MARILLION: An Hour Before It's Dark (PROGRESSIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

By denouncing in particular the financial systems in "F.E.A.R.", Marillion had found a certain form of commitment that we had already seen in "Sounds That Can't Be Made" ('Gaza'). If the project of the new album was not originally centered on Covid, the pandemic which highlighted the flaws of the sanitary and even political systems, finally caught up with the inspiration of the English to end up with this new album "An Hour Before It's Dark".

With his sensitivity and experience, Marillion, as a witness of all these events, puts in music and shares his feelings. The album as a whole revives a dynamic and fluidity that had been somewhat forgotten in the previous releases. The band offers right away a title that bears its name well ('Be Hard On Yourself') in which the rhythmic becomes rougher with in the first roles Ian Mosley muscling his game helped by his sidekick Pete Trewavas with the roaring bass. In this rough vein, the track is inspired by 'Gaza' for its energetic movements. Throughout these almost ten minutes, Mark Kelly multiplies the textures and the atmospheres and Steve Rothery makes a work at the same time discrete and remarkable of feeling.

While one could have thought that everything was said at the first notes of 'Reprogram The Gen', it is not! After a few seconds of lull, the track proposes atmospheres approaching 'Afraid Of Sunlight' or the more nervous tracks of 'Brave'. And even if we find abrupt transitions such as the band likes them, we easily let ourselves be carried away by this impetus of which we didn't believe them capable anymore. Introduced by the anecdotal 'Only A Kiss', the hit of the album 'Murder Machine', luminous track, seems to create a transition with the second part of the album much more dense and calmed.

At this point, one could say that nothing has changed with Marillion, who only recycle their refined and sophisticated neo-progressive rock tinged with pop. If it is true that the band is in his comfort zone, we note in this second part a fluidity accentuated in the three long last tracks, accompanied by a form of modesty and British phlegm in this societal concept. 'The Crown And The Nightingale' surprises by being mostly whispered. Steven Hogarth shows a certain measure, accentuating a kind of dramatic tension that transpires from the track, thanks to keyboards with beautiful melodies and a guitar that fades away. From the darkness comes the light, with choirs that embellish the end of the song and introduce a heartbreaking electric solo.

'Sierra Leone' and 'Care' conclude this new album. At ten and fifteen minutes long, these compositions come here as if Marillion wanted to reassure the listener worried by the current situation with their music. 'Sierra Leone' is delicate in its construction and seems not to want to rush the listener. It reaches the emotional climax of 'Brave'. 'Care' is darker with its more electro textures and its diabolically effective riff in its first part. It alternates as often, moments of sensitive lull with luminous passages and an optimistic final.

With "An Hour Before It's Dark", Marillion delivers a fluid album while keeping its strong emotional DNA accentuated by the subject of the album. By its apparent simplicity, its general balance and its restraint, it could be one of the most touching albums of Marillion. - Official website

MARILLION

AN HOUR BEFORE IT'S DARK

EAR MUSIC

PROGRESSIVE ROCK