Another in my list of “oops, I’ve been busy” delayed album reviews is this one from supergroup Figure of Speechless. When you cram together musicians who used to be in bands such as Dream Theater, Whitesnake and Gn’R, there’s going to be a bit of interest in what comes out the other end. Tunnel At The End Of The Light should satisfy that interest.
Glen McMaster, a versatile songwriter and guitar player is the ringleader of this little project. Besides Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Alice Cooper, Yngwie Malmsteen, Billy Idol), who ed the writing process in early 2021, Figure Of Speechless consists of high-profile names such as Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (Guns N’ Roses, Sons of Apollo), Ray Alder (Fates Warning, Redemption), Tony Franklin (The Firm, Blue Murder) and Brian Tichy (Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Foreigner, Ozzy Osbourne). I’m assuming some of those names may be a little familiar to, well, all of you.
The promo sheet I got bills the band as “melodic metal”, but I’d say that the prog influence is also heavy in this one. The tracks aren’t short and punchy, but long and meandering, with many segments, twists and turns. Given the musicians involved, there’s no surprise in the fact that everything is note and tempo perfect, and Ray Alder’s vocals manage to hit both the powerful and gentle ends of the scale with equal ability. Production and mixing are top notch as well. There are so many layers in places and yet everything is as clear as a bell.
Tunnel is an album to wallow in. By its very nature, you can’t just pop it on for a quick listen. You need to sit back and soak. Despite their differences, the songs seem to flow from one to another and it’s actually quite the relaxing album overall. Even with the occasional bit of head-nodding to the harder rhythms, this is a chill-out piece… and a bloody good one.
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Tunnel At The End Of The Light is out now
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