Reviews: Eldovar, Ross Jennings, Opera Diabolicus, Blind Summit (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Germans Kadavar and Americans Elder have forged their own separate, psychedelic paths throughout their careers, the former establishing themselves as one the top bands in the European retro scene, the latter meanwhile creating themselves a niche as a band who stand above so many others with their windscreen atmospheric sound. When Elder moved to Germany it was probably a given that there would be some collaboration between the bands. 

Due to lockdown this has finally come to fruition, creating Eldovar: A Story Of Darkness & Light. And plenty of darkness and light there is, Raspletin for example explores the instrumental, intergalactic soundscapes of Elder in full flight while Blood Moon Knight feels as if it could be Pink Floyd from Atom Heart Mother as the ringing psych explorations change into stoner riffing. Kicking off with 9 minutes of wonderment called From Deep Within, the collaboration pays dividends right from the first few minutes as the repeating arpeggios and proto-metal segue into the ethereal Elder sound. A counterpoint to this is In The Way and El Matador both of which are more introspective numbers that sit along with the interlude Rebirth Of The Twins as the mid-part of this expansive, expressive record. 

We go from here to space rock of Raspletin, which I mentioned earlier, as the record pretty much climaxes with penultimate track Blood Moon Night, which is 11 minutes of brilliance both bands, like two brightly burning comets colliding in wonderful unison. 9/10

Ross Jennings - A Shadow Of My Future Self (Graphite Records)

Haken and Novena frontman Ross Jennings is never one to rest on his laurels. As well as singing/songwriting for both bands mentioned, along with a new project that also features Nick Di'Virgilio and Neal Morse. He has also done numerous guest vocals for other bands, including Ayreon. However he has never released a solo record until now. A Shadow Of My Future Self is his debut solo record and it of course sees Jennings utilising his incredibly versatile, melodic vocal style brilliantly but rather than just it being a 'singers' album, there is a keen understanding of musicanship, shown in the past through his writing with Haken, but here the songs delve into numerous genres, but never feeling forced or odd. 

When the cheesy 80's area rock on tracks like Rocket Science are counterpointed with bluesier tones from Young At Heart or the propulsive prog of The Apologist. Jennings presents us with an album that has been sculpted perfectly to show a different side to this man who is intrinsically linked with prog and metal. On this much more rock based effort Jennings not only sings (of course) but plays all of the guitar as well, with the exception of lap steel. He's a great guitar player too, not overly flashy but with enough layering between acoustic and electric for lush melodies Year feeling emotive with the repeating riff, Feelings for example is great use of both vocals and guitars working together for a huge anthemic sound. While Third Degree is more stripped back with a luscious strings, coming through the background. 

It's not just Jennings though as he has Nathan Navarro on bass, Simen Sandnes on drums and Vikram Shankar on piano/keys, as well as lap steel, sax (Grounded), brass and flute for a wide, cinematic feel. The overall sound I get with A Shadow Of My Future Self is a sterling amalgamation of Yes, Radiohead, Coldplay and also a myriad of singer songwriters. Outside of the Haken mothership Jennings shows why he is so vital to that band on A Shadow Of My Future Self. 8/10

Opera Diabolicus - Death On A Pale Horse (Season Of Mist)

Essentially a two piece of David Grimoire (guitar, keys) and Adrian de Crow (bass), their previous album was released in 2012 so there has been a long gap between the releases, however using the time given to them by the pandemic, the duo have settled down to record their sophomore record. They aren't alone either as this record features vocals from Mats Leven (Skyblood, Trans Siberian Orchestra & ex-Candlemass), drums (and vocals on one track) from Snowy Shaw (ex-King Diamond/ex-Mercyful Fate) in every song along with some other special guests brought in to make this a massive horror-themed, metal concept record.

The major influence here is King Diamond/Mercyful Fate, Mats Leven's voice as expressive and wide as the King himself, especially on the dramatic Second Coming which features some guest guitar solos from Andy La Rocque (King Diamond) and Michael Denner (ex-Mercyful Fate/King Diamond). It's the first fully cinematic sounding number on this record bolstered by Madeleine Liljestam's (Eleine) soaring vocals. Being a concept record it's overblown and often favours the more theatrical elements to musical technicality. A case in point is Siren's Call which maintains a slow, methodical pace that gets your head nodding but doesn't keep the attention too well.

The problem is that since Opera Diabolicus's previous albums, bands such as Ghost and Hell have risen to a higher level with this kind of music, it does feel that no matter how hard they try Opera Diabolicus may not ever step out of the shadow of a band such as Therion who have been performing music of this grandeur since the 90's. About halfway through I sort of lost interest in Death On A Pale Horse, you might not but for me it was a bit too ambitious for what it actually delivered. 5/10

Blind Summit – Hell And Heresy (Self Released)