The Emerald Dawn- The Land, the Sea, The Air Volume 2.
I think it is fair to say that this second instalment of The Land, The sea, The Air has been eagerly awaited by many folks, it certainly has been here at Voyages HQ, like many I was wondering where this trip may take us.
Well the wait is almost over, in fact the album is released on the 21st July, a date to mark in your calendars.
What i can tell you is the album consists of 3 pieces, the first of which is the longest instrumental track that The Emerald Dawn have ever released, It is called The Song Of The Rainforest, Cocking in at a staggering 21:20 in length, With the other two tracks River Of Tears at 14:58 in length and finally Paradise at 8:56 in length, These tracks are all multi part ones.
The line up remains Alan Carter, Guitar, Saxaphone and keyboards, Tree Stewart, Vocals, keyboards,, Acoustic guitar and Flute and Handsonic and seaboard, Thomas Iidris Jackson Drums and finally David Greenaway 4 and 5 string basses and Fretless bass.
The album's artwork is all conceived, Drawn and painted by Tree Stewart and once again it is a wonderful image, That reflects the ecological nature and message alongside is the music it contains.
The album commences with The Song Of The Rainforest which has 4 sections, Part 1 Balance, Part 2 is Incursions Part 3 is Loss and Pat 4 is Regret.
The song is well structured but you never really sure where each section begins and ends.although there is a kind of breakn that is apparent asv it switches to amore ambient type soundscape so maybe that is the transition point for each part. The first part has a very atmospheric sound with effects of birds and other noises to convey the sounds of the rainforest, it also has a very impressive bass line and lots of synthesiser lines and textures, Before Ally Carters epic Guitar solo which is ably supported by the lush synths of Tree Strewart, All very moody and impressive sounding I must say, After this comes that interlude or switch point, So here a deep bass growlling synth which sounds very ominous and David’s Sturdy bass line creates a platform for Ally‘s saxophone solo to take place,whilst this is playing the keyboards in the background are creating a tremendous backing. Another interlude before a free form jam between Tree's keyboards, David’s Bass and Thomas’s drums leaving space for Allly's saxaphone once again,,
After this we enter another switch point leading to more heavy synth, Bass and lots of drums and cymbals and a winding synthesiser line from Tree which sounds excellent meanwhile Allyn is playing supporting keyboards after which get anotherswitchvpoint which leads to a flute solommand Handsonic noises and bells, Ally is playing supporting keyboards again in this section, then David’s fretless bass is heard playing gently,, this is a more quiet part of the track as we are heading towards the last part of the track via another switch point which leads ontona guitar part from Ally and powerful drums from Thomas and a strong bass line from David. All whilst Tree is playing synth soundscapes most effectively the last part reverts to a more gentlecambient type sound eningbon cymbals and synthesiser sounds.
TthTthis Is a long instrumental but there are opportunities for everyone to shine equally. I would imagine that this will be a very strong track when performed live.If they elect to perform both albums together it will be something very special indeed Here's hoping eh?
We thenmmove onto the second track River Of Tears This beginscwith Tree's graceful Piano motif, This leads to the first vocalmof the album section 1The Natural Cycle which is really strong and tells us in no 7ncertain terms that Humanity to destroying the natural order with our actions and the chains of dependency we have initiated. Thereafter follows an Ally saxaphone solo as drums and bass bec9mevmore to the fore,
Part 2 of the track is called Disruption and this is about the damage that man is doing to the world. Tree’s piano returns along with synths Ally play some power chords before taking a solo he also adds sax interjections at various points, all very dramatic sounding really, the music then drops a key to a more ominious sounding section then drums and bass step forward and various percussion elements are heard ssalongside the synth sounds beforeca further Ally saxaphone part is delivered,
A few more power chords and more energetic ass and synth sounds are heard as Tree intones Poison into its veins several times as the track draws tiba conclusion