Been away too long...
Artiste: Bram Stoker
Nationality: British
Album: Cold reading
Year: 2014
Label: Sunn Creative
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
Climbing the gyroscope
Cold reading
Fast decay
Calling me home
Chasing red
Joust
New adventure
Like autumn now
Fingal's cave
Light at the end of the tunnel
Chronological position: Second album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Their first album was in ... 1972!!! Also, in 1971 they were supported by a young band looking for their first gigs. You may have heard of them: Queen?
Initial impression: Very Genesisesque but with a doomy undertone
Best track(s): Cold reading, Fast decay, Calling me home
Worst track(s): None
Comments: Now this is a weird one. I can't recall any band leaving such a gap between their debut and their next album, in this or any other genre. Forty-two years? Many bands celebrate if they last that long, and usually have a string of albums and live albums and gigs under their belt. But what is known of Bram Stoker? Originally formed in 1972 as a sort of session band to record “Sabbath-like” music, they produced an album called “Heavy rock spectacular” (later re-released, for some reason, as “Schizo/Poltergeist”) which apparently was the closest thing prog has ever come to Doom Metal. What happened to them in the interim? I have no idea. But now they're back with what is, by all accounts, a much more mellow, um, follow up.
You can definitely hear the influence of early Genesis on these guys as the opener gets going, but there's a darker, doomier undercurrent running through much of this music, mostly delivered through a low bassy piano but there's a lot going on with the keyboards too. Then, just as I think this is going to be an instrumental outfit, the title track brings in vocals in a very Alan Parsons direction, reminiscent of Colin Blunstone or the late great Eric Woolfson himself. A nice ballad, though it speeds up halfway on uptempo keys and guitar.
Fast decay is a great instrumental that really funks up (or I should probably say progs up) Bach, with the old
Toccata getting the full treatment. Class.
That doom overtone has disappeared now and the music is definitely wavering between early seventies Genesis and early eighties APP, a good combination. I also hear a certain Mike Oldfield influence here too. It's hard to compare this to an album --- albeit released four decades and more ago --- that was supposedly just put together to cash in on what was doom metal at the time. Bram Stoker have certainly come a long way. Just not sure why it took them so long to get their second album out? Been worth waiting for though.
Overall impression: Very worthy blend of prog and balladic APP material. Gets progressively (geddit?) better each time i listen to it.
Hum Factor: 4
Intention: I may listen to the original album, not sure.