Convergent (label)
30 September 2015 (released)
18 September 2015
Considering that The Tirith were originally formed in the ‘70’s, this is a thoroughly modern Prog album and bloody fine it is too.
Most of the songs on the album were originally written in the early days of the band but they have been brought up to date and the range of sounds and forms is a testament to their longevity and experience of the trio.
The music has great underlying power but coupled with that there is melody and harmony as well as some fine playing from Tim Cox (guitars, songwriter, producer), Dick Cory (songwriter, bass and vocals), and new drummer Carl Nightingale (drums).
The more sensitive moments are handled as part of the whole rather than being forced, as a great number of bands are wont to do, but the core of the music is riff laden and guitar based with keyboards being used mainly for texture.
Cory’s vocals are emotional and clean, no grumbling and screaming thankfully.
This may sound like a rather mannered piece of music but it is really anything but; the songs are imaginative, the themes vast and from opener ‘Farewell Fair Lorien’ to the closing epic ‘Lost’ they bring in all the different sides of their music in a very listenable and involving manner. ‘Lost’ particularly has a wonderful internal structure that brings the listener in to the track and builds through changes into a massive piece that should be a killer live with space for experimentation within a tight form.
An album that intrigues and involves the listener and that will be around for some time methinks – as I said before, bloody fine!
