BEYOND THE VISIBLE LIGHT

US foursome OVRFWRD was formed in November 2012, fulfilling a long time desire for founding members Rikki Davenport and Mark Ilaug to be a part of an instrument progressive rock band. "Beyond the Visible Light" is their debut album, self-released in January 2014.

Fairly innovative instrumental progressive rock is what Ovrfwrd provides us with on their debut album "Beyond the Visible Light". Using bits and pieces from all over the progressive rock universe they have created their own brand of progressive rock, and while not distinct enough at this point to merit a description as one uniquely their own, it is unique enough to not invite to any instant associations. An album that merits an inspection by those with a strong affection for instrumental progressive rock, and a desire to listen to a band that explores this kind of music in a manner that doesn't invite instant associations to specific bands, styles or traditions.

It is not always easy to find the good ship in the ocean that has become the world production of progressive rock : the music is so democratized that good musicians armed with solid musical culture and luggage are many nowadays. Sometimes we find a new and interesting group and the cruise is fine, sometimes we are mistaken and we quickly search for an emergency raft ! And sometimes we hesitate to take a boat and miss an opportunity to make a nice trip.

There are many groups that I discovered very late, thinking : "But how could I miss it before ?"

I would probably have not discovered until many years this young American band with a strange and unpronounceable name : Ovrfwrd. Fortunately, the voluntarism of its members and their eagerness to make themselves better known offered me the opportunity to discover a remarkable music with its inventiveness and its high level of elaboration and musicianship.

This music has complex structures. It is very demanding for the musicians. Entirely instrumental but so intense that it never lets the need of a voice emerge, it is constantly changing its rhythm, its tones and directions, intertwining themes with a high skill.

The excellent "The man with no shoes", best piece of this record in my opinion after two listens, represents perfectly this group. The music is often sharp, with an aggressive guitar and a powerful rhythm section, never repetitive thus, before finding calm and serenity on keyboards. Then the guitar itself becomes softer with some di Meola reminiscence maybe, allowing to appreciate the subtle and technical maestria of Mark Illang. And then the music starts again its fiery race?

The other pieces have a similar construction, alternating intense moments and appeasements. So, "Can We Keep the Elephant?" is a very strong and enthousiasting opening, but "Stones of temperance" is more impressive again.

One small mistake of youth that the 2nd disc of the group avoided and that we will forgive here : "the darkest star" tends to get lost in a deliberate and controlled confusion that should have lasted 4 minutes less.

Usually, when a record deserves (to my mind) between 4 and 4,5 stars, I put 4 and I won't change this logic way of noting. But I highly recommend this record to amateurs of complex music and high musicianship.

And their 2nd album looks more exciting again after one listening...

I was totally bowled over by Ovrfwrd's sophomore release 'Fantasy Absent Reason', so it would be only normal to go about reviewing the debut album from the talented Minnesotans. The drop-dead gorgeous album arrived in the mail and 'Beyond the Visible Light' immediately hit the audio player and I could not help to crank it up. The instrumental package they provide has four motivated and talented pieces that seem to this reviewer (as well as some of my colleagues) to be quite a revelation. Guitarist Mark Ilaug hails from the Alex Lifeson school of 6 string pyrotechnics, mastering the dizzying sonic nose dives as well as the slick and nuanced flicks of the wrist. Using a basic arsenal of keyboards from piano, organ, synths and the occasional harpsichord, Chris Malmgren doesn't just color in the backdrop with symphonics, he actually enjoys dueling with his axeman in dishing out fleeting bursts of ivory magic. My attention always is focused on the basso profundo and Kyle Lund sweeps his booming instrument very near the carpet laid down by the two soloists whilst paying studious attention to the dazzling adventures laid down by drummer Rikki Davenport, who simply sparkles once again, a deft combination of tenacious rhythmic drive and pugnacious finesse. As a rule, I am generally very touchy when it comes to overt technical displays, ever since I had the misfortune of witnessing a rather grotesque display from Stanley Clarke with Return to Forever in concert in 1974, opening for Dutch masters Focus. There was no booing but not exactly the rapturous applause he was expecting (and visibly demanding). Anyways, note flurries are not my kind of fun as context and mood are even more crucial to the humility of the artist's knowledge and technical skill. These gents have those qualities in spades, as both fury and restraint are well represented, in equal doses and at opportune times.

'Can We Keep the Elephants?' is the first installment and as such serves to prepare the stage and explain what these musicians are all about, and as such they succeed in spades. They waste little time in splashing their abilities, whether experiencing the rolling organ forays, the sprouting guitar explosions, the zooming bass barrage and the insane drum poly-rhythms. These musicians are at the top of their game, inspired and imaginative as the calm section enters out of nowhere, delicate details, tempered urges and passionate exaltation rule the roost. The guitar parts, whether riffing or soloing are simply sublime and the ornate beauty of the melody induces a feeling of comfortable acquiescence, caressed by the soothing keyboard runs. Sure, let's keep the elephants and order a case of peanuts, while we are at it!

The unflinching 'Stones of Temperance' is a collision of mammoth proportions between harsh guitar phrasings and some of the most brilliant piano playing ever, aided and abeted by dense and intense rhythmic explosions from the squid-like Davenport, a man who could perhaps give Neal Peart and Gavin Harrison a run for the money. This is my favorite track here, a delicate and mind-massaging exploration that is the quintessence of instrumental progressive music, uniting spirit, mood and melody in a dreamy package of deliverance. Wow!

The longest piece here, 'Ravji' is even more out there, slightly experimental and possessing a tinge of ethnic/world music but in a harder style, gradually going tornado (as Bill Bruford would say) and flinging this 11 minute affair into the stratosphere. Like some molten lava flow, it barrels ahead, slowly and deliberately but hard-edged and nervy. Ilaug does a clear cut Lifeson moment 3 minutes in, which will drop your jaw to the floor. The ensuing solo is both thunder and lightning as the whole crew follow in the furrow. Then, suddenly out of the blue (the cover art is a stunning azure image), Malmgren's piano enters the fray, Ilaug handling an acoustic guitar and the whole thing just explodes into a metallic frenzy full of verve and audacity, blitzing along like some sleek turbo-charged road racer, free of any traffic. You can even hear the guitar engine rumble and tremble from the vrooming finger work (Hey, Jimi). Edging towards the checkered flag, the pace moves towards a jazzier cruise control and then, a solemn piano evaporates into the horizon. Damn!

'The Man With No Shoes' is not a reference to George Bush in Baghdad (giggles) but rather another exercise in contrasts, obliqueness and even dissonance where the true measure of their collective muse can coalesce into one big bold statement. I love the way they take their time to set the mood before the guitar 'sub-machine guns' it way forward (a hint of the great Jan Akkerman on 'Hocus Pocus') and instills this sense of despair and agony. Once again, Davenport dazzles with seemingly effortless technique, full of supporting feeling and dexterity, at one point doing that slick Brufordian counterpoint tick-tock, as Lund scours the low end like some rabid sturgeon on the sea floor. It felt like being transported back to parts of Starless and Bible Black, only for a few minutes. Malmgren then tosses in some e-piano (my new found love) and simply sprinkles droplets of echoing sound all over the score as Ilaug does another excited and exciting solo, drenched in vintage psychedelia. Back to the preceding themes for a quick curtsy and they are done, convincingly! This is absolutely stunning instrumental prog of the finest caliber.

The debut Overfwd album ends with 'Darkest Star', a sonic duet of clanging guitar and sweeping synth, allied with some deft cymbal work and solemn pace. Contemplative and breezy, the staggeringly gorgeous piano takes over the lead role once again, with ornate twinkles that emote deeply and resonate profoundly, gradually increasing in ardor. Soon, the guitar begins its upward soaring vortex of ecstasy and we can only applaud the steadfast piano restraint, like some leash holding back an exited canine. The frenzied pace carries on, barreling down the cosmic highway like some insane asteroid looking for a moon to crash into. As this jewel fades into silence, I feel spent, empty and deliriously content.

OVRFWD is definitely my new darling, long may they flourish and prosper! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to discover, listen and enjoy your amazing craft. They are currently touring, so make sure you catch them live, they are surely a blast in concert.

4.5 evident luminosities

3.0 Stars. Biting off more than they can chew, but clearly talented.

I was introduced to this band a few weeks ago when one of their members kindly offered their two albums for review. I decided to start off with their debut so I could see how they progressed to their more recent album. Ovrfwrd are a all-instrumental band that prefer to stay in the hard rock area most of the time, although they are capable of being quite relaxed as well as going into metal from time to time.

Their first album is quite ambitious for a debut, with it containing 5 songs all ranging from 8-11 minutes in length. Writing complex instrumental music that can tie in all the different sections to make one coherent epic 5 times in a row is certainly not easy. They do however succeed mostly in a two of their songs but the rest tends to have one or two weak parts that does not work. That being said each song has at least something that is enjoyable, and its clear the band have an eye for not only complex instrumentals but making it catchy as well which is very important for the long term enjoy ability of this album.

Things start very positively with the opening of "Can We Keep the Elephant?" which has a very strong hard-rock hook to instantly grab your attention. They play around with this theme for a good 2 and a half minutes, adding a subtracting instruments to keep things varied. Things slow down significantly and get very calm and atmospheric before the tempo picks up and a new rock theme is introduced, followed by a reprise of the opening theme and more experimentation. This layout of songwriting is very typical for the whole album and in theory is a good formula to be using. The rock themes blend very well together and they are capable of switching from one high temp melody to another with little difficulty. Where the piece struggles is transitioning from load to quiet and vise- versa, and its not until their next album that they fix this problem.

"Stones of Temperance" Is one of the most successful songs on the album, with them starting quietly but with a dark piano driven atmosphere. They slowly increase the intensity of the main melody using electric guitars and thundering drums which reaches a climax at 3 min. Things settle for a while with them being more relaxed and lower in energy before they slowly get load again. They show off their very strong instrumental abilities for the first time here and its clear how talented they are. I think the reason why this song works better than the last is that they for the most part stick with one musical idea and fully expand on it instead of adding and dropping ideas, which makes for a more coherent song.

"Raviji" is the longest song on the album and it starts with a quite lazy jam-like intro with the band bursting out musical ideas and then shrinking back again. At around 2 min things really get going with a solid and steady rock instrumental which is fairly catchy followed by another longer lasting rock theme. At around 6 minutes they temporally settle down for around 40 seconds before going into full attack again. The quiet part is again where they are musically at their weakest as this interlude adds nothing to the piece but merely breaks up the song and makes it less coherent.

"The Man With No Shoes" is for me the weakest song on the album, although this may partly be due to it sounding too similar to the first and third song i.e hard rock for the first 5 minutes, a soft and fairly dull interlude and then hard rock to finish with them repeating the opening theme. It also has the weakest connections between different sections of the song. But as with the other songs the instrumentation is strong and the opening and closing theme always have a good memorable hook so its not a poor track.

Things finish with "Darkest Star" which fortunately breaks the mold of the album and sees them going in a more metal direction. They start quietly and unlike elsewhere in the album this part is fully enjoyable in its own right. They begin the song by combining a spacey electric guitar and synths with some more classical arrangements to good effect, and not only that they fully expand on this section for a appropriate amount of time. Halfway though the song they add heavy elements which is slowly allowed to build until they create an intense metal maelstrom. Along with track two this song is one of the main highlights and is up to the quality of their next album.

"Beyond the visible light" is an ambitious album which unfortunately does not get everything right, but it clearly shows their talent and what they are capable of achieving. The main issues come from how they deal with the quiet sections of their songs and making each track distinguishable for each other. The good news is that they sort out all of these teething problems in their next release and produce a very strong second album. So I would strongly recommend getting their second album first before going for this one. There are still lots of things to enjoy here, especially in the heavier moments so its well worth a listen. 3 stars seems like the perfect rating for this album, a good first effort!

The debut album by the Minneapolis band Ovrfwrd might not have been so impressive had the session gone as planned. But the 11th-hour loss of their vocalist (a literal loss: he never showed up at the recording studio) was a blessing in disguise to the embryonic group, suddenly reconfigured as a much stronger instrumental quartet.

Bands like Ovrfwrd express the higher ideals of Progressive Rock by honoring the adventurous spirit of the early 1970s, but in a modern vernacular more genuinely progressive than Prog. This is a group that insists on playing music requiring more than three working brain cells (to perform, and appreciate), at the same time making it sound entirely unforced.

First albums by new bands aren't supposed to be this adept. The oddly-titled "Can We Keep the Elephant?" is an assertive curtain-raiser, but the music really begins to gel in "Stones of Temperance", smoothly juxtaposing lovely unplugged moments against harder amplified sounds, in a heavy yet melodic workout highlighting the natural interplay between all four players.

The even more cinematic "Raviji", at eleven-plus minutes the album's longest track, is an obvious highlight, demonstrating the forceful energy of the quartet with enough variation in mood and emotion to fill several different songs (on several different albums). Ditto "The Man With No Shoes", and especially the slow but dramatic jam in its second half, achieving a sense of dramatic nuance most proggers yearn for but rarely attain.

The album was recorded more or less live in the studio, with discreet overdubs: a great way to maintain the essential energy and rapport of a genuine band. The songwriting is perhaps not as spontaneous as it would later become. Instead, this debut effort was all about the new ensemble asking, "Who are we? Where are we going with this?" (quoting ace drummer Rikki Davenport in a recent video interview). The answer was an exhilarating process of discovery, for the group and for listeners, before the epiphany of the "Fantasy Absent Reason" album, released a year later.

Their name may resemble a failed Scrabble hand: never a decent vowel when you need one. But Ovrfwrd succeeded in making a strong first impression, with better to come.

One of the advantages of the internet, is that now it is easier to know new bands and projects because people recommend them to you, or because the same artist contacts you in order to introduce you to their music. This was the case of Ovrfwrd, a band from the United States that is entering to this prog rock realm and aims to be heard around the world, which is why keyboard player Chris Malmgren contacted me and introduced me to their two albums, thanks Chris. The debut album is entitled Beyond the Visible Light, released in 2014 which features 5 solid compositions that range from 8 to 11 minutes, making a total time of 47 minutes.

They create interesting instrumental prog rock that of course has some influences from 70s bands, however they have managed to create a fresh sound that purely belongs to this millennium. The album opens with the aggressive 'Can We Keep The Elephant?' which shows since the beginning that the band has a prog orientation and that the members are great on their respective instruments. It has several changes but always keeps a fast and exciting sound which in moments explodes and becomes even more powerful. They let us know their compositional skills here, because the song is simply great, a wonderful introduction to their music.

'Stones of Temperance' has a softer start, however little by little the intensity increases, adding some dark and somber motifs that create a dense atmosphere splendidly played by the piano. After three minutes there is a moment of silence, a stop, and then a new structure begins to be built up, adding some highs and lows with nice atmospheric keyboards contrasted by raw guitars. It is once again a great song that would appeal to any prog fan. The longest track is 'Raviji', a song that has some spacey atmospheres, heavy prog moments and even a sound that reminds me of Rush, mainly due to the guitars. This is a true progressive rock song, and there are parts that it will make you remember some older acts of this genre, also, Ovrfwrd manage to make several changes without losing the path, I mean, they never break the song to make it less interesting, no, all the changes keep us interested and waiting for a new surprise.

'The Man With No Shoes' is truly interesting, a salad of sounds, a roller-coaster of emotions exquisitely represented with energy and cadency, creating textures and notes that are closer to the jazzy side of rock, but also using some psych elements that give as a result this intrepid heavy progressive rock music. The last song is 'Darkest Star' which starts soft with guitar and synth, reminding me of some Crimsonian impros, or Fripp-alike soundscapes. Later as usual, the song morphs several times, giving us a great mixture of sounds that in the end could please any progressive rock fan.

An excellent debut album from this US band whose music has to be heard by more and more people, I hope so. My final grade, 4 stars,

Enjoy it!

VERY Good Debut.

I probably should have reviewed OVRFWRD's two albums in chronological order, but I have been so enthralled with Utopia Planitia that I reviewed their second album first. But this is also a very good album. I think the 5-star system here on PA is missing one category, in between "excellent" and "good". What to do when an album is better than "good but not essential", but not quite at the same level of "excellence" as, say, Moving Pictures ? Perhaps we need a "very good" category? Ovrfwd's debut album, for me, is clearly in this realm, and better than a lot of classic albums. The style is very similar to their second album (Fantasy Absent Reason, or FAR), and I do not agree with some reviewers who claim the second album was a huge step up from this first one. Both albums are, in fact, quite similar in a lot of ways (except that there is no flute on this one, which featured on Utopia Planitia), and the quality is generally high. Beyond Visible Light has five extended tracks, often with multiple sections to them, just like FAR, with a number of great guitar and keys solos. And, similar to my review of FAR, there are enough sections where the chord progressions are not overlaid with solos that I feel another instrument (say, perhaps a flute? - sorry, can't help it) would have helped fill out the sound. The album starts with a great song ("Can We Keep the Elephant"). The main theme starts the tune for the first two minutes, dies down for an extended interlude, and then comes back. The song packs a great punch. "Stones of Temperance", the second track, is my favourite on this album, and my second-favourite of OVRFWRD's songs (after Utopia Planitia). Starting with an excellent interplay between piano and e-guitar built around a slightly-modified minor scale (hints of that tri-tone again!) the song builds from very quiet to what Frank Zappa liked to call "an orgasmic frenzy", only to quiet down in the middle and change to another excellent chord progression which once again leads to a great build-up and awesome guitar solo. If this whole album were as good as this, it would be 5 stars.

The last three tracks on the album all have a kind of AB structure (or ABC), such that the second-half of the song is quite different than the first half. In each case, I much prefer the second halves. The third and longest track on the album, "Raviji", is in this style. One can clearly hear the influence of Rush here (hints of "Xanadu", "Free Will", etc), particularly in the first five minutes (more tri-tone). This first part of this song is not my favourite part of the album, but the piece gets really good about 6 minutes in, starting with new a piano-only chord progression into, then some acoustic guitar lines, and then a fantastic electric guitar solo which jams out long enough to get into some feedback-laced soloing over a rising chord progression bringing the piece right up to a brief jazz-fusion-y ending. The fourth track, "Man with No Shoes" moves among a number of different styles in its first half, some of which involve some crunchy metal and some which are more jazz fusion (again avec lots of tri-tone, and some nice drumming!). Then, at the almost-5 min mark, it becomes very quiet thus beginning a guitar solo which ushers in the conclusion with some new themes. The last tune ("Darkest Star") starts as a fairly simple falling chord progression that repeats over a straight beat, for about 4 mins. Like their second album, I don't think vocals are necessary on most of this music, but these four minutes could have used something accompanying (flute maybe?). But the song gets good at the 4:10 mark when a great guitar solo starts, changing completely the feel of the song. As in "Raviji", the guitar solo ends in feedback, at which point a great new section of the tune begins - one of the highlights of the album, albeit too short. The song ends with an abrupt cut (like the Beatles' "Shes So Heavy"), which abruptly changes the mood and wakes you up, like an alarm clock in reverse. But I was loving all the noise!

All together, a very good album. Lots of very musical sections, but sometimes feeling patched together - the transitions are not always smooth. The noisy ending to "Darkest Star" and the great guitar solo on "Raviji" makes me wish there were even more extended guitar solos and that the band free- improvised a bit more. On balance, I give this album 7.6 out of 10 on my 10-point scale - just a hair shy of what I gave their second album. Indeed, the quality is pretty consistent across both albums, and "Stones of Temperence" is really excellent - recommended! I would like to thank Chris Malmgren for sending me these albums. I have really enjoyed listening to them. Chris - if OVRFWRD ever gigs in Toronto, let me know. I would love to see the band!

I was recently contacted by keyboard player Chris Malmgren, who wanted to know if I would be interested in hearing the instrumental progressive rock band he was part of, which is how I came across Ovrfwrd. Formed in 2012, as well as Chris the band is comprised of drummer Rikki Davenport, guitarist Mark Ilaug and, bassist Kyle Lund. Five songs, with a total length of forty-eight minutes, this is a light-hearted and interesting debut. When a band is fully instrumental then of course there is no room to hide behind a singer, and what impresses me about this 2014 release is the sheer variety of styles and sounds that they are bringing to bear. They aren't a fusion act, but there are some elements of jazz here and there, and although the guitar can be gently picked, there are also times when the only thing to do is to shred. When this is undertaken on 'Stones of Temperance' I found it interesting that drummer Rikki is the only one keeping up with Mark, blasting around the kit, while Kyle kept everything grounded and Chris was playing piano.

They interweave melodies so that there is always balance, and even when the music is delicate and almost fragile, there is a strength that holds it all together. They know when the time is right to rock it out, or bring it all back in, when they need to use piano or keyboards, when to riff or gently play leads. The result is an album that is immensely listenable to, and enjoyable on the very first playing

Instrumental grittiness: 6.5/10

Featuring a fascinating album cover, OVRFWRD (I have a harder time spelling this than I'd like to admit), to my pleasure, had nothing to do with the modern prog band waves of cold virtuosity and polyrhythmic frenzy. What I have seen while listening to BEYOND THE VISIBLE LIGHT are reasonable musicians that opt for melodies and don't overload they sound with countless instruments, which, while not depicting any mind-boggling virtuosity, are nonetheless accomplished and get their point across satisfactorily. In the end, that's all that matters.

Many things permit me to compare OVRFWRD to DISCIPLINE, although the first is entirely instrumental and latter has a more eclectic, symphonic sound. Both arose in the musical scenario where blasting sounds were the norm (coff coff GRUNGE); both sound gritty and dark, and neither demonstrates instrumental skill overflow. Naturally though, OVRFWRD still has a path to take to reach the beloved band's critical acclaim.

As I said, BEYOND THE VISIBLE light is surprisingly gloomy. Maybe because, since the last source of light is beyond grasp, they were obliged to embrace the darkness. OVRFWRD's music sounds modern, characteristic of this epoch, and so we can see a distinctive focus on the guitar with an overload of distortion and guitar harmonics. Perhaps a better exploration of other instruments with more embracing compositions would have benefited the band's sound.

I'm sorry, but I can't ignore how their sound resembles METALLICA's instrumental songs. Even though that thankfully they didn't inherit the thrashers' overly boring that makes me think "please end this", that similarity took a large sum of what could be OVRFWRD's uniqueness, and along with it, chunks of interest away from me. I blame the guitar tuning.

Can We Keep the Elephant's intro is pretty prog as the guitar, keyboards, and drums all have equal shares of the limelight. The song quickly shifts to being guitar led though. The grave, murkier tone I spoke of is especially noticeable in the (great) medievalesque bits of Stones of Temperance; the song's energy and darkness makes me think OVRFWRD is fighting for their lives, or perhaps that they had an omen of devastation and are trying to warn the world about it. They gain aggressiveness and melody in Raviji, although it's ended in a sadder tone. The Man With No Shoes was a delightful surprise as it shows us OVRFWRD's jazzy side, presented on the long bohemian guitar and keyboards duo. While they have constructed an enjoyable atmosphere, I felt the guitar still sounded dingy, as opposed to nimble and soothing as the passage demanded. In fact, that's how I felt most non-distorted parts sound like: too somber. Darkest Star presents us exactly that, as the song is predominated by a lack of distortion. The chaotically noisy outro filled with piano cacophony and distorted guitar sweeps was an unexpected twist that peppered the mood in the same way cinnamon and clove seasons desserts.

Maybe the METALLICA influences, guitar-orientation and grittiness was a bit too much for OVRFWRD's sound, but the debut really demonstrates what great potential they have. While they weren't able to charm me on this attempt, I'm still interested in looking their development and eager to check out how much they developed on their next release.