M-OPUS

Manannán is an Irish sea deity, and the ruler and guardian of the Otherwold, the Celtic conception of where their gods lived. I'm not particularly well-versed in Celtic mythology, but that alone sounds like it should be able to at least match the lofty concepts of many classic prog albums.

"Setting Off" is an appropriately-titled intro to this record. Lush synths and clean guitar underpin warm, gentle vocals and whistling. Moreso than any classic prog act, this piece has a lot in common with Berlin-era Bowie, but it's enjoyable.

The first proper song is "Riverflow", and this absolutely sounds like it was ripped straight out of 1972. Tight organ and guitar lines work together well, and Mellotron adds a lovely richness to everything. The vocalist reminds me more of Neal Morse than would be ideal, but his voice suits the music well enough. In its second half, this song's guitar tones belie when it was recorded, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. That modern-sounding distortion, however brief, adds a nice bit of contrast.

A watery bassline emerges to kick off "Whirlpool", and the guitar line is fittingly askew and panicked. The band portrays tension and anxiety expertly through the instrumentation. The guitars and drums again present brief flashes of modern styles and tones, but these serve to make this piece more unique.

"To the Other Side", the album's longest song, has a gentle opening. Acoustic guitars and light synths set an idyllic scene. Mellotron eventually comes to add a slight undercurrent of tension as the track picks up steam. I'm especially fond of the hand percussion here, though I'm less fond of the guitar line that sounds like it's taken directly from "Close to the Edge". For as much as this band roots itself in a specific year, they're good at not sounding derivative.

Moving into this song's second half, a plodding, lightly-distorted organ line and more haunting Mellotron shift the mood suddenly, but not jarringly. The song ends on a passage that puts the bass forward, and I like that a lot, even though the vocal melody feels a bit forced.

A relatively heavy guitar-and-organ line fades in for "Na Bruídaí", and it turns into a surprisingly catchy groove. I also like that this song is sung in the Irish language. (I have an interest in language revitalization, so it's refreshing to hear Irish in a context like this.) This composition reminds me a lot of prog-adjacent hard rock acts like Uriah Heep or Ian Gillan-era Deep Purple. A few minutes in, the mood turns from rocking to brooding, with an array of keyboards building an otherworldly atmosphere. The rhythm gets weird in the song's second half, and I like the surprising twists this composition takes. This is probably my favorite cut on the album for its internal diversity and ambition.

"Valley of Elah" immediately reminds me of ELP's "In the Beginning," with its acoustic guitar and hand percussion. The vocal performance is also vaguely familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Steely Dan, maybe? The big "Sha-la-la" chorus is on the cheesy and overblown side of things, but it's not bad. The brief guitar solo is great, at least, channeling a lot of David Gilmour's early work. The closing minute does a great job of building and resolving the built-up tension.

"Scaling Novas" is a slower piece that puts acoustic guitar and vocals in the spotlight. Much like the preceding cut, things really pick up in the last minute (even moreso here), and I like that rather sudden contrast in intensity.

At the Mercy of Manannán ends with "Carnivale". It's a dark, somewhat wonky instrumental. The band plays around with meter and rhythm a lot, and competing musical ideas are layered skillfully atop one another. This is one of the album's more modern-sounding moments, but it's also among my favorites.

M-Opus's new album certainly does a good job at channeling 1972. Much of the album does sound like it could be some long-lost release from that year, but other parts are more spiritually 1972. This willingness to innovate, rather than slavishly adhering to 50-year-old sounds, is a great strength for this band. At the Mercy of Manannán isn't anything groundbreaking?by the band's own aims, it can't be?but it's a pretty solid release.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2023/09/11/album-review-m-opus-at-the-mercy-of-manannan/

The story of the album (conceptual obviously) is that of a crew of sailors who embark on a dangerous mission and encounter ancient Celtic gods on their journey. In Irish mythology, Manannán was a king of the afterlife and a god of the sea; it should be noted that a song "Na Brúidaí" is completely in the Irish language of Gaëlite, moreover difficult to access for the uninitiated (including myself) embellished, moreover, with a small technoid part... still, this piece has its place in the concept itself.

This album is as short (40 minutes) as the previous one was long (96 minutes and double) but much more digestible for the basic music lover, which means that you can listen to it two or even three in a row without any real mental effort.

I particularly enjoyed the second track "Riverflow" which is easy to memorize with Jonathan's drawling vocals and a haunting bass guitar riff, the long "On the Other Side" with its beatless approach in its opening before mutating towards a symphony more in phase with the year 1972 (beautiful organ and guitar score in the finale), the sixth title "Valley of Elah" with its popizing chalalas crossed with a catchy final beat as well as the seventh and very progressive "Sealing Novas" unfortunately far too short (just over three minutes).

I would mainly remember from this album that Jonathan and Colin composed it from the heart, which remains the most important thing. The question that remains, is it still possible to go back before the year 1972 ?

That the guys can play is never in doubt, and much of the music contains great hooks, and some of the songs are simply outstanding. The voice actors also play their parts well, but the biggest problem is that for me the story doesn't work, or at least it doesn't with the words they are able to use ? it may work better as a novel where it can be fleshed out. There are times, such as on "Perfect Day For Flight For 2019", where there are just too many lyrics in a line, and it jars. Too often there is the feeling the music is being moved around to make room for the words which need to be included to get the story across. The album may be well in excess of two hours in length, but for this to really work it actually should have been much longer: would a listener sit through it?

The result for me is something which feels quite contrived, with nothing really working as it should and each element having a negative impact on the others as opposed to lifting them up. Unlike many concept albums this is a story or audio play, so it needs to be played from beginning to end, no picking certain pieces to play to again as it just does not work that way. There have been many very positive reviews of this album, but having already played this through a few times, when I realised it was next on my list to write about I actually groaned out loud as I didn't want to play it again. A great deal of work has gone into this and the musicians are superb, but I would much rather hear an album of songs as opposed to this. Given so many people have said nice thing about it, people who enjoy commercial progressive rock combined with dialogue may find something there for them, but it isn't for me.

I gather that this is a concept album, where the concept is the music itself: That the album aims to illustrate a triptych dip into the music popular in 1975. Or at least the music that was popular among those with a taste for the slightly more advanced facets of rock going on at that time. I also get a strong impression that the album is rather UK-centric, or possibly Europe-centric, as the greater majority of associations I get when listening to this production points towards British music in general and English artists in particular, with few if any direct associations towards artists hailing from elsewhere. That is merely a personal impression obviously, and one that may or may not be founded by a lack of historical music knowledge.

While I suspect that the band members themselves might disagree, my impression of the opening cut Travelling Man is that it is an amalgam of Genesis and Yes, with the lead vocals and the organ among the details that remind me of the former, while lead guitar, bass and to some extent vocal harmonies are among the aspects that reminds me of the latter. Be that as it may be, I experience this track as a celebration of purebred symphonic progressive rock first and foremost.

The second composition is the epic length, multiple section creation Different Skies, a mammoth piece that clocks in at just over half an hour, and to my mind it nods it's head and tips it's hat to a number of different bands and styles, without coming quite as close as was the case on the opening cut. Personally I noted down Camel, King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator as some of the possible sources of inspiration for this track, although perhaps in more of an indirect manner on this occasion. For me this sweeping, massive cut comes across as more of a celebration of progressive rock without a purebred symphonic expression, possibly also with a few nods in the direction of what some have dubbed art rock at certain points in time.

The third and concluding piece here is called Wasps, and my impression here is that this is a creation that aims to celebrate the spirit of the bands exploring landscapes of a more folk-tinged and psychedelic nature, with aspects and facets of both the pastoral and the cosmic finding a place here in literal or allegorical shape and sometimes both. Much more of a repetitive creation, with an elongated instrumental section dominating, but arguably also the track with the most striking hypnotic tendencies.

I find "1975 Triptych" to be a pleasant album throughout, although I guess I'm in the minority when my impression is that the relatively short opening and concluding tracks are the most interesting of the songs. The massive second opus is impressive too, but I did find it to be a bit more meandering at times. I rather get the impression that the mix and production have been applied with a retro spirit as well, although that may be down to budget and available options rather than a planned feature. Still, if the aim has been top produce an album that celebrates the (progressive rock) spirit of 1975 I conclude that this goal has been achieved.

Those fond of rock from 1975 in general and progressive rock from that era in general and year in particular should find this band and this album to be a charming production, and the stronger your affection is for music from back then the more I suspect you'll enjoy what this album has to offer.

As its name suggests, '1975 Triptych' is comprised of three songs, with a monster 34-minute centrepiece 'Different Skies.' These three songs are enough show that the album is intelligent without being too self-indulgent, something that is rare in today's progressive music.

The experimental inclinations in the band's music bring up a special King Crimson influence, what perhaps can be attributed to the fact that singer and keyboardist Jonathan Casey played and toured with violinist David Cross (ex-King Crimson).

'Different Skies' develops slowly, and is enough to go on to make you feel good. The song works as a haunting piece that encapsulates what M-Opus will sound like from here on out. That's easy to conclude that 'Different Skies' is the stand out track on the album. It's a spiralling prog song that constantly adds to itself throughout and flows fast. The closing 'Wasps' follows the familiar suit '1975 Triptych' sets out and closes the album well. It's pushed more towards the spiritually dark music than its predecessors.

All in all, '1975 Tritych' is really something interesting and, I would say, special. The album is expansive, and as noted above it succeeds in its mission to capture the spirit of records released 40 years ago. We may not have founded the time machine yet, but we still have music as the best medium to travel. Grab it now.