Brothers Brian and Craig Herlihy have been the masterminds behind their successful act Yoke Shire since the early 1990s. After their much heralded album release Masque of Shadows in 1999, the brothers spent the better half of the last three years building a brand new, state-of-the-art recording studio. The result is a potpourri of new Yoke Shire material, live songs from their Masque of Shadows CD release concert at Lowell's Durgin Hall and remixed and remastered "gems" from their early days. Entitled "A Seer In The Midst" the new album painstakingly captures the band's growth since its inception.

    The disc's first two cuts, "Mesmerize," and "Ghan Buri Ghan" are brand new efforts and are among some of the finest progressive-gothic-new age rock & roll songs you'll find anywhere on earth. The production is meticulous while the Herlihy brothers maintain their high level of playing standards. The outcome is nothing short of stunning.

    Cuts 3, 4 & 5, "Maiden Voyage", "The Brook, The Mirror and The Maiden" and "Return Voyage" are culled from the group's Masque of Shadows CD release party. The evidence that the band's live chops are just as impressive as their studio prowess comes shining through on these three tracks. In fact the twenty minute long "The Brook, The Mirror and The Maiden" is a treasure of epic proportions.

    The last four songs "24 Hours Past", "Mystical Mistress", "Dogfight" and the album's title track "A Seer in The Midst" highlights the band's influences – Jethro Tull, Rush and Triumph - while pointing the band in a fertile direction all their own. It must be noted that "Dogfight" was played entirely on electric guitar and depicts a World War I air battle as heard from the cock pit of a Biplane; magnificently performed and recorded.

    With a glimpse of the past and a small taste of the present, Yoke Shire's next full-length project will be a, highly anticipated event. Stay tuned...

Douglas Sloan (May 2003)