The Musical Safari finds Gandalf’s Fist – Neo Prog from the UK!

Today, well actually yesterday, the Musical Safari flew across the pond and landed in Cumbria, UK

 

Cumbria is one of the most sparsely populated counties in the United Kingdom, with 73.4 people per km² (190/sq mi).

Cumbria, the third largest ceremonial county in England by area, is bounded to the north by the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders, to the west by the Irish Sea, to the south by Lancashire, to the southeast by North Yorkshire, and to the east by County Durham and Northumberland (Pardon the social studies teacher rearing his head)

In Cumbria, I discovered two guys who over the last few years have become good friends and have formed a band with a name that arose from an attempt n by a mutual friend to impress a geeky girl. The band name that their friend created and the two friends have stolen is Gandalf’s Fist!  The two friends are  multi-instrumentalist Dean Marsh and lyricist/vocalist Luke Severn.  Their music is steeped in the British Prog rock scene of the 1970s, They say that ….

the origins of their music go back much further. They start, depending on your point of view, with the golden era of Prog in the 1970s, the birth of English folk centuries before or, even in the time before time inhabited by Tolkien’s fantastical characters…..

… And what would Tolkien say about all this? With a pint of Mead in hand, one might suggest he would say; “Hell Yes!” And proceed to rock his socks off!

Reviews at ProgArchives

When  “Emerald Eyes” the second track on their album Road to Darkness came on I could have sworn that I was listening to a Pink Floyd album….. but the more I listen to the album, the more variety I hear in the music  particularly in tracks like “Untrodden Ways” and now the title track “Road to Darkness” . Yep, exploring this album and the rest of their discography is going to take some time!! It also seems that I’ve discovered the band just in time to listen to their latest album  A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer which may be released as early as tomorrow!! Here’s some advanced press for the album….

A tremendous piece of work…. 4.5/5″ – Progrockmusictalk.com

“A great album from a truly great rock band” – Jamsphere.com

“These guys have done it again. Their last two albums topped my “best of” lists for the years in which they were released. I think this one will probably do the same thing”. – Music Street review

From their website:

Dean and Luke draw on their mutual love for classic rock bands such as Pink Floyd, The Who, and even the likes of Iron Maiden. While the duo became increasingly captivated by bands in the resurgent neo-prog scene such as Porcupine Tree, they were inspired to try and forge their own musical identity, creating music that, whilst not appealing to the masses, (and certainly not their neighbours) was the kind of music that they, themselves, wanted to hear.

From everything I read and the album that I am listening to now, I think they have succeeded in creating the kind of music that everyone should hear and love!!!

Well, enough of me telling you about Gandalf’s Fist – just watch this “trippy” video for the song “The Gathering of the Clouds!