MARCHING MIND — Marching Mind (review)

MARCHING MIND — Marching Mind album cover

Album · 2010 · Progressive Metal

4/5 · 2012-05-23
UMUR

"Marching Mind" is the self-titled debut full-length studio album by Canadian, Vancouver based progressive rock/metal act Marching Mind. The album was released through Baby.Com/Indys in November 2009. Jeremy "Diebux" Tardif (vocals, keyboards) and Chris Neal (Guitar) met in 2005 and wrote songs and played together in another band, but after that band split-up, it took a couple of years before the two met again. When they did, it was with a renewed enthusiasm and they wrote enough material for a full album before recruiting Will Goodall (bass) and Sebastian Leger (drums) to complete the lineup and record "Marching Mind".

The music on the album is alternative/progressive rock/metal which certainly don´t deny the band´s Candadian musical heritage but don´t plagerize it either. We´re talking influcences from especially early 90s Voivod (their alternative/progressive period), post 2000 Voivod and late 70s/early 80s and mid- to late 90s Rush, but Marching Mind expands on those influences and have created a sound of their own. For example I´d mention a band like Pearl Jam as an influence too. There is something about the vocal lines and occasionally also the way Jeremy Tardif sings that remind me of the latter mentioned act. Because of the sci-fi themed lyrics and cover artwork it´s probably Voivod I´m mostly reminded of though.

The music is predominantly guitar driven but with a fusion influenced rythmic foundation. Besides the memorable vocal lines and strong vocal performance by Jeremy Tardif, which provides melodic texture to the music, there is also occasional use of keyboards in the music. Sometimes it´s piano, like it´s the case in "Mission", and sometimes it´s more spacy sounding synths which are used. No matter what type of piano/keyboard og synth sound are used they are always incorporated in a very tasteful way. This is by no means a keyboard dominated album but their presence add an extra dimension to the music that´s greatly enjoyable.

The 52:01 minutes long album features 10 tracks of intriguing and well written progressive rock/metal and while my initial listen didn´t reveal it, repeated listens have revealed great songwriting depth and variation too. Tracks like the dark and haunting "Mission" and the beautiful closing track "Awakening" bring diversity and flow to the album while tracks like "Data Complex", "The Harbinger" and "Luminous Descent" both challenge me and also have emotional impact on me. I admire the way Marching Mind strike the fine balance between complexity and immediancy/accessibility. It´s not as easy as it may sound.

Featuring a rich, warm and organic sound production the album comes off as highly professional and I´m actually quite impressed by how well sounding the album is considering the fact that this is a debut album by a relatively unknown act.

"Marching Mind" is upon conclusion a great album in almost every aspect. Professional and well sounding production, strong musicianship and intriguing compositions. The fact that it´s a debut album only further enhances my admiration for the band. Few are able to produce albums this strong in their first try. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is fully deserved.