Dangerdog Music Reviews :: © 1999 - 2024 Craig S Hartranft :: All Rights Reserved
No part of this this website, including design and music reviews,
may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
- New Music Reviews
- |
- Archives
- |
- News
- |
- Submissions
- |
- About
- |
- |
New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
Recent Reviews
December 2024
- After Lapse: Pathways
- Illusion Force: Halfana
- Powell-Payne: Voilá
November 2024
- Sunstorm: Restless Fight
- Storace: Crossfire
- Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
- Lionville: Supernatural
- Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
- Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
- Lonerider: Down In The Dust
- Seventh Crystal: Entity
- Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
- Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
- Impellitteri: War Machine
- Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter
October 2024
- Casandra's Crossing: Garden Of Earthly Delights
- DGM: Endless
- Daytona: Garder la Flamme
- Fate: Reconnect 'N Ignite
- Frost*: Life In The Wires
- Aries Descendant: From The Ashes Of Deceit
- Fans Of The Dark: Video
- Radioactive: Reset
- House Of Lords: Full Tilt Overdrive
- Cleanbreak: We Are The Fire
September 2024
- Sinner's Blood: Dark Horizons
- Serious Black: Rise Of Akhenaton
- Eclipse: Megalomanium II
- SteelCity: Reverence
- Hydra: ReHydrated
- Heartwind: III
- Gabrielle De Val and the Dragonlords: Tiger
- Find Me: Nightbound
- The Nail: The Nail
- Timeless Fairytale: A Story To Tell
- Stryper: When We Were Kings
- Phil Mogg: Moggs Motel
- Pure Reason Revolution: Coming Up To Consciousness
- Jordan Rudess: Permission To Fly
August 2024
- Siege Perilous: Creation's Call EP
- Paralydium: Universe Calls
- Mike Tramp: Songs Of White Lion Vol. II
- Bite The Bullet: Looking For Paradise
- All For Metal: Gods Of Metal (Year Of The Dragon)
- Hammerfall: Avenge The Fallen
- Jim Peterik & World Stage: Roots & Shoots Vol. 2
Touchstone: Oceans Of Time
Touchstone: Oceans Of Time
Melodic/Progressive Rock
4.5/5.0
Website
Facebook
Hear No Evil / Cherry Red Records
by Craig Hartranft
10.02.2013
Returning once more to confound listeners and music reviewers alike, such as yours truly, with their ever evolving and pleasing neo-prog is England's Touchstone with their fourth long player, Oceans Of Time. Dare say, for their benefit, it's hard to pigeonhole Touchstone's sound. Is it hard rock? AOR? Progressive rock? Yes and then some, and it's not necessarily all that confounding really.
Touchstone: oceans of gray.
However, I might say that Oceans Of Time could be their most 'proggy' album to date. If anything, the songs are quite varied, visiting old territory and exploring the new. Touchstone also returns to some familiar themes. The title track continues the Wintercoast story, and Shadow's End wraps up the Shadows trilogy begun on Discordant Dreams.
These songs are also good examples of the strong progressive nature of the album, with Touchstone throwing curves to your ears. Yet Oceans Of Time will also sound more like familiar Touchstone as well. The musical canvas is quite grand lavished with layers of instrumentation, notably Hodgson's guitar and Cottingham's keyboards. Flux is another fine example of Touchstone's exotic musical brew. It's got some hard rock chops mixed with the prog, and then, about the three minute mark, it calms down. Synths stir, then Kim Seviour's vocals arrive, and the arrangement swells to sweet crescendo. It's one of best moments of the album.
Other highlights include the bass and drum lines of Contact, a moody piece where Seviour's voice is alluring and graceful; the clever drumming within Fragments, possibly the closest thing to straight melodic rock song here; and, Spirit of the Age, a song with balancing lighter moments with heavier ones, and Seviour at her most sublime. Touchstone is band that keeps evolving and getting better, and so is always interesting and entertaining. Oceans Of Time is well recommended.
Tweet
Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.
In Short
Touchstone is band that keeps evolving and getting better, and so is always interesting and entertaining. Oceans Of Time is well recommended.
Find A Review
Alphabetical Index
New & Notable
The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]