Yoke Shire: Still More "Masque of Shadows" Reviews

On "Masque of Shadows," the New England trio Yoke Shire spills out an intriguing collection of music that at first glance is part ZZ Top, part Jethro Tull, and even part Santana, but is in reality so much more. This is ambitious progressive music of the sort that blends disparate stylistic and instrumental ideas together, with a strong rock undercurrent. The four vocal pieces are greasy blues-rock which also incorporate adventurous twists in the arrangements, showing much more skill and sophistication than one might initially think. Around these are six delightful instrumentals that will surely appeal to most readers of Exposé, due to their high degree of invention and sheer entertainment value. Most of the strength of this disc has to be attributed to vocalist, chief songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Craig Herlihy, who is ably assisted by Brad Dillon on drums and assorted percussion and Brian Herlihy on guitars.

Overall, I'd have to give the primary influential nod to Tull, both in terms of the music as well as many of the trappings of the CD packaging, down to the pseudo romantic-era garb worn by the trio in their liner notes portrait. But whereas Tull in the late 70s could become too linear and stagnant, Yoke Shire dives much further into messing with arrangements and exploring creative textural and instrumental avenues…there's much to discover and enjoy here for prog fans of all stripes. Recommended.

I am impressed with the power trio Yoke Shire have put together. The music is maybe what I call folky progressive rock. Sorta like Jethro Tull meets Deep Purple with deep throaty vocals from singer (and producer) Craig Herlihy. I swear I can see the 70s in my head when I hear this album…it takes me back to some of the bands I heard as a youth. One thing that is very nice for an independent release is the good production, everything comes through crystal clear and no murky sounds to cloud it up. I liked the funk sounds of "Shape of A Dancer," nice bass to that one, I also dug the lengthy "The Brook, the Mirror, and the Maiden" which clocks in at nine and a half minutes, and the song called "Ghost Notes." This is a unique album to be hearing in the late nineties and is worthy of being checked out if you miss the classic Tull sound.

It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a band with as unique a music style as Yoke Shire. Can't compare it with anything. Mix Pink Floyd, Echolyn, Deep Purple and Santana (!) in a modern way. They have taken music styles from all over the world and created a very personal style. They have received great reviews everywhere and that's easy to understand. Great musicians and great performances by Brad Dillon and the two brothers Craig and Brian Herlihy. This CD is gonna spin a lot in my player during the near future.

Diverse heavy progressive rock with lots of influences. One of the best new bands I´ve heard in a long while, mixing more traditional prog with prog-metal. Add to this a little bit of funk and blues and what you have is a very unique blend and a really good album by any standards. Well played with rich instrumental variation and with strong compositions, this is an album that I would strongly recommend for those of you into bands like Dream Theater and Magellan. It´s a little less "heavy" though and therefore also recommended to more "traditional" progressive rock fans.

The tracks:

After the first short track "The Three Welcomes" which serves as an intro comes track number two, "Black Tower". It starts out with reoccurring guitar lines, distinct bass playing and drumming, and organ sounds. It has a slight blues/funk feel with a nice groove and the singing has a raw intense quality to it which fits perfectly. After about two minutes a guitar kicks in over the background which remains the same. The overall sound changes a bit and even more so after about three minutes when a harmonica is added as the guitar fades away. But the best is yet to come as the guitar returns and the track goes into Santana-mode. The last 45 seconds or so would make Carlos Santana proud, I kid you not!

The next track "Shape of A Dancer" is the first of the tracks which was also on the "A Foreshadowing" CD single. This is another very good track, alternating between heavy blues and funk and also with beautiful melodic keyboard work. The music just flows perfectly on this one. The guitars, the keyboards, the drumming and not least the really good bass work, it all helps make this an excellent track. Really tightly played.

"Magic Circle" is next. It opens with a mandolin and sparse drumming before the rest of the music fills in. It has almost a folk music feel to it with the mandolin the "handclapping" and the vocal harmonies. A feeling that get's even stronger towards the end when it's leaning towards folkdance. Yoke Shire shows great diversity here and the track is one of those that helps in making this the varied and interesting album it is.

Track number five, "Maiden Voyage" was the second track on the "A Foreshadowing" CD single and what a great track it is!! Starting of with a single bass line, drums and a raw pumping guitar as Craig Herlihy sings "what's been going on" this is probably my second favorite track on the album, in close competition mind you, with "Black Tower" and "Shape of A Dancer" which are not far behind. The best is yet to come though...

So far the music can best be described as heavy progressive rock with blues and funk influences. The tracks are really strong but what impresses me even more is the playing which is really good, with excellent driving bassplay which gives it a strong almost invincible aura as it just keeps pounding away. In saying this, the music is still delicate and quite complex at times with lots of dramatic changes.

The theme of "Maiden Voyage" is continued on "The Brook, The Mirror And The Maiden". This to me is the best track on the album, it has it all really, from the beautiful atmospheric yet slightly foreboding start of the track, "The Brook" part, which in its first four minutes is very grand and almost space rock-ish. The second part "The Mirror" has in part a Jethro Tull feeling to it with its suggestive flute sounds and later also a very symphonic dreamy sound overall. The last part, "The Maiden" goes back a little to the first part as it closes out this excellent piece of music. Really, really good stuff, and if you don´t appreciate this, then I guess there´s not much hope since it doesn´t come much better than this!!

The next track is one of the shorter tracks on the album, it´s an uptempo rocker and as the title "Return Voyage" suggests, this one also has close connections to "Maiden Voyage" and is basically just a continuation of that track.

"Ghost Notes" is also a two minute plus track. It starts of with the tingling sound of a glockenspiel and an acoustic guitar but with various sound effects, like "galloping horses", wailing winds and other ghostly echoes it creates a haunting atmosphere. Add slightly distorted echoing guitarplay and what you have is kind of a strange track which echoes of Porcupine Tree.

The title track is next and it´s another good track which shows once again the songwriting skills of this band. This track was written by Craig and Brian and it has a great hook to it, while still being unpredictable enough to always keep you interested and it is this, together with their musical skills, which really separates this album from the masses. For me the difference between good and really good is often the ability to make the simple sound complex, and the complex sound simple (did that make any sense to any of you!?) an ability which I think Yoke Shire has in abundance.

The last track "Magic Dust" is a short but beautiful piano track which closes out this great album all too soon.

Conclusion:

There´s not much more to say really, other than that this is a great album that should be apart of any collection and if you like more complex and challenging forms of progmetal then this is absolutely essential!! But there´s really something here for everyone (well almost everyone) whether you like progressive rock, progmetal, hardrock or blues you´re almost certain to find something you like on this album. From a progrockers perspective this is highly recommended!!! So what are you waiting for!?... Go get it!!

"The Brook, The Mirror And The Maiden": Plenty of diversity here, but always in a structured well-dosed way. This is how these songs should be written. To give you an idea: sanctified sounding choirs, bubbly keyboards (the Brook?), some eerie keyboards as well. The song conveys to me the darkness, dampness and quietness of a dark forest....

A very nice album...It seems the band has really thought well before recording and the result is to be admired...Well done.