GRAVEYARD STAR

MOSTLY AUTUMN has been around for quite a few autumns now having formed all the way back in 1995. That's a total of 26 years and was one of the earliest prog bands to join the revival scene of the 90s although the debut album "For All We Shared" didn't see the light of day until 1998. Still though, that's a long time but the band's sound has remained relatively consistent by fusing prog era Genesis with Pink Floyd space rock all the while adding a bit of Renaissance symphonic prog, Jethro Tull-ish folk and Camel to the mix along with a bit of traditional Celtic folk.

Out of the roughly 24 musicians and vocalists who have come and gone, only guitarist Bryan Josh has remained with the band every step of the way so it's safe to assume that this is his baby and the passion never seems to die as after a quarter of a century MOSTLY AUTUMN seems to be getting better rather than burning out. Here we are in 2021 and MOSTLY AUTUMN is releasing its 14th studio album with the current lineup of vocalist Olivia Sparnenn-Josh, guitarist Chris Johnson, keyboardist Iain Jennings, flautist / keyboardist Angela Gordon, bassist Andy Smith and drummer Henry Rogers.

While the team members may have changed substantially over the decades, MOSTLY AUTUMN has remained true to its unique hybrid of melodic prog that borrows heavily from the 70s bigwigs but has always managed to stand in its own world of melodic prog folk laced with the best influences that the 70s had to offer. Another victim of the 2020 pandemic inconveniences, MOSTLY AUTUMN did what any sensible team of musicians would do and that is to spend the time fine-tuning their craft and taking advantage of the time allotted due to a lack of touring schedules. The result is a beautiful collection of 12 tracks that deliver beautifully vocal led melodies with crescendoing choruses, neo-prog inspired keyboard textures, emotive space rock guitar solos and nice pacing of slower and faster tempos.

This is a lengthy album that clocks in at 75 1/2 minutes! Add to that there is also a limited edition that offers a bonus CD with eight more tracks that add another 41 minutes of playing time! Whoah! I am only reviewing the original 75 minute album since i find that to be a sufficient dose of MOSTLY AUTUMN's unique display of catchy emotive spacey folk prog. This is really one of those bands that delivers everything you expect with no true surprises. There are no twists and turns into avant-prog, death metal or anything fans would cringe upon. This is just sweet and sensual prog folk that offers a bit of rock heft, atmospheric spiciness and excellent instrumentation. Add to that a nice soft production and there's nothing you could really complain about listening to GRAVEYARD STAR which continues the band's classic sounds.

I guess when it comes to bands that deliver albums with such a consistency, you have to be someone who expects more of the same and MOSTLY AUTUMN does just that! What will set this album apart from those that came before is mostly in how much you can relate to the melodies, the compositions and the variations in the instrumentation. Olivia Sparnenn-Josh has never sounded better and it was a wise decision indeed to promote her from backing vocalist to the lead a decade ago however Bryan Josh does offer his vocals as he has done since the beginning with some songs even taking over as the lead as heard on the album's lengthiest track "Turn Around Slowly" which ends a beautiful mostly divinely feminine album in a more masculine manner. I can't say i've kept up with this band's massive canon but if GRAVEYARD STAR is any indication of what to expect i guess i've been missing out!