By Jonny Bakes
The big bosses over at ÜRHQ know that I like to be kept on my toes when it comes to album reviews because, let’s face it, reviewing the same styles/genres over and over again would get pretty stale. So every now and again they like to throw me a bit of a curveball and today’s album is certainly one of those.
As you have guessed from the title, ‘Turned to Stone Chapter II’, this is the second of a series of collaborative split albums devised by RIpple Music to uniquely combine bands from the underground metal scene. The first chapter featured Italians Mr Bison and Spacetrucker, of St Louis, and this time we’re treated to another transatlantic pairing of underground metal bands. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, we have the psychedelic metallers Howling Giant who deliver a 20-minute epic for their side of the album. Then from the sleepy county of Somerset, we have the fuzzy grooves of Sergeant Thunderhoof with their 20-minute contribution to this epic piece of music.
So, what exactly is this album anyway? Is it a prog album or is it a concept album? Well possibly it’s a bit of both. Each band contributes one side to a story using their own unique styles to deliver impressive pieces of music that ebb and flow through different movements in order to portray the story behind the album. That story is the face-off between two legendary Japanese sword smiths, Muramasa and Masumune in which they compete to determine who is the greater smith by crafting their finest blades and hold a contest at the edge of a river.
This is a little different to the split-EP/split-album approach that I’m used to seeing in that the whole album feels very collaborative to the point where it’s difficult to pick out the definite point that the album switches from one band to the other. It appears that the bands worked together closely to work out the bare bones of the album before going away to build on that with their own styles. What this has resulted in is a 40-minute epic of fuzzy/stoner prog that is a completely cohesive piece that whisks you away to thrust you deep within the story.
Musically, this album changes through movements more than Rob Halford changes costume during a Judas Priest set. There’s slower, more emotive, movements that blend seamlessly into faster and more energetic sections. It’s almost as if the music follows the process of sword-making in the way that it flows through rough and heavy sections as the blade is rough forged, and then things get gentler and more refined as the finishing touches and additional elements are crafted as the blade is honed to perfection. Overall, the style is very much in the comfort zone of these two bands – it’s slightly psychedelic, pretty fuzzy, and makes great use of the hammon organ. Considering the theme of the album though, there isn’t a huge amount of oriental influence although there is the odd sprinkling of that at times.
Both bands have contributed exceptional pieces of music to this album in order to produce something that is a real delight to listen to. It is quite a commitment to listen to though, as you really need to listen to the 40 minutes in its entirety, no ducking in and out of this album. But if you’re ready for that level of commitment then you should absolutely get yourself a copy of this album and dive into the experience and you will not be disappointed.
- ‘Turned to Stone Chapter II’ is released today (Friday 7 August). You can get your copy HERE.
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