*. Glass Hammer .*

Album: Perilous (2012)
Genre: Prog Rock (Symphonic Prog)  /  USA

"Perilous" would be the third release for Glass Hammer with their current lineup of Steve Babb, Fred Schendel, Alan Shikoh and Jon Davison. The previous two releases, "If" and "Cor Cordium" could've been part of a two disc set due to their similarity which is not a bad thing at all considering "If", in my opinion, ranks up there with the best of any prog. album released and "Cor Cordium" following closely behind. Would "Perilous" create a trilogy and follow the first two or be something different? To say it's "something different" is an understatement. Glass Hammer managed to create, within a year following "Cor Cordium", a masterpiece concept album that stands on its own. "Perilous" is the mother of concept albums that immediately sets the mood in the artwork. Iron gates crack open spilling fog while an inviting but sinister character invites you through to the unknown. The song titles cleverly sum up the story within in the form of a poem. We are told "time is the gatekeeper" which means what is beyond the gate is that which is beyond time itself; the crossing from life to death and, as we eventually discover, to life eternal. It tells the story of two people taking the perilous journey through the gate, running wildly, hounded by the dark shapes and shadows beyond until at last they fall. The fearful journey turns to joy as their one true Hope is realized. If the artwork, song titles and story form the shell, it is the music that breathes life into it all. Glass Hammer has truly outdone themselves musically in this one. If I was skeptical of the idea that the whole album is one song in thirteen parts, that skepticism was tossed away after my first listen. This an album that, to be truly appreciated, should be listened to as one piece. It is like listening to a Broadway play in thirteen acts where the audience is taken on a ride of high frantic energy (Beyond They Dwell, Our Foe Revealed) and calming lows (The Years Were Sped, We Fell at Last), haunting sadness (We Slept We Dreamed, In That Lonely Place) and exuberant joy (Where Sorrows Died and Came No More) that when the curtain closes you want to stand to your feet in applause at what you've just witnessed. This is progressive rock at its finest. And while this has retro prog elements and only hints at some of progs greatest bands who have come before, make no mistake, this is pure Glass Hammer in their own right and sound. While some have said they've nodded too much to the past in the previous two releases, I see this release as nothing but forward momentum creating something unique that deserves its rightful place as a true prog masterpiece. 
Review by "chaines" (www.amazon.com).

RATING:  8.75 / 10   **MARVELLOUS**

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