By John Sturm
Thank you Sander for tweeting me a link to a video for a song called ‘Yellowism’. It’s the juxtaposition of intricate progressive music and visual humour. Thank you Sander, for introducing me to The Safety Fire and their outstanding album Mouth Of Swords. It’s nice to know that at least one slot on my ‘Top Albums of 2013’ list has been taken without having to umm and ahh over it for weeks on end.
Formed in 2006 this second full length release from this talented 5-piece showcases a musical dexterity that will have the musos salivating and the folks in the pit wondering where the downbeat is. Progressive is a term much-bandied about these days with the “resurgence” of prog rock/metal as a musical form. What TSF (as all the cool kids call them *ahem – pops collar*) do is manage to blend technical guitar wizardry, intricate drumming and soaring vocals to create something heavy, melodic, technical, interesting and hummable. And it’s winning some high profile fans in the form of ex-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy who has offered the band a slot of the Progressive Nation at Sea festival in February 2014.
Album opener ‘Mouth Of Swords’ sets out TSF’s stall early on: the twin guitars of Joaquin Ardiles and Derya Nagle creating shards of discordant noise and finger numbing runs up and down the fret board. Alternating between bowl loosening low end riffing and eardrum piercing upper octave segments. Full marks to rhythm section members Lori Peri (Bass) and Calvin Smith (Drums) for not only anchoring the song together but also providing something interesting to listen to. These 4 player’s abilities to combine yet differ are astounding. And then there are the vocals of Sean McWeeney....
It’s easy to focus on the singer in a band. They, generally speaking, are the mouthpiece for the band, the one in the photos in the magazines, the one that the spotlight follows on stage. It’s easy to extol the virtues of a good set of pipes. Yes you have range. But what do you DO with that range. Allow Sean McWeeney to show you how to BE a singer first and foremost. This guy’s range is immense but what is even more impressive is his use of said range. He really is the 5th instrument in TSF. Whilst the rest of the band fly around him, pulling notes out of the air, McWeeney weaves in and out adding nuances that most singers don’t even consider. His performance in ‘Wise Hands’ is simply spellbinding. It’s tender and emotive and full of longing. Which he then destroys with throat scarring screams in the next track, ‘The Ghosts That Wait For Spring’. This almost schizophrenic attitude to music is embedded in this band most notably in ‘I Am Time, The Destroyer’ and album closer ‘Old Souls’. Riff after riff piles on top of each other only to collapse and reveal gently picked melodies that sooth. The sunlight after the storm.
But this is certainly not a one man show. The band combine together (at times you feel that they are balancing on a knife edge between playing together and playing different sings altogether) to produce so music that is equal parts tender and evocative and then aggressive and demanding that you bang you head and raise your fists. There is light and shade and peaks and troughs. What makes this album even more bloody impressive is that the visual side of the band and their general outlook on things is far from serious. In evidence I submit the video for ‘Yellowism’ and the answers to our questions. You get the impression that the music is taken seriously.... but not that seriously. As it should be.
This is an album of stunning breadth and emotion. There is not a bad track on this album, each one worming its way into your brain setting up a tent, lighting a camp fire and warming a tin of beans. It’s aggressive, delicate and blends 5 disparate sounds together that results in one of the finest albums released in 2013.
