Style: progressive rock/folk, rock opera (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Ayreon, Jethro Tull, less technical 70s prog
Review by: Matt
Country: United Kingdom
Release date: 1 July, 2019
[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the July 2019 edition of The Progressive Subway.]
When I saw the name “Gandalf’s Fist“, I said verbatim: “This will have a fiddle in it.” And I wasn’t wrong! However, I certainly didn’t expect everything else that I got, being uninitiated in the ways of the Fist. How stupid of me. This is a hugely ambitious album, the prequel to an even bigger one from 2016, and more devoted to its concept than probably any prog album I’ve ever heard.
Musically, The Clockwork Prelude is like Ayreon if it was mostly the folky bits, AKA Jethro Tull. The songs are lush with overdriven guitars, acoustics, retro synths, violins, and all manner of other things. There’s not much showy playing, and even the writing isn’t that complex when you strip the extra stuff away, but it’s fantastically realized and a joy to listen to. We’re in the deep end of self-indulgent prog here, but the band does it sort of ironically, and the songs are nicely accessible.
Between the songs, you have basically a full-on radio play being conducted by actors – good ones, even – and this isn’t like most cases where the interludes are useless fillers you skip. These are central to the album, and as skeptical as I am of non-musical elements in music, they do actually succeed in making this a different kind of experience. I didn’t catch the whole story beyond the broad strokes, but I have an impression of a huge setting like you would get from fantasy books. It’s impressive that they can convey such a well-realized world with likeable characters in this format and timespan. The voice acting is great, suitably hammy and often hilarious, with extremely British dialogue reminiscent of Douglas Adams. I laughed out loud several times, and especially liked the evil headhunter and the Primarch’s sycophantic herald.
While not as flashy or serious as I usually go for, I thoroughly enjoyed The Clockwork Prelude, and would recommend it to any fan of prog rock. For all of its ridiculous excesses, it’s actually a relaxing and fun listen. It’s probably even better if you know the companion album, which I suppose I will in short order.
Recommended tracks: Wardens, The Clokkemaker, The Lamplighter
You may also like: Circle of Illusion
Final verdict: 9/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | RYM page
Label: Independent
Gandalf’s Fist is:
– Dean Marsh (guitars, synth programming, mandolin, octave mandola, additional bass)
– Ben Bell (piano, hammond organ, synths, fretless bass, Nashville guitar)
– Stefan Hepe (drums, percussion)
– Christopher Ewen (bass, bargain snacks)
– Luke Severn (tubular bells, goose flute)
With a fuckton of guests I’m too lazy to list.
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