THE SEA OF BROKEN VOWS

I must admit to doing a bit of a double take when I saw this new album, as I only discovered the underground progressive scene in 1991 and Castanarc had already pretty much finished by then. I reviewed their 1984 debut, 'Journey To The East', as it was reissued on CD by Kinesis but had not given much thought to them in a very long time indeed. Mark Holiday (vocals) and David Powell (keyboards) are back from the band who released four albums in the Eighties, with guitarist John Spence being the additional member plus there are some guests, including Neil Duty who was guitarist back in the day. I must confess to having not played their debut in many years but checking out my 1994 review of the debut I said they were produced melodic and progressive rock which fans of Camel or Pendragon should check it out, and that it was based very heavily around Holiday's vocals.

Much of that is still true today as Castanarc are still based around Holiday's vocals, but in some ways the most important instrument is the wonderful fretless bass of Pete Robinson and given his impact I must confess to being somewhat surprised he is not a full member of the band. It kicks off with "A Song Rings Out" and we are straight into the wonderful world of neo-prog, but somewhat surprisingly the rest of the album takes a far more middle of the road route. The result is an album which is just too cloying and safe, as if the guys did not want to take any risks, or possibly they have just mellowed out in their old age (none of us are getting any younger to be fair). It is firmly in the middle of the road, and for the most part is fairly bland crossover, with little of the passion or excitement we expected from our prog bands back in the Eighties. Holiday still has a great voice, but there is nothing here which makes me want to listen to it again.

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Posted Saturday, August 6, 2022 | Review this album | Report (Review #2782513)

It was way back in 1984 that Doncaster's CASTANARC released their debut album, Journey to the East, during that first wave of neo-prog rock. It was well-received by many and represented the softer, more gentle and atmospheric side of the fledgling genre, compared to the more dynamic and complex ... (read more)

Report this review (#2584773) | Posted by Squonk19 | Tuesday, August 10, 2021 | Review Permanlink

As soon as the thing starts, there you are thinking: "hey, wait a minute, this is too simple for my educated prog palate". And it's relatively simple, yes, but it's loaded with great melodies, and good taste for execution and arrangements too. The subtleties are there anyway, in the form of an agile ... (read more)

Report this review (#2576627) | Posted by Heart of the Matter | Monday, July 5, 2021 | Review Permanlink

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