A FOREST OF FEY

I pre-ordered this ages ago after listening to the excellent "day in the life of a universal wander". Originally I was intrigued to have this as part of my collection, being the completest that I am I was especially interested in the contributions by Clive Nolan and Gryphon's Dave Oberle (huge gryphon fan here!!)

I am loathe to do a track by track review, firstly because I still have the impression that this CD has yet to fully digest into my system, but mainly because this album flows like one long song with many of the tracks transitioning into each other? something I always enjoy in a concept piece (mindcrime being my fave example)

The album, overall has a mix of folk and psychedelic prog (and almost mixed with maiden-style riffs at times) ? with the individual songs being diverse due to the addition of guest musicans (special credit going to the female vocalist who sounds SUPERB!).

After loving their last release so much and looking forward to this one for what seems like months now I have to say I am far from disappointed ? there is a 'moody' overall quality to the record that gives it a definite sense of "otherworldlyness" , something that is emphasised by excellent King-Crimson-esque sections like "Circus in the Clearing" and eerie whistles from Donockley that tie the LP together.

As previously mentioned I'm a fan of folk-prog like Gryphon and Tull so the direction the band has chosen for this album is truly up my street (even can hear some Anderson-inspired flute toots in there at some points!)

One slight niggle at first as the record sounded a bit quiet to me? but I cranked it up a notch (never one to fully approve of the nonsensical "Loudness wars" these days)? and man - What a journey, what a ride, what a trip! If you're looking for something a bit different, a bit refreshing and a bit strange this is definitely one to add to your collection!

I liked them before but the Fist have made a fan of me!