CORVUS STONE II

The second album from this multi-national/studio only band is more consistent than the debut. However, the highs here are not as high as on the previous album. At the same time the lows here are not as low either. A lot of this album sure sounds like the work of the crew who came up with the last album, but there are also some new ideas here which are welcome. Like the debut this is made up of a lot of instrumental material. There seems to be a bit more vocals this time due to all the guest vocalists (the most well-known of the bunch probably being Big Big Train's Sean Filkins).

"The Simple Life" is a great opener. A short symphonic poppy tune. "Early Morning Call" is an easy-going bluesy symphonic rock instrumental. "Boots For Hire" is a very bluesy, almost Floydian track. Gets 'darker' and heavier sounding after the vocals arrive. After an almost jam like section gets more spacey sounding. "Purple Stone" is an obvious homage to Deep Purple. Includes a lyric from "Highway Star" (the same way a song from the debut briefly flirted with the riff to "Smoke On The Water"). "A Stoned Crow Meets the Rusty Wolff Rat" opens with some Spanish/classical acoustic guitar playing with symphonic keyboard backing. Then it goes into bluesy symph prog territory.

"Mr. Cha Cha" has a great rhythm section backed by soaring and emotional guitar playing. Nice symphonic keyboard work as well. Some good unison playing in spots. One of the highlights for sure. Another highlight is "Scandinavians In Mexico" (which has a cute animated video for it). Somewhat Santana-esque (especially the guitar soloing), the repeated harmony vocals (in Spanish I'm assuming) are catchy. Nice playful synth work. Interesting drumming/percussion at times as well. "Camelus Bactrianus (Tuolla tuonnempana)" is sung in Finnish. When I first heard the beginning of this song I was reminded of Boards Of Canada; it sounded so electronic and ambient compared to what I was expecting.

The track starts off mellow and moody with some drum rolls and tympani(?). Gets more rocking and upbeat later. Mellows out and gets more bluesy later still. "Eternal Universe" is a nice and pleasant ballad type song. Seems like single material and an album highlight to some, but to me it does very little. "Moaning Lisa" is the 14 minute epic which I didn't think much of when I first heard it but it grew on me. Starts out very classical sounding then gets more folky sounding. Generally, the whole thing comes off as 'prog folk'. Halfway through we get some interesting drumming and harmonica. Some Spanish at the end.

"Campfire (Tulen Luona)" is another song sung in Finnish. Mostly acoustic and folky sounding; no drums or percussion here. Nice way to end the album. Like the debut, the music here is diverse. Perhaps too diverse at times. If you enjoyed the first Corvus Stone you most likely will like this as well (maybe even more so). My final verdict will be a 3.5 but I'll round it up to 4 stars.