Spriggan Mist- The Glare- Progressive Voyages Review PV061
Spriggan Mist- The Glare – Progressive Voyages Review PV061
Spriggan Mist Are a Pagan folk rock band who have built up a strong following of fans who they call Sprigganista's. Their shows are a lively mix of Pagan folk with strong dynamics and a highly visual impact backed by strong vocals and the instrumentation of Maxine Cilla who plays a variety of instruments alongside her husband Baz Cilla who provides a sturdy solid Bass to anchor everything together. They are aided by the powerful guitar of Neil Wighton and the solid drums of Ali Soueidan.
They are also joined by Maxine and Baz’s son Aaron Cilla on keyboards. Their strongest weapon is the otherworldly vocals of Pagan Priestess Fay Brotherhood who is usually dressed very exotically with a Pagan headless and robes. She sings like no one else and is possibly a little eccentric at best, certainly Fay is on another planet yet her voice works well for the “spriggs” as they are affectionately known by fans.
This new album The Glare is their first from Progrock.com essentials and marks something of a step upwards for the band who certainly rise to the occasion here. The album has just 7 tracks, I confess that whilst I know of Spriggan Mist this is actually the first album of theirs I have heard so this is the view from a novice.
The brief opener The Gaze Of The Dragon is certainly impressive and memorable. It leads you straight into the Spriggan Mist world and very shortly afterwards you are introduced to the rollicking Lanatores Testeres which rocks out pretty solidly with a strident guitar riff and crunch. This is also ably driven by a strong bass line before the guitar crunch returns once again. This track will be sensational when performed live as it has lots of energy.
Pieces of Glass follows and this has a strong drum pattern driving it alongside the bass of Baz Cilla and keyboards of Aaron Cilla with its Tick Tock refrain making a good impression. The sound here is excellent and really evocative of a faery world of enchantment I like the dynamics of this song immensely it is a very satisfying song. The guitar is crunchy and the whole atmosphere is captivating. Well done a great track with strong instrumentation throughout.
This is followed by Faery Wood which is another interesting track, Initially very gentle and with a good atmosphere which evokes the Faery World most convincingly Fay really gets the Kate Bush type vocal here. The track has great guitar playing with subdued power on display, restraint works to their advantage here its another great track.
Crystal Cave follows opening with a good bass and drum interaction that creates an air of a forest glade or similar. It is a very atmospheric track with lots of flourishes that create an atmosphere of being enclosed in a secret place where magic can happen. A strong drum pattern from Ali reinforces this view as does the athletic bass lines from Baz over all of which hover the fabulous vocals from Fay, and the whistles and keys of Maxine Cilla, they really do make a good impact and impression. There is a great guitar break from Neil and a saxophone break from Maxine all of which together make this one of the standout tracks of the album thus far, I really do like this one a lot.
Next track is The Cult which is the albums Penultimate track and is sandwiched between the longer tracks of Crystal Caves and When Stars Collide, it is another upbeat track with a driving bass to the forefront and sturdy drums from Ali are present here. This has a real surge to it, it sounds great and glorious I am sure it will be excellent live as well. I do like it’s dynamics and it is overall another fabulous track.
Final track When Stars Collide closes the album in style. It begins with a great guitar bass and drum interaction before Fay starts singing whilst Neil’s guitar line plays underneath her vocals. The track builds in its intensity well. Neil really plays up a storm on this track he is all over it from riffs to fills and all points in between. This is the confident sound of a guitarist who has found his niche bringing his own brand of six string wizardly to a band who are really going somewhere with their newly found confidence and the strong support of a label who are committed to helping their stature grow. This album can only help in that journey as Spriggan Mist come of age on this remarkably confident and assured release.
This is a really fine album. As an introduction to Spriggan Mist it works extremely well and invites you to explore their world further, I know I shall be, by initially seeing them in Reading on the 2nd November and then by exploring their back catalogue for myself.
This album is definitely top ten of the year material in my opinion.
Info here: www.sprigganmist.com
Author John Wenlock-Smith