This mortal coil --- Redemption --- 2011 (InsideOut)
I just love the story behind this album. Horrible news, to be told you have cancer and that you can expect to only live another five years maximum, but how swings the pendulum from despair to delight when that diagnosis is revisited and you're told you're free of the biggest bane on human existence in the last few hundred years? Such was the story of keyboard player and guitarist Nick Van Dyk, and the relief he (and, presumably, his bandmates) felt, this brush with approaching death only to be given a second chance, led to the title of the album, and its composition.
Now, according to the man himself as he states on the Redemption website, the album is not about him and his struggle with the news of his cancer, and his eventual release from its grasp, and I can respect that. As he says “I didn't want to write a concept album about me”. Of course. But that notwithstanding, there's no avoiding the heavy focus on the human condition and the mortality of people in this album, and there's equally surely no doubt that Van Dyk's experiences coloured many, if not all, of the songs here, as he wrote all the lyrics himself, alone. Surely something of his dread and fear and eventual resurgence of hope and finally relief and delight must have seeped into the lines as he wrote these words?
The album cover is phenomenal, and could be interpreted a few ways, but I may hold off on deep discussion about it, as I've just decided I think it's worth keeping for inclusion on “The secret life of the album cover” on some future date. This is progressive metal band Redemption's fifth studio album, and following the practice --- whether intended or accidental I don't know --- of releasing a new album every two years, it comes on the heels of 2009's “Snowfall on Judgement Day”. It also comes packaged as a special edition, which contains covers of songs that are, in the words of the band themselves, “A Collection Of Songs Originally Recorded By Other Artists That One Would Not Expect Would Be Performed By A Progressive Metal Band.” My copy features these, but as I usually don't include extra, additional, bonus or special tracks in my review, I'll just tip a nod to them at the end.
As it is, the album opens hard and heavy, as you would expect from these guys, with “Path of the whirlwind” both metal and progressive enough to have you thinking in terms of bands like Shadow Gallery and Kamelot, some really great proggy keyboard runs from the man who has been reprieved, and Nick Van Dyk leaves us in no doubt as to how happy and relieved he is to be free of cancer, and how he intends to use his second chance to the fullest of his ability. Great guitar solo from Bernie Versailles, and Ray Alder's vocals are as ever gruff and raw, while never dipping into growl or “unclean” territory. This guy can sing! The opener is a fast, riff-laden monster, and gets us well back into the swing after being the requisite two years without a new Redemption album. Come to think of it, the band name is sounding quite prophetic now, isn't it?
Although just under five and a half minutes long, “Path of the whirlwind” concerns itself more with instrumentation, allowing keys and guitar as well as of course the solid rhythm section to take centre stage, with Adler's vocals, while always indispensable, a little more to the background of the song. “Blink of an eye” then is a galloping rocker, almost more in the vein of power than progressive metal, guitars leading the song in as Adler's vocal takes over and we hear the first real inferences to Van Dyk's recent illness:
”I can't believe my ears/ I can't believe my eyes/ The silence disappears/ It's my time to die.” Some great keyboard solos from, it would appear, Greg Hosharian, who is credited with them, and the thing powers along on a big, heavy, epic groove, then the tempo kicks up even higher for “No tickets to the funeral”, with a seriously heavy guitar opening and a certain sense of frustrated regret tinged with determination that the person dying be remembered well by his friends, and by the world. Don't we all want the same?
Great guitar work in this, and it's really a showcase for Versailles as he twists and wrings every last trick out of his instrument, Chris Quirarte's drums pounding after him like the pursuit of demons from Hell, and speaking of Hell, “Dreams from the Pit” is a nine-minute cruncher, Hosharian's keys merging with those of Van Dyk as the guitar winds up again and takes us into a hard-hitting metal opus, Adler's the voice of a tortured soul trying to understand the visions that assail him. Of course, Redemption are known for long tracks --- “Something wicked this way comes”, from their eponymous debut, runs for over twenty-four minutes, and the title track to “The fullness of time” clocks in at over twenty-one --- so nine minutes is not that long, for them, but “Dreams from the Pit” is only beaten out by the closer as the longest track.
There's a nice piece of piano halfway in, joined by some expressive, strummed guitar as the song slows down, the drumbeat now measured and steady as a human heartbeat, then it sparks back into life with a soaraway guitar solo that lasts over a minute, before Adler roars
”I've been judged/ And I've been found wanting/ And I'm worthless!” as the song powers towards its conclusion on the back of increasingly heavy drums and chugging guitar, ending abruptly. An atmospheric, progrock style keyboard intro invites us, it would seem, into Hell, as “Noonday devil” gets underway, and it's not long before Versailles is grinding his guitar through the song, with flourishes from Nick Van Dyk on the piano, a more stripped-down vocal from Ray Adler and the song ends on a hopeful note as he growls
” I won't be given up for dead!/ I'll focus on the road ahead.”
Expansive synth opening then to “Let it rain”, which I think may be as close as this album gets to a ballad, even a power metal one. Seeming very much to focus on Van Dyk's diagnosis, it's a nice, restrained (for Redemption, that is) slow ode to hope, as Adler sings
”Can the lessons learned/ Unburden the struggle/ For one fortunate enough/ To have the chance/ Fortunate enough to start again?” Very moving, and some very effective keyboard backing, and the sense of hope continues as the song nears its end, with the lines
"I'm seeing what I can only hope/ Is light ahead/ I'm standing with an / Ever-growing faith/ That now is not my time.” Lovely piano solo with some fine deep choral vocals, and I'd put this as the standout on the album so far.
Despite a heavy guitar opening, “Focus” seems to slide into its own smooth balladic groove, and while not as much a ballad as the foregoing, it's still pretty low-key for these guys, and showcases some really good keyboard work, as well as a strong and determined vocal from Adler. The song also features some more fine piano work, Van Dyk's fingers flying across the keys like those of a man with a new reason to be happy, which of course he is. More powerful guitar work, but the song really rides on the keyboards, and I do find this track very Shadow Gallery, especially their latest album.
Another slow, atmospheric opening then to “Perfect”, with some really impressive vocal harmonies in a mid-paced rocker examining how the constant search for perfection can lead us to miss the important things in life.
Although not written as such, that I know, this album can be seen to be divided in two parts. The first seven songs all mostly deal with the approach of, understanding and to some extent acceptance of death, while the last four seem to be more in the vein of rejoicing in triumph over death, if only temporarily (for we all die). It's almost like a journey, from denial to acceptance to deliverance. In fact, it could almost be in three parts, with the tracks “Focus” and “Perfect” creating the midsection, that point where it would seem peace is being made, affairs being tied up before the great news breaks.
I know this is not how the album is written, but it could certainly be interpreted in this way, and if so, then “Begin again” surely starts the cycle of renewed hope, though in fairness the lyric doesn't quite bear that out. It's a powerful song though, driven on Versailles' burning guitar and Adler passionate and strong as he sings that
”All we can do/ Is try to become whole again”. Great keyswork and a really progressive passage as the song reaches its climax, ending abruptly and ushering in what is definitely a song of hope and defiance. “Stronger than death” is just what it implies, a heart and a will to go on, a refusal to give in, as Adler sings
”I won't pay the ferryman/ I won't be taken to the other side.” A rock cruncher in the best Dio tradition, it rattles along on hard guitar and swelling organ with Adler's vocal determined and unbowed.
The closer is, as mentioned already, the longest track, over ten minutes of the epic “Departure of the Pale Horse”, opening on solid, swooshing keyboards and jingly guitar with a real message both of hope and surprise as Adler sings
”I'm half surprised that I'm still standing/ I've returned to the road/ That I was on/ Before this happened/ The Pale Horse skulks away/ Its rider empty-handed.” Could there be better words of vindication? However there is a real sense of humility and mortality too in the lyric, as he declares
”It's not about some act of courage/ I only did what I was forced to do.” A real progressive metal masterpiece, it's been well-worth waiting for and caps a really superb album that has more personal experience in it that anything I've heard in a long time.
I have to say, despite his claims that the album is not about him and his ordeal, it's been a privilege to have accompanied Nick Van Dyk and Redemption on this painful and difficult journey through a personal Hell, and to have emerged out the other side stronger and wiser. They can rightly be proud of this album, and I would say that it should stand as one of their best to date, which is not to denigrate any of their previous outings, but this has the ring of something real, something terrifying, something fragile and human about it, and, though almost an interloper in their private world, I thank Redemption for having afforded me the opportunity to walk this dark road with them, and emerge with profound relief into the sunlight.
Footnote: As I mentioned, there is a second disc of covers, but I don't usually review these. I won't be changing this policy here, and as a result I didn't even listen to the extra tracks --- at least, not for the review. I may later, but right now I don't really have an extra thirty-five-odd minutes to spare. So for now, for those who want to know, a quick rundown of what those cover versions are:
“Funeral for a friend/Love lies bleeding” --- a ten minute version of the Elton John classic
“Jane”, by Jefferson Starship
“Hold the line” by Toto
“Edge of the blade” from Journey's “Frontiers” album
“Love to love” --- seven minute version of the UFO song
and
“Precious things” --- over seven minutes of the Tori Amos song.
TRACKLISTING
1. Path of the whirlwind
2. Blink of an eye
3. No tickets for the funeral
4. Dreams from the Pit
5. Noonday devil
6. Let it rain
7. Focus
8. Perfect
9. Begin again
10. Stronger than death
11. Departure of the Pale Horse