Reviewed By: Nicholas R. Andreas
Artist: Beardfish
Album: Sleeping in Traffic: Part Two
Genre: Progressive-Rock
Year of Release: 2008
On Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Traffic-Part-Two-Beardfish/dp/B00151A6TI/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1219791299&sr=8-1 Are we witnessing the birth of a new king? With Sleeping in Traffic: Part Two, Beardfish have shown they are ready to give their Swedish contemporaries a run for their money. Part Two leap-frogged over the latest albums from The Tangent and The Flower Kings in terms of originality and quality, and in doing so Beardfish have started to establish themselves as a premier eclectic prog act.
The sound of Beardfish manages to be familiar yet incredibly fresh. Their contemporaries make very bright music for the most part, but the music in Part Two manages to seem happier, crisper, and just simply better than what’s come from the other eclectic acts lately. Oddly I think may in fact be a result of less of a focus on composition. For much of the album Beardfish seem to kick back and play, bringing an essence of playing for fun and pure lightheartedness (see: Transatlantic), rather than for a grand composition. However it’s not all fun and games for Beardfish. The album shows off some moments of odd composition and complexity, often moving from light fast moving passages to somehow dark and moody fronted sections.
The second track on the album, and the first proper song, “Into the Night” features some organ as a rhythm instrument through some of the verses, something very fresh and interesting as compared to the normal atmospheric chords that would normally be played. “South of the Border” is an interesting piece about a womanizer who is set up to take a night with a transsexual, and thus realizes he is gay. A variety of musical patterns keeps the song very fresh and it may be my favorite on the album. Lots of sound clips, interesting vocal parts, and a large change of pace near the end of the song keep it fresh and amusing, even if in the course you run into a part of two that make you laugh or cringe. “Cashflow” is the only full length instrumental on the album and suffers from being perhaps a bit too random, odd, and obnoxious. However it still gives a nice vocal-less feel of the groove which makes much of Beardfish’s music tick. “The Downward Spiral-Chimay” starts with a country twang that might seem out of place in most rock and metal, but for the highly unusual and eclectic Beardfish it only helps to strengthen the overall sound. Finally, we have the culmination of two albums, the thirty-five minute “Sleeping in Traffic”. The giant begins with the best instrumental section of the entire album, heavier than most other sections, and shows what the band can do in a bit more straight forward direction. Once the vocals kick in the song weaves through several different sections that seem much more brooding then the rest of the album, helping the lengthy song develop and build. Near the middle of the song the tension is slowly let out as the song mellows and lightens, even including a brilliant section documenting perfected what would happen if Beardfish emerged during the Disco rage. All in all the song is well constructed, many different interesting sections, my only complaint being I wish it would have used the buildup in the beginning better.
Overall I love the sound of the disc, well mixed and very crisp, which serves the band well. The songs stand out against one another, all having something special in their own rite. The instrumentation is not often intense, but is almost always very tasteful and well done. The highlight of the disc is that it can seem so familiar and yet so fresh, something any progressive rock fan will want to check out.
Nick’s Rating: 9.5/10
Topic: [Music] Beardfish - Sleeping in Traffic: Part Two (Read 4966 times)