THE CLOCKWORK FABLE

Review #21 Gandalf's Fist are centered around 2 very creative persons; Luke Severn and Dean Marsh, plus a big variety of musicians that they have been using for the needs of the recordings of their albums.

I learned about Gandalf's Fist 2 years ago, with the release of their previous album 'A Forest of Fey'. In these 2 years, I added in my collection 2-3 of their albums, and I was lucky enough to 'meet' with their drummer Stefan Hepe. Further than that, I had the pleasure to have them as guests in my radio show 'Prog & Roll' a few months ago and we had lots of fun altogether. (As it seems we will have them as 'guests' again after a month or so, in order to make something like a small 'presentation' for this album). When I was informed by Stefan Hepe about this triple new album of theirs, I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical at first. It sounded like a very ambitious piece of work and I had no idea how the final outcome would sound like.

The Clockwork Fable was officially released just a few days ago and I must admit that it is really unique and superb! The CD comes in a wonderful triple Digi-pack package, including a huge amount of information regarding the story of the album. I can't even start to imagine how many hours they spent over this project and the story-building. But the least I can do is to congratulate them for their efforts!

The Clockwork Fable is a triple concept album, which lasts for almost 3 hours. The main story behind it is a really interesting one, and the very detailed booklet really helps a lot with the information that includes. It is kind of a 'theatrical' album I dare say, since there are a lot of storytelling pieces included, which are actually ALL the even numbers. 1,3,5,7 and so on. I found this fact very interesting and unique to be honest. That way, not only you get to know the story as it evolves, but it also creates a 'bond' between the songs. As for the songs, well, It is very difficult for me to start mentioning the songs separately, since I consider them as small parts of a bigger project.

There are many guest musicians participating here, with the biggest names being the ones of Arjen Lucassen of Ayreon and Blaze Bayley (ex-Iron Maiden). Concluding this, I would like to congratulate the guys of Gandalf's Fist once more, and say that The Clockwork Fable already occupied one position in my yearly Top-10 album list. As for my rating, hmmm, this is tough. I usually don't give 5 stars, but on the other hand 4 stars seems very few for this album. So, I will rate it with 4.5 stars. Give it a try, you will not regret it! Highly Recommended!