As a thank you for all pre-order of Unfamiliar Skies, Colouratura’s new CD will be shipped prior to the actual release date of May 17th 2018
About The Album
Unfamiliar Skies is not a ‘theme’ album or a concept album, though almost all of the songs flow from one into the next. A few themes do crop up, such as those of air and water (as the artwork suggests), the long and winding road, the obsession of a lover scorned and questions of faith and individuality.
Musically, we did want to capture something of the art rock vibe of XTC, early Alan Parsons Project, Frank Zappa, Bent Knee, 10cc, Cardiacs, Tears for Fears, Black Sabbath, and so on … while the work doesn’t particularly sound like any of those, great care was taken to follow the lessons we learned from studying these great artists. No moment was wasted on the final recording, and we worked hard to trim the fat to make something that hopefully engages the listener from stem to stern.
Colouratura is:
Nathan James – voice, keyboards, bass, horn
Ian Beabout – flute, editing, sound design and production
Featuring performances by
Pavlic (Van Gilder)
Eric Holskey (Sabo Cat, Plus Many Others)
Dave Newhouse (The Muffins, Diratz, Moonmen, Proletarians)
Brandon Collins
Damon Waitkus (Jack o’ the Clock)
Michael P. Dawson
Nathan Lestini
Chris Kuskey
Bret Harold Hart (Diratz, Moonmen)
1. Corner Store
A tale of seedy characters in the backdrop of a small-town convenience store. As read by the Blind Blue Barber Boys of Baltimore.
2. Parallels
An epic, four movement suite blurring the lines of jazz, rock, progressive, ambient and punk rock. Themes of individuality in the face of the machine that is modernity. How do we keep true to ourselves?
3. Photograph
Sometimes obsession boils to the brim. A Poe-ish tale of being haunted by the image of a former lover.
4. Nautilus
The one in which we battle the giant squid.
5. Unfamiliar Skies
Suburban heartbreak, and dreams of the stormy skies ahead.
6. Kerouac
On the road, and with a passenger. What do the rocks have to say?
7. Vesuvian Tidepools
The stuff kicks in – and we take a psychedelic head-trip
8. Faith
Questioning the ‘lines the blur the vision of God.’ Do we really have any of the answers?
About Colouratura: Colouratura traverse an emotional journey on Unfamiliar Skies, charting the far reaches of rock, jazz, psychedelia, krautrock, folk, metal and electronic.
“With Unfamiliar Skies, the band definitely decided early on that they wanted to do something a bit more focused than the first album,” said producer Ian Beabout. “So a couple of decisions were made. For one, we wanted a more rhythm oriented work, so we made sure to use a more or less consistent rhythm section and tried to feature the bass, guitar and drums more.”
“We also wanted to highlight Nathan’s (James) skills as a composer, since so much of the previous effort was constructed via focused improvisation. Unfamiliar Skies is very deliberate, very calculated and very fully realized album,” Beabout said.
Utilizing local talent, Colouratura have crafted a powerful and modern art rock statement.
From the opening, multi-movement prog rock pastiche ‘Parallels’, Colouratura combine Zappa-esque guitar licks with horn-rock statements on a journey through territories of punk, ambient, and jazz, backed by Dave Newhouse’s gorgeous woodwind arrangements. On ‘Vesuvian Tidepools’, Colouratura craft a trippy, CAN-influenced soundscape around Eric Holskey’s drum loops, backed by Bret Harold Hart’s synesthesiac guitar. On the title track, James’ dreary and haunting lines are backed by expressive flute and ocarina. On ‘Kerouac’ James teams up with songwriter Chris Kuskey for a headtrip funk jam about traveling ‘on the road,’ while ‘Nautilus’ finds Colouratura in deeply groovy Black Sabbath meets King Crimson territory with dizzying time changes and ripping lead guitar from Derek Pavlic.
“It’s always a fun challenge to see just how far we can push the definition of what Colouratura can and should and will be,” composer Nathan James said. “I like to push my own limits and comfort zones as a writer.”
What’s being said about Unfamiliar Skies
“The sophomore offering from West Virginia-based Colouratura is comfortably familiar and yet surprisingly fresh. My impressions run from prog rock inspried moments ala Zappa or King Crimson (I even flashed on Camel at one point) to the art-rock of artists like Todd Rundgren, XTC or Brian Eno, but every listener will likely have a different experience because, like all great singer/songwriters, Nathan James has absorbed a plethora of influences and internalized those lessons to bring life to his creations. “Unfamiliar Skies” is a diverse and satisfying listen from beginning to end.” – Steve Roberts (Ut Gret, ZNR Records)
By combining a large variety of styles while maintaining a recognizable sound throughout the album, we can safely declare that the band succeeded in reaching the ultimate goal: creating music for music’s sake.” – Jacopo Muneratti (Danze D’Architettura, Radio Voce nel Deserto)
Within some genres of music whether it is progressive rock, psychedelic rock, krautrock, etc .. there are leaders and then there are followers. The followers try to trace a picture or try and sound like another musical entity whether it is a solo artist or a band. The followers are like sheep gone astray that left to their own devices seem very bland or someone trying to fit in with the popular crowd. 75% of music is primarily made up of followers. The followers just seem they can not think or create anything for themselves. They are always ‘YES -MEN,’ who want to appease every person with every little thing due to fear or lack of confidence or perhaps talent.
There is also the other 25% that are the leaders. The leaders are always the visionaries who lead by example. Those who are leaders create their own molds in which to make their own casts. These are people who create and innovate while others imitate. The leaders are often times regarded as foolish daydreamers who live and behave in in a altered reality. The leaders are persecuted, scrutinized and often times discouraged from perusing the passions, dreams and visions. These are courageous who cut there own path’s towards their respective destiny’s.
Why open this review with such a comparison you ask? Well by closer observation I have come to the conclusion the Heavy Psych Sounds and their act Mother Engine are in the 25% leader bracket and Mother Engine’s current release Hangar in the perfect example to this. With only three people in the band, Mother Engine certainly have a full sound of what we have come to expect from 5 to 7 person bands. Through true knowledge of their respective instruments and much practice
Mother Engine are a very unstoppable ‘Three Man Progressive Psychedelic Symphony’.
What they create is a vast expanse of quality music that requires a long attention span. This is due to the fact that there are only four tracks on the album at almost 20 minutes each. Think Bla Lotus’ Tube Alloy’s with much longer soundscapes. Without any further delay lets look into the world of Mother Engine’s Hangar through those four tracks.
Prototyp (18:23)-begins with a heavily stoner/psychedelic induced chord progression that works also as a heavy atmospheric introduction. There is a very special effect as if the band are giving the listener the illusion or appearance that some kind of spaceship or space probe is closing at its air lock. It is as if the band are going to take their listeners on some cosmic voyage into the unknown. Soon the special effects would give way and fade when a deep bass progression comes into the track. From there a rhythmic progressive frenzy ensues.
Soon the lush guitar atmospheres come in perfectly giving the listener a vivid melodic illusion of sheer melodic controlled cosmic chaos. The band certainly knows how to allow both stringed and rhythm sections to breathe and enjoyed very distinctly by the listener. Christian Dressel – Bass manages to perfectly execute a twofold approach between using the bass both as a melodic instrument and a percussive rhythmic instrument weaving in and out of both elements effortlessly. There seems to be nothing pretentious or contrived within the objective of the song composition. Mother Engine certainly has a great uncanny ability to create atmospheres of both stoner and psychedelic elements. With only three members in the band they manage with excellence to create a Stoner-Psychedelic Symphony that gives the listener the illusion that there are much more instruments and personnel involved.
Biosp(i)rit (18:08) opens up in such a precise way that has one perhaps recognizing a particular Jim Morrison and The Doors classic Psychedelic epic opus The End.Very soon after such ambient psychedelic intro, this song take on a very old school fuzzy distortion with how Chris Trautenbach – Guitar, creates it within the vast expanse of the song body. This is also supported with a deep rhythmic section that perfectly compliments the atmosphere created from the brilliant guitar. Following this great stoner symphonic introduction, the track takes on some very strong 1990’s alternative Stone Temple Pilots styled chord progressions and passages. To qualify that last statement, the band still remain very 1970’s progressive-psychedelic stoner minded and always on point to their main objective.
This track is one of those tracks that is perfectly ready for the band to give it to a live audience with the live treatment. It starts off very subtly building layer upon layer until it the absolute metamorphosis into the perfect ‘Jam Band’song is manifested for both band and public consumption. One thing I am starting to notice going forward in the album is that the band do not layer tracks or overdub tracks to death in studio making it very difficult to give their music the above mentioned live treatment. At about the 10:00 mark the track presents the listener to come killer riffs that are perfectly complimented by some very deep and deliberate space rock style chord progressions and rhythmic sections. That brief yet powerful explosion of sonic creativity soon fades down a bit around the 13:00 mark. It settles with a simple guitar chord progression that is met with a very intricate rhythm section that takes on a progressive rock personality about it. This roars out with a heavily fuzzy distortion element on a straight away rock track.
Tokamak (21:29)opens up with a eerie suspenseful atmosphere. It has quite a Krautrock meets psychedelic Syd Barret era Pink Floyd style about it. In a era where some music is being formatted for hi fidelity sound and surround sound the effects presented in the opening to this one remind me heavily of the days of 1970’s quadraphonic sound which was the a pioneer to surround sound and hi fidelity. While most music is listened to through a headset, the opening to this alone is well worth a open air listening session through professional studio monitors if one has access to that format of technology.
The use of the guitar to form a screaming sound along with the drums created a rain water sound is a thing of sheer beauty and genius. When you are familiar with your instrument enough where you can manipulate the presentation with various effects not typically associated with that effect you are a well studied musician and Mother Engine certainly meets that criteria and it shows on this song. Another dynamic going on here is that to the very seasoned consumer to this brand of music and to the trained ear that can pick up analog sound. it sounds like the fresh needle of a vinyl record being spun like music use to be. This is yet another depth of talent that Mother Engine possesses.
At about the 9:00 mark the band take the song into a more progressive/psychedelic jazz atmosphere with the various time signatures and chord progressions. After that the band do what they seem destined to do in the recording process, that being the layering element upon chord progression in a line of melodic precept after melodic precept.
Weihe/Leerlauf (19:18) opens up with a beautiful Indian Classical Music oriental scale blended with the signature psychedelic space rock that the band have already established on the album. Here is another track where the band uses their expertise in layering their sound with various sub tracks that make for a full and warm composition. The band also has a very intricate ability to go from painting atmospheres in the song to straight away psychedelic jam band rock chord progressions. Their signature fuzzy stoner riffs still anchor this track like they have with the 3 previous tracks on the album.
The band allows for the song to move in various different directions leaving for room to be non predictable where the listeners attention remains focused within the album. This track sees the band utilize their ability and musicianship to meet this very purpose. This track has one of the most definitive and solid 8+ minute outro’s in the history of this genre I have ever heard. It is a true roller coaster ride of up tempo, to atmospheric space rock styles, to crunchy straight up rock riffs.
This one certainly took me by surprise. Mother Engine are a band that truly makes great epic psychedelic rock without it sounding imitated or just another redundant jam band session. In their improvisation their riffs and chord progressions all have a purpose and direction without them just being ‘Fills’ or ‘Cogs‘ in the system or machine. With Hangar, Mother Engine have another melodious project to build their respective legacy on. Mother Engine’s Hangar gets a 5/5.
THE SEA WITHIN – the new art-rock collective comprising of Roine Stolt (Transatlantic, The Flower Kings), Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation), Jonas Reingold (Steve Hackett, The Flower Kings, Karmakanic, The Tangent), Tom Brislin (Yes Symphonic, Renaissance, Spiraling, Deborah Harry) & Marco Minnemann (The Aristocrats, Steven Wilson, UK, Joe Satriani) – have announced that their debut self-titled album will be released 22nd June 2018.
Let’s get one thing straight from the start. The Sea Within is more of an amalgamation of some serious talents, than a regular “supergroup”. These musicians have come together to create a unique album. Guitarist/vocalist Roine Stolt, bassist Jonas Reingold, keyboard player/vocalist Tom Brislin, drummer/vocalist Marco Minnemann and vocalist/guitarist Daniel Gildenlöw have a vast reservoir of experience. Look at the portmanteau of artists with who they’ve worked: The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Jon Anderson, Steven Wilson,The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani, Yes, Steve Hackett, Renaissance, Pain Of Salvation, Deborah Harry, Meatloaf, Karmakanic … that of itself tells you this is something very special.
“I suppose it all began to take shape in the autumn of 2016,” explains Stolt. “I had a chat with Thomas Waber, the boss at InsideOut Music, about the idea of putting together a new band. I wanted to move in a fresh direction with new collaborations. So Thomas gave me the ‘go ahead’ to seek musicians for a new project.” First on-board was The Flower Kings bass player Jonas Reingold.- “He is a long time bandmate and friend and we were also very keen to get keyboardist Tom (Brislin) involved – after seeing his synth pyrotechnics with legends Yes ‘Symphonic’ and with Camel. Then we have been a fans of ‘Aristocrats’ drummer Marco for a long time; I first heard of him 15 years ago and he is a brilliant drummer, unique energy. Then when we discussed ideas for singers, Daniel’s name came up, he has such a great range and dynamic voice and we’ve worked together on and off over the years.” Also added later to the bands line-up for live shows was vocalist & guitarist Casey McPherson of ‘Flying Colors’ & ‘Alpha Rev’, who also sings a couple of songs on the album.
Initially the band went to Livingston Studios in London last September to begin the process of assembling all the material and recording it for the debut album. “Most of the material you’ll hear are really band compositions. Of course, ideas were triggered by all of us. Sometimes Jonas would come up with a part, chord sequence or tune and then I or Tom would write melody & lyric and some new riff section and Marco enhancing with further musical metric twists and developments – then Daniel would add or rewrite some of the lyrics, change or add more melodies. Overall, the vast majority of the tracks have been worked on and developed by all of us in one way or another.”
The entire recording situation took about six months, and the band also have some very special guests featured on the album. “We have got Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater playing piano on one song. The legendary Jon Anderson sings on another track, while ‘wind ace’ Rob Townsend, who plays saxophone and flute with Steve Hackett, is also on the record. Each of them brings a different flavour to the music.”
“People have asked me how I would describe what we have done, and it is almost impossible. I would have to say it sounds like…us, ‘The Sea Within’. Our tastes are very eclectic – from prog to jazz to classical, to heavy rock, folk, punk, electronica and pop. We all come from a different background – so here everything goes. This has been about putting those diverse influences into the music. I feel you will hear all that’s good about pop – with great melodies and hooks – plus the rawness of metal, improvisations, symphonic and movie soundtracks. We also left room for each of us to take off on flights of instrumental jamming. That was the basic idea, anyway. But until we all got together, we had no idea where it would lead or if it would actually work.” The band have ended up recording close to two hours of music, and will be releasing it all in June on what will be a self-titled album.
The Sea Within as a music collective have plans to perform live, and will make their stage debut at ‘Night Of The Prog’ in Loreley, Germany which happens from July 13-15 and will bring special guests for that evening. “As far as I am concerned, we will try do as much touring as possible. We have a great band, great label and our agent Rob Palmen on-board. We have great artwork by Marcela Bolivar, all looks bright. However Daniel will not be able to join us for touring now, as he has commitments with main band Pain Of Salvation. With Casey taking the vocal spot, now with us live, we can go out on the road and play this album and beyond and grow as a band. We have so much to offer musically, on record and on stage and I am sure we will develop a lot over the next few years. But ‘The Sea Within’ album is a great start. I am excited for everyone to hear what we have done and am now thrilled to start working on the songs for the live show.”
The album will be available as a special edition 2CD digipak, gatefold 2LP vinyl + 2CD & as digital download. You can find the full track listing below:
Disc 1:
1. Ashes of Dawn
2. They Know My Name
3. The Void
4. An Eye for an Eye for an Eye
5. Goodbye
6. Sea Without
7. Broken Cord
8. The Hiding of the Truth
Disc 2:
1. The Roaring Silence
2. Where Are You Going?
3. Time
4. Denise
As mentioned, The Sea Within has recently announced their first confirmed live date, taking to the stage at Night of the Prog Festival 2018 at Loreley, Germany on the weekend of 13-15th July 2018. Tickets are available now here: http://www.nightoftheprogfestival.com/en/home-2/
THE SEA WITHIN online:
www.facebook.com/theseawithin1
www.twitter.com/theseawithin1
www.instagram.com/theseawithin1
www.theseawithin.net
INSIDEOUTMUSIC ONLINE:
www.insideoutmusic.com
www.youtube.com/InsideOutMusicTV
www.facebook.com/InsideOutMusic
www.twitter.com/insideouteu
Please help Melodic Revolution Records welcome Wheeling, WV (Enter Genre Here) band Colouratura to our family of musicians.
We will be releasing Colouratura’s sophomore album Unfamiliar Skies in early May 2018 with eight brand new songs that also feature many guests, some well-known others not so well known or new ones on the scene. The CD will be presented in a beautiful 6-panel digipak designed by Eric Kearns (Diratz, Stop Motion Orchestra)
Colouratura Is:
Nathan James – voice, keyboards, bass, horn
Ian Beabout – flute, editing, sound design and production
Guest Musicians On Unfamiliar Skies
Derek Pavlic (Van Gilder)
Eric Holskey (Sabo Cat, plus many others)
Dave Newhouse (The Muffins, Diratz, Moonmen, Proletarians)
Brandon Collins
Damon Waitkus (Jack o’ the Clock)
Michael P. Dawson
Nathan Lestini
Bret Harold Hart (Diratz, Moonmen)
Chris Kuskey
In a Statement from the band “On the strength of Unfamiliar Skies, Colouratura has signed to Nick Katona’s long-running Melodic Revolution Records label, which will release the album this May (?) (TBD).”
“We’re obviously quite excited to have joined this great progressive label,” said Beabout. “One of the goals with Unfamiliar Skies was we wanted to expand Colouratura’s audience and reach, and having the support that a label provides will in no doubt help us reach our goals.”
“MRR is an eclectic label with a 10-year history of great artists, such as Marco Ragni and Colin Tench. The family atmosphere and team effort will surely help Colouratura grow and thrive.’
In a Statement from the label
“I first discovered Colouratura through a friend at House of Prog, a popular internet radio station that I DJ for a few days a week. However, I was aware of one of the talented guys (Ian Beabout) in this project who has been a guest musician on a few of our releases. Once I after hearing the pre-masters for Unfamiliar Skies I knew this band had something to offer the world that was just a bit different than what was already flooding Spotify and the like. This album will appeal to all age groups and breaks all the rules when it comes to defining a genre, yet the album Unfamiliar Skies feels fresh and cohesive and I believe it will appeal to the masses rather than the far few and between”
– Nick Katona President @ Melodic Revolution Records
Progtoberfest Festival is very happy to welcome Oak – Official Fanpage from Oslo, Norway!!!
Oak is an Oslo based quartet made up by Simen Valldal Johannessen (vocals, keyboards), Øystein Sootholtet (bass), Ole Michael Bjørndal (guitars) and Sigbjørn Reiakvam (drums, percussion, programming). All the band members are in their late 20’s or early 30’s and have mostly grown up in the Oslo area. They have a huge variation in their musical inspirations – everything from classical composers and singer/songwriters to electronica, progressive rock, and metal.
Oak released their debut album, Lighthouse as a digital release in September 2013. In addition, a limited run of CD’s was produced for promotional purposes and to accommodate sales at gigs. The album was mixed and mastered at Fascination Street Studios by noted producer Jens Bogren (Opeth, Katatonia, Symphony X, Paradise Lost).
As of January 2015, the band is working on new material for their second album, and are working towards getting international distribution for this forthcoming album as well as becoming a more active band in the live circuit.
Progtoberfest Festival is happy to welcome The Knells!!!
The brainchild of guitarist Andrew McKenna Lee, Brooklyn, NY based band The Knells is a band that belongs to a genre inhabited perhaps by themselves alone. The band is self-proclaimed as a post-rock neo-psychedelia act, but the musical collective is so much more than that. And indeed the band is a collective more than just a band, as Lee utilizes a trio of vocalists, Nina Berman, Amanda Gregory, and Katya Powder, two guitarists, Lee and Paul Orbell, drummer Michael McCurdy, mallet percussionist Jude Traxler, electric bassist Joseph Higgins, and the critically lauded Mivos String Quartet. The twelve-piece band weaves a sonic blanket that ranges from choral chamber rock to avant post-psych to melancholic psych-blues.
The Knells released their debut self-titled album in 2013 on New Amsterdam Recordings. The album is an enveloping one hour song cycle that follows the concept of the meaning of life, the meaning of time, the beauty and violent tendencies of nature, and the questions that plague humanity’s existence. A dense theme for a dense album – and the band pulls it off.
While the uniqueness of this band makes it difficult to relate artists to them, fans of impossible creative avant-garde rock will likely enjoy this band. The band fuses elements of chamber rock, choral music, psychedelic and post-rock, and the raw power of classical composition.
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