Style: Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Dream Theater, The Dear Hunter, Threshold, Caligula’s Horse
Review by: Doug
Country: Canada
Release date: 14 July, 2023
Every music fan, I imagine, has their own personal process for engaging deeply with the music they listen to. For me, I usually find that setting aside the time to listen through an album while also reading along with the lyrics is a great way to force myself to pay close attention not just to the words, but to the music itself, allowing me to move past my initial broad impressions and pick out both likes and dislikes throughout the full depth of the musical column. In most cases, I come away from these sessions with a more positive impression and closer connection to the album; for Hourglass of Exile, it’s not so simple. This latest solo project by ex-Michigander guitarist and audio producer Taylor Batory draws heavy inspiration from the anime series Last Exile, but for listeners like myself who are unfamiliar with the series, the album and its lyrics don’t offer much of an introduction.
To be frank, as I sit down to write this review after multiple close listens of Hourglass of Exile, I still don’t really know what I think of the album; we’ll all find out the score together when I get to the end. I’ll start with the positive, though, as that was my first impression upon hearing about tB Project and giving them a cursory listen. From the start, I was impressed with their overall presentation and the musical talent on display. Any individual snapshot of the album sounds satisfying and well layered, showing the musicians’ expert craftsmanship at each moment, much like pausing a movie and finding that the still frame provides a beautiful image even when separated from the motion of its medium. For a while, I was enamored with this vision of Hourglass of Exile, focused on hearing its compelling vertical slices of music and not processing the compositional flow of each track nor the narrative flow of its lyrics. But when I tried to dive deeper into the latter, the trouble began.
Even setting aside the obvious stylistic sound-alike relationship between Hourglass of Exile and Enoch Root’s debut Delusion from earlier this year, these two albums also connect through their similar approaches to lyricism. Much like the opening half of Delusion, the scene-setting lyrics which populate Hourglass settle for utilitarian description without making any great effort at evocative imagery to stir the audience’s imagination. Unlike Delusion, however, in this case the lyrical flaws aren’t limited to just part of the album, and there’s little or no improvement as it progresses. Despite clear attempts to create and follow a narrative (seemingly drawn from the aforementioned Last Exile), the words themselves have a strangely vague quality, making it difficult to process what’s happening, who any of the characters are, or any major themes that are meant to be conveyed. I’m not sure if familiarity with the source material would help here, but for the uninitiated listener, this leads mostly to the feeling of an unconnected string of unclear scenes rather than a cohesive story. Even if Hourglass of Exile were a tableau of vivid imagery without a clear plot behind it, that would be an improvement, as that would at least offer something for the imagination to chew on; instead, there’s just confusion and an empty landscape.
Between these two conflicting impressions, then, what ultimately defines Hourglass of Exile? That initial positive impression proves difficult to shake, tempered though it is by these shortcomings making themselves heard through deep listening. Despite the weaknesses of the lyrics, at many moments the music does an extremely effective job of building an emotional atmosphere – sometimes relaxed and cozy (the beginning of “The Messengers” or “Seven Stars”), sometimes thrilling and dangerous (“That’s a Nice Coat”), even wacky and fun in the case of “Swindle.” For the second half of the album, as the freeze-frames of musical structure maintain their high quality, the vocals can mostly fade into the background as another wordless instrument, inoffensive at worst and still able to contribute rhythmically and melodically to the soundscape even when a close inspection would reveal the clunky and uneven lyrics once more. Often the vocal cadence of stresses and syllables doesn’t match or translate well to the musical rhythms beneath, leading to jarring feelings of misalignment when those elements come into focus. Still, the lyrical layer offers critical support to the tightly-focused strata that lend tB Project’s musical formations their impressive depth.
A glowing review, this is not, but nevertheless Hourglass of Exile displays enough unique talent to be worthy of note. Despite the unclear and uncompelling lyrical writing and the uneven vocal presentation, tB Project otherwise highlight their own strengths admirably, presenting complex musical moments that proudly display the processes of their craft like brushstrokes on an oil painting. Batory and his compatriots deserve a lot of credit for the high overall musical quality of Hourglass of Exile; just maybe don’t listen too deeply.
Recommended tracks: The Messengers, That’s a Nice Coat, Riddles of Exile, Resign
You may also like: Nospūn, Enoch Root, Azure, Artificial Silence, Hemina
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram
Label: Independent
tB Project is:
– Taylor Batory (guitars, bass, backing vocals)
– Chris Sampson (lead vocals)
– Matt Graff (drums)
– Anna Armstrong (additional vocals, spoken word)
With guests:
– Miles Izzo (trumpet, “The Messengers,” “Swindle”)
– Michael Pilley (trombone; “The Messengers,” “Swindle”)
– Drew Vandewinckel (saxophone; “The Messengers,” “Swindle,” “Riddles of Exile”)
– Zach Kamins (keyboard solo – “Sound of Ruin,” guitar solo – “Resign”)
– Jarod Fedele (keyboard solo, “Resign”)
– Mattias IA Eklundh (guitar solo, “Resign”)
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