Self-released
Release date: September 18, 2013
Produced by: Dean Marsh
Album length: 55.46 min
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rating: 9.5/10
English prog band Gandalf’s Fist, which started out in 2005 as a joint project between guitarist/keyboardist Dean Marsh and singer Luke Severn, earned a well-deserved international breakthrough with their fourth studio album, the conceptual treat “A Day in the Life of a Unversal Wanderer” (2013). It took them from an interesting, talented but obscure duo to one of the leading acts of the modern prog rock scene, one that later pulled in plenty of well-known names to collaborate, like John Mitchell (Arena, It Bites), Clive Nolan (Pendragon, Arena), Dave Oberle (Gryphon), Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon), Troy Donockley (Nightwish) and Blaze Bayley (ex-Iron Maiden). Gandalf’s Fist’s music is easiest to describe as a hybrid of symphonic prog and space rock with occasional psychedelic, hard rock and folk rock touches. Both Marsh and Severn grew up on the NWOBHM scene and prog rock legends like King Crimson and Pink Floyd, and you can hear it in Gandalf’s Fist’s music all the time, even though prog metal elements are pretty rare.
The lion’s share of their discography is made up of concept albums, and “A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer” was no exception. It was also a major turning point in Gandalf’s Fist history. In 2013 they stopped being a duo when German drummer Stefan Hepe and bassist Christopher Ewen joined, which let Marsh focus fully on guitar, keyboards and backing vocals.
That same year they also brought in a number of guest female singers. Since then, male-female vocal harmonies have become one of their trademarks, which led some people to compare them to Ayreon, though that’s a much more metal-leaning collective for the most part. Where Ayreon mostly stick to more “classic” science fiction in their lyrics and concepts, Gandalf’s Fist built their own imaginary world, one that draws heavily on the steampunk subgenre of sci-fi. It’s known for mixing elements of futurism and the Victorian era (and, more rarely, the Wild West), which makes it a very English subgenre for the most part.
The concept behind “A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer” is fairly similar to the one on both parts of the Ayreon masterpiece “Universal Migrator”, but overall it’s much simpler. It’s about a mysterious, mystical entity from the 26th century, known as the Universal Wanderer, who travels across different galaxies. His journeys run from the birth of existence all the way to its end. One day an abandoned space station picks up a signal of his presence, and the cosmic jam through the universe can begin.
Like any proper concept record, “A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer” has a short intro with narration, though it wasn’t voiced by some famous English actor, since the band still had a pretty low profile back then. All of the band’s strengths shine through on the dark epic “The Nine Billion Names of God”, which packs plenty of interesting time changes, well-placed acoustic arrangements and epic male-female vocal harmonies. “Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet” tells you from the title alone that there are some psychedelic bits in there, even though it’s a classic symphonic prog epic with a mighty, multi-layered, nostalgia-tinged chorus that the Gandalf’s Fist guys absolutely nailed.
“Somewhere Beyond the Stars” is a romantic, piano-driven ballad with a guest female vocalist, a kind of calm before the storm ahead of the pompous, complex “Orphans of the Sky”, where tougher guitar passages rule, as on most of the other tracks. “Maze of Corridors” is a touch overloaded with narration, but you can really enjoy its outstanding rhythmic interplay, mighty time changes and yet another successful chorus. “A Universal Wanderer”, with its nostalgic chorus and epic harmonies, is one of the album’s highlights, while on “Nexus” the harmonious swapping between dark and bright ambient shades works great, helped along by a well-judged trade-off between male and female vocals.
“North of the Wall”, which in the concept depicts one of the Universal Wanderer’s historical stops, is a short but atmospherically rich track. “The Battle of Tannhäuser Gate”, whose title refers to the famous monologue from the film “Blade Runner”, features colorful acoustic and string arrangements. The result of bringing in folk rock elements and mixing them with orchestration is a convincing shift between futuristic and rustic-nostalgic moods. The album closes strong with the epic space rock masterpiece “The Wanderer Goes South”, which wins you over right from its witty opening section, ruled by guest whistle arrangements. At times on this one you can hear that Marsh and Severn were clearly familiar with some of the solo work of prog rock “guru” Steven Wilson while making this album.
The ambitious “A Day in the Life of a Universal Wanderer”, which got a special reissue in 2017, still rightly counts as something of a magnum opus for Gandalf’s Fist, the record that made them one of the most important and most interesting acts of the modern prog rock scene for good. If you swear by the English “school” of prog rock and aren’t bothered by the slightly “nerdy” band name, the result of an old drinking joke between Marsh and Severn, two properly “nerdy” fans of Tolkien’s works who made a bet on which band name would charm one of their female acquaintances the most, you’ll enjoy most of the Gandalf’s Fist albums so far like you haven’t in a long time.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Another Night on the Far Side of the Universe (1:33)
2. The Nine Billion Names of God (7:59)
3. Stowaway to the Mushroom Planet (4:09)
4. Somewhere Beyond the Stars (4:25)
5. The Orphans of the Sky (7:02)
6. Maze of Corridors (4:18)
7. A Universal Wanderer (4:31)
8. Nexus (4:41)
9. North of the Wall (3:07)
10. The Battle for Tannhäuser Gate (5:11)
11. The Wanderer Goes South (8:50)
Lineup:
Luke Severn – vocals on track 8, backing vocals, narration
Dean Marsh – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, synthesizers, composer
Stefan Hepe – drums, percussion
Guest musicians:
Melissa Hollick – vocals, backing vocals
Dying Seed – vocals
Jennifer Pederson – vocals
Beccie Watson – vocals
Mark Benton – narration
Alicia Marsh – narration
Andy Bolper – saxophone on track 2
Natasha Jaffe – cello on track 9
Davor Busic – flute on track 9
Suzanne Weller – flute on track 11
William Stewart – violin on track 10
