Formed
back in the mid-seventies, the band have undergone a musical evolution since
their inception and there have been large numbers of skilled musicians coming
and going (and sometimes, coming back) into and out of the band.
Currently,
The Enid comprises 6 members, Robert John Godfrey, founder member (keyboards),
Dave Storey (drums/percussion), Max Read (guitars/bass), Jason Ducker
(guitars), Nicolas Willes (bass/percussion/guitar) and the previously mentioned
Joe Payne (vocals).
It
is very difficult to try to give an overview of the music of The Enid, and they
themselves state (on the website) that their music is “free from constraints of
template rock/pop where rhythm, harmony and melody are invariably dictated by
the traditions, prejudices and limitations associated with style.”
Invicta, I
may as well state at the outset, is a superbly crafted album, which indeed,
does not fit into any neatly labeled box, but is a 50+ minute lesson in the
production of excellence.
The
new album, Invicta, has 9 tracks
ranging in length from the shortest, track 1, “Anthropy” (1:03) to the longest
track, ”One of the Many” (10:22), which is the second track on the album.
“Anthropy”
(1:03), opens the album and is a very obvious “scene setter” track with a
gentle choir style build up for about half the time, then a booming crescendo
of sound hits before dying away again to lead into “One of the Many” (10:22)
This is an almost pastoral, classical introduction into the track, then into
Robert John Godfrey’s beautiful piano passage, just before the appearance of a
very distinctive voice provides terrific vocals. At this point I was
desperately checking the album information to see if there was a female guest
vocalist, but indeed, the voice belongs to Joe Payne, and a superb falsetto
voice it is. The track continues in a gentle flowing manner with piano,
orchestral sounds and that stunning voice. There are subtle shifts within the
track with other instruments appearing and carrying the track on. The whole
sound becomes very ethereal and church-like with more voices swelling the sound
before the solo voice of Joe takes over and returns to the earlier theme.
Strings pick up the melody as the track moves to another change nearing the 8 minute
mark when drums and guitar mark their appearance and Joe’s voice drops down the
range from falsetto to “normal”. This changes the track significantly before
the choral voices and sounds return to take the track out, with what can only
be described as bombastic bursts leading into a terrific “church organ” finale.
A simply stunning track which makes the listener wonder what can follow on from
this point.
Track 3, “Who Created Me” (5:39) starts in a
manner not unlike a musical theatre production, hugely dramatic with simple
unobtrusive instrumentation behind the voice which ebbs and flows to create the
dramatic effect before morphing into a more regular bit of rock music with a
tremendously powerful backing prior to returning to the original motif. The
track undergoes another change around the 4 minute mark before Robert John
Godfrey’s piano shines and Joe’s voice powers through, to be replaced a minute
later by the appearance of guitars which take the track towards the coda,
dropping just in enough time to allow a return to the original theme which
fades out quickly
.
Country
sounds, bird calls, what appears to be a carnival in progress and a simple
chiming church bell heralds the start of
the fourth track, “Execution Mob” (4:05). The vocals are very different on this
track with multiple voices harmonizing. The guitars and drums are much more to the
fore, with again, another very simple melody which continues on through the
track, until fading out to the returning sound of the church bell. A very
atmospheric track which merges into track 5, “Witch Hunt” (6:36), which itself
is an intensely dramatic piece of music which always seems to possess a sense
of urgency. The voices add to the overall dramatic effect and the superbly
muted guitar riff stands out as the voices start to build up the tension.
Around the 2:15 minute mark the voices “explode” with urgency to suddenly up
the tension and the track takes on a different flowing pace. The guitars are
back in about 4 minutes, fitting in behind the vocals before the band are given
the chance to drive the track along. The guitars over the top of the voices are
simply superb and the multi harmonizing voices carry the tension in the track
to the end. This is a tremendously powerful track from start to finish.
Up
next is “Heaven’s Gate” (9:09) which is an instrumental. This starts very
slowly and gently with the synthesizer of Robert John Godfrey burbling away and
the sound builds with the synthesizer holding everything together. A long
introduction to the track until about the 2:20 minute mark when orchestral
sounds appear and there is another simple melody on the piano. The orchestral
sound continues to build until there is a simply stunning passage of
synthesizers and guitars/strings, which fades and then returns. Changing themes
maintains the interest and around the 6:30 minute mark there is a very
atmospheric passage which returns to the earlier motif and suddenly, the
orchestral sound/guitar and synthesizer returns around 7:45 minutes and the
track slowly fades to a beautifully played piano passage.
“Leviticus”,
(6:02), is another synthesizer driven track with great vocals from Joe and
additional vocals backing up. There is a simple, yet amazingly beautiful,
melody which builds with Joe’s powerful voice. At about 2 minutes, it is a “full-blooded”
track with guitar, drums and bass that moves along, catching the listener with
its “hooks.” This is a superbly structured track with powerful vocals and
driving guitar all perfectly intertwined. The track ebbs and flows and “sucks”
the listener in. I found this track to be the most immediately accessible on
the first play of the album. There is also an exquisitely gentle fadeout to the
track.
The
penultimate track, “Villain of Science” (5:03) reminds me initially of the type
of music you might have behind a scene in a silent movie. The track builds for
30 seconds before the vocals enter and this has a very musical theatre feel to
it. Great guitar appears around 1:30 minutes and drives the track along then
drops to let the vocals set the scene. Drums and guitar float in and out behind
the vocals and at 3:00 minutes, then the full power of the track is unleashed,
with a wall of sound, which is both dramatic and atmospheric. There is a superb
guitar solo from Jason which drops to let Joe’s plaintive voice take the track
out.
“The
Whispering” (4:22), the final track, has a glorious orchestral start leading
into choral vocals and then Joe’s falsetto voice comes over the top of the
“whispered” vocals. The whole feeling of
this track is of peacefulness and after the atmospheric and dramatic content of
the previous tracks; this is the perfect ending to a sublime album.
This
is an absolute stunner of an album, which highlights what The Enid are all
about - magnificent music which cannot
easily be pigeonholed for the “average” listener to digest. The Enid’s musical
uniqueness must be the bands most powerful tool.
My
initial feeling about Invicta after
the first hearing was difficult to describe. I was not “blown away” by it,
despite the glowing comments that seemed to flood the web. By the third listen,
I had reached the “jaw-dropping appreciation stage.” There are few albums over
the years, and I mean many, many years, which have made me use the description
of perfection, but this album, Invicta,
is one of them.
My
simple advice is to buy it and appreciate perfection. The band should be
immense, but seem to have more of a cult following and I think that the time
has come for the rest of the world to discover The Enid.
5/5 Stars
Key
Tracks: One And The Many, Heaven’s Gate, Leviticus
Jim “The Ancient One” Lawson-MuzikReviews.com Staff
December 13, 2012
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