creating an ethereal sensation. A highlight moment. The final Sky chapter is "The Tears of Nienna", where the storm provokes torrents of sweet drops from the heavens above, a surreal and scintillating command in its simplicity, thus nourishing, cleansing, and invigorating the routine with pensive sound. Sally's forlorn and pensive vocals adding mystery and imagination, as the blessed tranquility yields gracefully.

Part 3 Sky: Composed on the mandolin, "On Eagles Wings" evokes both majestic strength and courageous resolution, as Dave's serpentine guitar performs in the Lydian mode (a major scale with the fourth note raised by a semitone) to soaring, gliding, diving, and fluttering with uncanny virtuosity. Showcasing vigorous wonder, and magical prowess. Daniel Day gets to shine of "Yayanna's Song", a gently breezy affair that inspires serenity and peace. Its companion piece "Beauty and Starlight" is exactly that: elegant and dazzling, like the Milky Way on a clear and unobscured night. The persuasive positivity is articulate and heartfelt as it is led by Sally's cheerful vocalizations. Dave rips into a sinewy and shimmering guitar solo that defies gravity as it zooms higher and higher into the knotted clouds. "Gathering in the Clouds" (what a segue!) is a complex, technically demanding arrangement which required some polyrhythmic effort from John Biglands, accompanied by some gusty bass work from Daniel, in order to finalize the evolution of the melody as well as creating the foundational platform needed to improvise a wicked solo on the electric guitar, which should seal the deal once and for all. Here is the proof of the impeccable attention to melody, harmony, composition, emotional discharge, and instrumental competence, as it is displayed by all participants. Sally's celestial whisper only adds to the effervescence.

Simply put in simple terms: a masterpiece. What better than Uilleann pipes to finish off this epic journey, a lavish work of scintillating music as Last Journey Across the Sea" reminds us that we are emotional creatures who somehow, somewhere, always seek to find our way back home.

Perhaps album of the year (and a very good year it has been up to date).

5 homes

A late-comer to the fold of 2022 releases, Guitar Idol Dave Brons offers us a collection of top-notch Celtic Prog Folk--greatly enhanced by the full support from Dave Bainbridge and his latest Open Sky Records / IONA gang.

1. "The Primordial Chord" (1:04) kind of weak and hokey start for such an ambitious album. (3.75/5)

2. "Song of the Sea" (5:19) beautiful atmospheric opening with sax soloing. After 75 seconds the rather distantly-placed voice of Sally Minnear enters singing in her angelic way. Tom-tom play, big bass and guitar chords, and keys join in filling in the soundscape around Sally but then, when she stops singing, the band kicks into a nice heavy prog motif with Dave's lead guitar out front showing his stuff. With about one minute remaining, everything returns to the atmospheric aural background to the song's completion.(9/10)

3. "When Snow Thaws" (5:57) gentle pastoral Celtic song with whistles, violin, mandolins, and piano taking on the introductory work before a kind of Celtic version of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra wave of rock power unleashes itself (as well as the uilleann pipes and lead electric guitar). The uilleann pipes lead the Celtic melody-dominated fourth minute before the music returns to the gentle pastoral motifs of the opening. Solo acoustic guitar finishes it off. Beautiful! I like the pastoral stuff bookending the song the best: it's a lot like Mike Oldfield's Hergest Ridge. (9/10)

4. "Beyond Where the Waves Break" (6:00) nice synth-orchestrated and real orchestrated vehicle for a bluesy guitar solo--though it starts out with a reverbed electric piano introducing the main melody before Dave's electric guitar picks it up. HIs playing over the first half of the song is very sensitive, very spacious, which allows the nuances to really shine. At 3:25 choral voices and orchestration enter and lift the music to a heavenly, cinematic level. Gorgeous! Dave's guitar play becomes quite a bit more adventurous though retaining the thin, humble sounds he started with. Nice finish with the uillean pipes and orchestra percussion joining in. (9/10)

5. "Song of the Earth" (5:00) introduced by Sally Minnear's "soil" narration, acoustic guitar, mandolins, Irish whistle, bass, and drums then back Sally's double-voiced lead. Nice melodies and spacious musical weave. Dave's guitar comes in on fire in the third minute before relinquishing to Sally and the acoustic ensemble at the 3-minute mark. Violin, sax, and Allan Holdsworth-like lead guitar take us to the wind instrument finish. Very nice song. (9.25/10)

6. "The Call of the Mountain" (5:39) opens with some pacifying acoustic guitar work before Dave's "dirty" guitar joins in. At 1:10 the full band leaps forward with Dave and Catherine Ashcroft's uilleann pipes establishing the main melody--which feels very IONA like. Dave then takes the spotlight for a understated bluesy solo before letting the IONA theme return. Great music, great Celtic weave; it's really very much like a new IONA song. Nice Steve Vai-like shredding in the raucous final third. (9.25/10)

7. "Beren and Luthien" (4:43) gentle piano, strings, Irish whistles and uilleann pipes open this one. Could be a song of worship--or a New Age classic. Very peaceful and relaxing--and beautiful! Not even Dave's emotional electric guitar lead can disturb the mood being conveyed. (Reminds me of a New Age guitarist I was quite fond of in the late 1990s and 1990s by the name of Paul Speer--a man who worked with New Age keyboard artist David Lanz quite a lot on releases from the Narada label--particularly a song "Adagio Dolente" that I absolutely love.) (9/10)

8. "Joy Beyond the Walls of This World" (3:48) more atmospheric effected piano to gently open this one but then at 0:39 the uillean pipes, bass, guitar, and drums join in to propel the song into a Celtic rock direction, using an Irish melody line to do so. Then at 1:50 there is a shift into a more fully Celtic reel with pipes, whistles, and violin leading the way before the rock instruments join in with Dave's lead guitar joining the lead weave. Ends rather abruptly--really bleeding into the next song. (9/10)

9. "Into the Woods of Lothlorien" (2:49) more atmospheric electric piano, playing solo, beautifully, to open this one. Quite emotional and beautiful. Well done Dave, Dave, or John, whoever performed it! (5/5)

10. "The Tears of Nienna" (5:00) Steve Reichian minimalistic opening sounds nice--a bit of a change in the musical foundations. Uillean pipes join the guitar and orchestral bass and percussives. Halfway through, Sally Minnear enters with her calming voice filling the soundscape, but then we return to the minimalist opening motif for a long, slow fadeout. Gorgeous! (9.25/10)

11. "On Eagle's Wings" (5:20) a mandolin-based song over which Dave rears his axe's animal sound capabilities. It's a simple, thin support staff until the halfway point when choral vocals and full rock ensemble enter and amp things up into prog bombast. Things quite down again for the final minute. Nice. (8.75/10)

12. "Yavanna's Song" (1:39) a pretty little folk dittie with very gentle picking and blowing from the Celtic instrumentalists. (4.5/5)

13. "Beauty and Starlight" (4:21) quite a bland, standard folk song--one that sounds as if it came from or belongs in a church setting. The first song I've heard which seems to come openly from a Christian rock perspective. Still, it's quite nice--especially when Dave's lead guitar starts expressing itself and the vocals move into choral support mode. (8.75/10)

14. "Gathering in the Clouds" (5:22) another beautiful, quality merger of progressive rock with Celtic acoustic traditional instruments. Sally Minnear's artless, guileless vocalise in the final 90 seconds are priceless. (9.25/10)

15. "Last Journey Across the Sea" (2:38) a simple, beautiful, even celestial finish. The support of Catherine Ashcroft's plaintive uilleann pipes is quite Post Rock like. (4.25/5)

Total Time 64:39

Despite the fact that this collection of high-quality Celtic rock breaks no new ground, it is an excellent display of the best in musicianship and compositional maturity--very much in line with the standards set by Iona and Dave Bainbridge. I happen to find myself really tuning into Dave's acoustic guitar work (GREAT sound engineering!), Catherine Ashcroft's uilleann pipes, and Sally Minnear's vocals--perhaps the best material for and best engineering of her beautiful voice I've heard to date.

A-/five stars. While there is nothing here that is intoxicatingly new or extraordinary about this music--about this collection of beautiful songs--I'm going to welcome this one to the "masterpiece" class: Its its overall quality and consistency are undeniable.

DAVE BRONS is a British guitarist who has earned some respect in recent years for his ability to conjure up progressive Celtic tinged symphonic soundscapes of cinematic proportions with the intent to let the listener get lost in alternative soundtracks for the Lord of the Rings films. After placing in the top 10 of PROG magazine in 2021 in the Unsigned Artist Category, BRONS has gained a lot more attention with his third release RETURN TO ARDA, Arda being the name J.R.R. Tolkien gave to our very own Earth. Knowledge of the Lord of the Rings universe isn't a requirement due to the fact that the album is mostly instrumental but the physical form of the RETURN TO ARDA offers detailed liner notes and guides to aid the uninitiated to step into the world of Orks, Hobbits and Elves.

Somewhat of a classical crossover album, BRONS plays guitars, mandolin and keyboards. Eight other musicians are on board to offer their services on mandolin, bass, guitar, keys, whistles, piano, drums, orchestration, uileann pipes, saxophone, flute, cello, French horns and trombones. The album opens with spoken word narrative on "The Primordial Chord" and appears periodically throughout the album but the primary vocalist but for the most part this is an instrumental journey with sweeping symphonic soundscapes is the divine Sally Minnear. There is also the occasional Irish jig inspired track, "Joy Beyond The Walls Of The World" and guitar rock moments that offer a bit of soloing action. Although BRONS is claimed to be able to shred like Steve Vai, nothing on RETURN TO ARDA indicates that level of technical accomplishment.

The album is broken down into three parts: Sea, Soil and Sky, each of which has four tracks except Sky which apparently warrants a fifth. The most amazing part of this album is how beautiful the tones are. The impeccable production allows the subtlest sounds to resonate a millionfold and the secret of RETURN TO ARDA is to keep things simple and manageable and let a little reverberate into a lot. I think of Mike Oldfield when listening to this for some reason. Not "Tubular Bells" but the more ethereal new age album "The Songs Of Distant Earth," not that the music itself is comparable but the moods and intricacies in the way sounds slowly ooze together. Tracks like "The Tears Of Nienna" are very ethereal, offering oscillating key stabs as the rhythm section while Celtic tinged flute sounds wail from over yonder, a clear tribute to Mr Oldfield's classic use of reverb, rhythmic looping and over the top cinematic lushness.

On the one hand, RETURN TO ARDA is fairly flawless in its execution 15 well designed Celtic inspired prog tracks in the vein of Mike Oldfield's best work however at the same time i really don't feel the Lord of the Rings vibe at all. While Tolkien themes are most readily adopted by sci-fi addicted extreme metal bands, for a cinematic symphonic prog band i would expect more variation through a journey so varied and complex as the famous Tolkien trilogy. The album seems to exist in the nice cuddly placidity of the Hobbits homeland and eschews any of the turbulent conflicts that punctuated Sam and Frodo's peregrination into the darkness. I mean Lord of the Rings certainly employed some Celtic flavors but was hardly 100% dependent on them therefore the entire Tolkien connection seems aloof and impossible to grasp. The tale would be more believe if it were covering the Irish mythological tale of "Acallam na Senórach" or something similar.

What i think of most with this album (for the most part with the instrumental parts) is really excellent modern video game music that musters up cinematic quality soundtracks for modern virtual reality gaming systems. Thematically this just doesn't work for me as the music doesn't relate to the larger emotional spectrum that Tolkien presented. Musically this is much better and holds together fairly well but some of the rockers like "Beauty and Starlight" seem clunky as ARDA is much better as a symphonic composer than a prog rocker. Although i really do not find this to be a perfect album, i have to say that it is quite excellently produced and crafted and a compelling listen despite clocking in just shy of 65 minutes.