Yoke Shire: Even More "Masque of Shadows" Reviews

Yoke Shire hail from the United States, Boston to be exact, and they are definitely different. Listening to them is a fascinating, refreshing experience and is totally addictive, as there are so many good things going on. As for influences, that's easy because it's early Tull, "Stand Up/ Benefit" period, but then you get the symphonics coming in and it's here that you realize the originality of this band as the full richness begins to show. The guys say, "no sampling, sequencing or drum machines were used on this recording. All of the sound effects you hear on this album where evoked from musical instruments. All keyboard sounds are derived from original sources, including vintage organs, analog synthesizers, acoustic piano and other stringed keyboards."

This album opens with " The Three Welcomes" which is a short soulful instrumental which sets the scene for the rest of the album and is followed by…

"Black Tower" is for everyone who misses Tull's "Stand Up/Benefit" period with its bass, guitar and blues organ and vocals sounding like a young Ian Anderson only a touch lower. Then eventually a frenzied guitar intermixes with organ and vocals, especially at the end. I've got to admit this was a surprising listening experience and one that I thankfully did not miss.

Track 3, "Shape of A Dancer", is a touch slower and has a guitar intro that soon introduces the vocals. Again this is early Tull influenced and even has a harmonica accompanied by Ian Anderson style grunts. Half way through, a rich piano takes over with a change of mood and tempo that eventually returns to the earlier style and ends with an excellent frenzied guitar, bass and percussion.

We now come to "Magic Circle" and well, this is errr.........magical and brilliant and again is a change of direction with mandolins, acoustic guitars and occasional backing vocals and should be of utmost interest to people who love Tull's mandolin classics. This track is unmissable, especially at the end when hand claps and keyboards join the fray as they conjure up visions of May poles, Morris dancers and even the old master himself (Ian Anderson) twirling his flute. This is superb and original. It brought back memories of seeing the band Pyewackett in concert years ago.

"Maiden Voyage" begins with drums and an Aqualung type guitar then the vocals enter as the bass and guitar continue to thud. Occasionally Eastern flavoured keyboards enter and give this song an added depth. The eventual chorus of "She'll be down by the water" arrives with harmonious backing vocals and organ. Be warned, this chorus line is maddeningly brain sticking. I wake up in the middle of the night singing the damn thing. This moody and deep song ends with a frenzied but tuneful guitar and eventually leads into.....

"The Brook, The Mirror and The Maiden". This 9 minute monster of a song, which proves that this band has an original sound, is so rich and full of ideas it is compelling listening. It opens with monastic choristers singing, "She'll be down by the water" and then the glockenspiel enters. The male choir occasionally returns with excellent acoustic guitars floating in along with atmospheric noises in the background, then the keyboards take over. This is rather rich and symphonic and quite dramatic with mood, time and texture changes, then a soulful flute enters, again combined with the compulsory grunts. The vocals return with female choral effects in the background. This is an important piece of music. The orchestral section at the end (almost film score in its intensity) with chorals that are deep and rich, and so good, links into..........

"The Return Voyage". This opens with percussion, then an excellent heavy guitar enters with bass and drums and the occasional "She'll be down by the water" chants then it links into....

"Ghost Notes" is next with percussion, horses galloping, wind noises, chimes and a choppy beat from the wailing guitar that builds to a climatic ending.

"Masque of Shadows" opens with an excellent guitar solo (that frequently returns) which brings in the tuneful vocals. This is a supreme, melodic and excellent progressive track that has mood swings and energetic, frenzied guitars and is one of the best songs on this album.

This album ends with "Magic Dust" which is a romantic piano instrumental. Imagine yourself walking through a large mansion at night, you suddenly hear a dull dampened magical piano playing and you head towards it. You reach a door and open it and in the candlelight the piano's full impact hits you. You stand there in awe for 30 seconds listening to this marvelous sound then the pianist looks up and there's eye contact and he stops! Shame.

So there it is. What you have here is, on first hearing, an early Jethro Tull influenced album which soon begins to reveal its true colours i.e. the original spark and creativity of "The Brook, The Mirror And The Maiden", "Maiden Voyage", "Masque Of Shadows" etc. which are all just as good as, but different to, the master minstrel's compositions.

Every Tull fan should find true enjoyment in these tracks. The character of the band shines through these songs like a beacon and their live shows must be a visual experience not to be missed, which really is the secret of capturing and keeping your audience. Here's hoping this band stay around as their next one or two albums should launch them into the stratosphere.

This American progressive rock trio sounds like absolutely no other progressive rock band around today. They mix influences from such different 70's bands as Jethro Tull, Rush, Santana, Gentle Giant and prog-metal into their own unique sound with a medieval-sounding approach to the whole thing. The arrangements includes tons of cool instruments (flute, dulcimer, organ, glockenspiel, marimba, harmonica, mandolin, analog synths, theremin and melodihorn, most of them played by lead singer and bass-player Craig Herlihy). The guitar playing of Brian Herlihy (yes, they're brothers) is gutsy and hard rocking, but he also handles the soft, acoustic passages very well, just check out the medieval-styled instrumental "Magic Circle". The songwriting is very good and there's not a bad track on the album. "Black Tower" is a cool and rocking track with an early Santana-feel and some Gentle Giant-ish glockenspiel from drummer Brad Dillon. "Shape of a Dancer" is a complex track mostly inspired by funky 70's hard rock, but there are also symphonic progressive rock parts in it. And I think this is the real strength of Yoke Shire: their ability to make unusual and unexpected combinations of completely different styles. After all, I guess that's what progressive rock is really about and Yoke Shire does it in a very refreshing way full of surprises.

The centerpiece and highlight on the album is the trilogy of "Maiden Voyage", "The Brook, the Mirror and the Maiden" and "Return Voyage". These three tracks float into each other with a common theme, and it's an awesome combination of prog-metal and beautiful, atmospheric and symphonic medieval-parts stuffed with Tull-sounding flute. Fantastic! "Ghost Notes" is a short instrumental track that makes some wonderful medieval-atmosphere with the sound of a galloping horse (made on drums?) and some spooky sounds. The title-track is a good, melodic rocker that reminds me quite a lot of 70's Rush. The overall diversity and originality of this album is really impressive and any experienced progressive rock listener will enjoy Yoke Shire! By the way, it's also nice to see a new and present progressive rock band who actually knows what a progressive rock band should look like.

    Yoke Shire produces an album that touches upon virtually every possible music style that the 70's produced. Ranging from the power-chords of Deep Purple, the Latin feel of Santana, the vocal harmonies of Yes, the folkyness of Jethro Tull, the psychedelica of early Floyd and the subtle multi-layer keyboard harmonies of Camel (OK, 90's Camel).

     The sound of the songs on this album are rather rich in instrumentation and it is quite amazing that only three people are responsible for it, especially since all sounds are generated using "real" instruments …

     The album opens with a harmonica of some sort playing a medieval melody. This is a theme that pops up now and again on the album. Apparently there is some kind of structure between the songs, a concept, but although I realize it is there, I cannot tell you what it exactly is. Seems to be something medieval, though. The next song, "Black Tower" is a bit of a macho thing in the Deep Purple (In Rock) style, but influenced by Santana. Cool cat.

     "Shape Of A Dancer" continues this style, with a great slapped bass line under it and it varies nicely. "Magic Circle" has some medieval or even Middle Eastern style to it. Just a banjo-like instrument with keys and vocal harmonies playing this mystical tune, just to enter into a happy dancing song, with handclapping and flute.

     A deep slap bass beats the rhythm in the powerful opening of "Maiden Voyage", bit Threshold-like, though not as full. The middle section is a bit Yes-like...The last minute sees an interesting change and a violently soaring guitar sets in.

     And then it's time for the absolute highlight of the album, the very reason why it will get a high rating: "The Brook, The Mirror And The Maiden". Starting with only vocal harmonies, but really superbly done, it immediately grips attention. Well, there is no other way I can describe them except in terms of waveforms on keyboards: while some voices use a sine-wave setting (sounding "smooth"), the bass voice is "sawtooth" (sharp) giving a great effect. Then a Yes-like part follows, with marimba, vocal chanting and guitar. Slowly this climaxes and becomes more powerful, but still a calm mood is present. Then, after 5 minutes it dies away and a lonely flute, like a howling wolf, is played. This enters into one of the most beautiful melodic structures I have heard recently. Weaving sounds into each other, a Camel-like part, with the power, yet calmness of their latest release Rayaz, is reached. The song ends with a keyboard tapestry that should be enjoyed with the hifi-set at maximum volume. This flows into "Return Voyage", a short psychedelic experiment, but after a minute a powerful rock-theme is played...

     "Ghost Notes" is another short psychedelic experiment, with diverse creepy sounds. The last minute has guitars that sound like the beginning of the Formula-1 racing events on television. "Masque of Shadows" is a nice power-prog song with varied guitar work. "Magic Dust" is a nice little piano ballad that tops it off.

     In summary: tremendously varied album, combining the best of all worlds…the epic and the fore- and afterplay to it are high quality. The last part of "The Brook, the Mirror and the Maiden" has a melody that stuck in my mind for days and really moved me. And that should always be the criteria to judge music: it should move people…

Conclusion: 8.5 out of 10.

Take one third 70's progressive rock, had a little Santana, mix in some folk influences (ala Jethro Tull), and BANG!, you start to get somewhere near the sound Yoke Shire make… Opening up we get 50 seconds of medieval instrumental folk before "Black Tower" a guitar drenched number kicks in, and wow!!!, I'm off to musical heaven, now where is that "spot where we can smoke some grass"? The following 8 tracks, all have a similar air of mystical musical delight, "Magic Circle" takes the folk road, while the mainstay of this CD is track 6 "The Brook and the Mirror and the Maiden", (this runs together into track 5&7) and hold's the whole of this release together, being the classic progressive rock track, clocking in at over 15 minutes. Title track "Masque of Shadows", is another guitar laden rock track. Yoke Shire are a three piece from Boston USA, and claim no drum machines, sequencers or sampling were used on this release, just good old fashioned rock & roll. The use of many varied and interesting instruments (mandolin, flute, glockenspiel, marimba and more) gives more than an interesting direction. Lovers of hazy days of nearly 30 years ago might want to look over this one, great vibes all round, and at just over 40 minutes long this would have fitted onto a slab of vinyl just nice.