Mad Parish - 2025 - The Dust Of Forever

(70:00; Mad Parish)






















Following on from 2015’s debut, ‘Procession’, Montréal-based rock outfit Mad Parish suffered some line-up issues which means it has taken a decade for them to come back with the follow-up. Mind you, they decided they may as well go the whole hog and decided it would be a concept album, complete with a story and a companion comic book. Musically they say they have influences from NWOBHM, progressive rock, 70’s rock, 80’s new wave, punk, pop music new and old, classical and jazz, but to me it sounds just like a good old-fashioned rock/metal album which refuses to stay within any particular genre. The press release says it is for fans of Iron Maiden, Virgin Steele and Camel, which is stretching it just a little, as this is more about being for those who don’t necessarily follow a crowd or labels. On their website Mad Parish list some very famous names they have opened for, but one must wonder if that was around the time of the debut as opposed to now, as I cannot imagine this music going down well with much of those audiences.

Josh McConnell has a nice voice, with some great screams, but the main issue with this is that it doesn’t spear to have as much musical focus as I would like. I enjoy it when bands change things up, but I am not sure it always works here as we go from melodic pop rock into something more metallic, back again, sometimes with guitar duels or with somewhat dated keyboard sounds over the top. It makes me wonder if the guys are trying to be too clever for their own good, outing too much into the pot when possibly a more direct focus would have had a better outcome. Songs such as “Transmission #1” might show their diversity and love of Hawaiian music, but to me it should never have been put on the album.  It is certainly ambitious, and looking at the photos it shows they have put a lot of thought into their costumes and how they will look onstage and possibly that is where this album really shines. Pleasant enough while being played but not enough here for me to want to play it again in the future.  

Kev Rowland, May 2025

Links:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tonnen von Hall - 2025 - Ein Abdruck vom Messer im Herzen

Image
(61:45; Iapetus [Unsung Records] ) Track list: 1. Erdmantel 4:05 2. Vorhalle 0:40 3. Antlitz 4:12 4. Stahlhalle 1:01 5. Kraken 5:02 6. Mitralsaal 0:55 7. Kanister 5:56 8. Sockelwald 0:49 9. Kaiserlicht 5:46 10. Schacht 0:43 11. Zivilisationsfolie 4:27 12. Nebelgarten 0:58 13. Donnermesser 6:41 14. Blutrille 1:01 15. Rauschmitte 5:22 16. Klingensaal 0:50 17. Endgegner 3:39 18. Ätzung 0:41 19. Thronfolge 3:09 20. Ein Abdruck vom Messer im Herzen 4:55 21. Herzkammer 0:53 Line-up: Markus Reuter - guitars, loops, sounds Alexander Paul Dowerk - guitars Asaf Sirkis - drums, percussion, vocals Prolusion. Germany based band Tonnen Von Hall was established back in 2022 or thereabouts, and the threesome consisting of Marks Reuter, Alexander Paul Dowerk and Asaf Sirkis has been developing the style and sound of this new formation ever since. The results of that process first came to light on an EP released towards the end of 2024. A few months later the band have now released their debut album ...
Read more

Thirteen of Everything - 2023 - Time and Other Delusions

Image
(68:22; Basement Avatar Records) Track list: 1. Timeline 8:57 2. Alternate Life 12:02 3. Where the Time Goes 5:32 4. The Penultimate Flight of Armando the Pigeon 7:11 5. The King of Istanbul 10:35 6. Warmth and Darkness 7:32 7. Count All the Days 16.33 Line-up: Brett Cosby - guitars Mick Peters - Chapman stick, bass, pedals, vocals Ted Thomas - drums, percussion, vocals Bob Villwock - keyboards with: Thad Miller - keyboards Prolusion. US band Thirteen of Everything has been a going concern for a bit over 20 years, releasing their initial demo back in 2002 with official albums following in 2005 and 2019 respectively. Following what has been a brief pause between albums for this band they are now preparing to launch their third studio album "Time and Other Delusions", which will be released on US label Basement Avatar Records. Analysis. In terms of the different variations one can find in the progressive rock universe, Thirteen of Everything resides safely inside the symphonic ...
Read more

Deaton Lemay Project - 2022 - The Fifth Element

Image
(63:04; Deaton Lemay Project) Track list: 1. The Great Awakening 5:32 2. A Different Place in Time 7:24 3. Dragonfly 3:35 4. The Nightmare 4:28 5. Exordium 6:24 - Elements of Life Suite 6. Overture 4:43 7. Fire 6:10 8. Water 6:11 9. Air 4:19 10. Earth 6:53 11. Music 7:25 Line-up: Roby Deaton - keyboards, guitars, vocals Craig LeMay - drums, percussion with: Hadi Kiani - vocals Ehsan Imani - guitars Josh Mark Raj - guitars John Haddad - bass Charles Berthoud - bass Liza Evans - violin Prolusion. US band DEATON LEMAY PROJECT started out officially back in 2018, following a 25 year long period of gestation. They released their debut album "Day After Yesterday" in 2019, and following what I suspect has been a rather busy planning and recording period during the years of the pandemic the creative twosome of Deaton and Lemay are back with their second album "The Fifth Element" at the start of 2022. Analysis. While the fifth element apparently used to be defined as aether ...
Read more