DISCORDANT DREAMS

This is the debut album of British band Touchstone, released back in 2006 and entitled "Discordant Dreams" , here, the band let us know their first steps and the road their music is taking, with a good mixture of crossover prog with some metal hints. So be prepared because here you will have more than an hour of good music.

The opener track is just an atmospheric "Intro" which only lasts a minute until it opens the gates to "Discordant Dreams". Here, we can listen to that metal like style which is constantly softened by the vocals and the calm rhythm. The chorus is pretty catchy and reminds me a bit of Mostly Autumn; here is where the crossover prog label suits. The last minutes have a more delicate sound with piano and bass.

"Curious Angel" has a nice sound with some catchy moments but never far from that metal tune that they always try to implement. "See the Light" starts with a delicate piano and after some seconds drums, bass and guitar join and produce a more intense sound. The keyboards produce a symphonic sound that in moments belongs to thay symph metal realm, though later the vocals make a mellow tune that becomes catchier and in moments, even popish.

"Being Hannah" has a better participation of the female voice, though is not the leader yet, here we can listen to her making larger chorus and attractive second voices, while the male is still the main one. The vocals are nicely adapted to the music, which isa basic 4/4 structure with nice constant drums, cool bass lines and a rockish touch. There is a cool instrumental passage after four minutes, where the guitar shows its skills. "Shadow" starts with nice keyboards and guitars, creating again that kind of symphonic metal sound but without losing the crossover touch. Here, the female voice is now the leader, so here we can actually listen to what I would say is the most successful Touchstone style.

"Wintercoast" is a short instrumental passage that leads to "Ocean Down" which is another short track. Here the music is much more ballad-esque with a delicate and beautiful female voice accompanied by a piano. "Blacktide" has a cool acoustic guitar structure that is complemented by drums and vocals. A minute later the music is more intense and developed, though the rhythm might be the same, we can appreciate more elements that bring a more attractive and challenging sound This is a very good track!

"Dignity" is an emotive track that starts with a delicate sound for the first two minutes, and later it becomes totally symphonic due to the use of keyboards, then a guitar riff appears and now we can listen to a solid and exciting song. There is a long guitar solo that keeps us mesmerized and with the same interest since the first moments; later it vanishes and the vocals return, creating that emotional sound that started the track.

"The Beggar's Song Part 1" is the last track and the longest one of the album, reaching the 11-minute mark. This may be the best song of the album, because it is very well structured, the composition is intelligent, with the precise changes in rhythm and mood, and with that cool blend of light and heavy prog. I love the instrumental keyboard fiesta that appears in the first minutes, and how later the sound changes and becomes catchier. Sometimes these changes harm the music, but in this particular song they help it. I would have loved Touchstone included more songs like this, so the album would have been a killer, but well, this was the debut and they here let us know their capacity and their will to get better and enter to this difficult progressive rock realm.

A good album, with excellent moments, but mostly with just ok tracks, that is why my final grade will be 3 stars.

Enjoy it!