Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Fish
Label: Chocolate Frog Records
Release date: 09.09.2013
Running time: 66:56
Rating: 3.5/5
Derek Dick, the charismatic Scottish giant, gardener, teller of peculiar and often harrowing stories, and former frontman of legendary prog rockers Marillion, known to the public far better by his stage name Fish, has woken from ‘hibernation’ after five years, the time that has passed since his previous effort »13th Star« (2008), and released his tenth studio album, »A Feast Of Consequences«.
In those five years Fish got married again (this time, by all accounts, far more successfully), parted ways with original guitarist Frank Usher after many years of more or less fruitful collaboration, and played a handful of live shows (mostly in northern and western Europe). Otherwise, his musical activity has been seriously scaled back in recent years, and plenty of fans had started wondering whether something was wrong with the Scottish vocal legend, since such a long rest wasn’t like him at all. As the early listens to the otherwise very solid »A Feast Of Consequences« show, though, his artistic streak has gone a bit flat this time, even if nobody expected yet another near-flawless piece of work in the vein of »13th Star«, which for many even stood as the magnum opus of his solo career.
After all this time, most admirers of the man and the work of this cult singer and lyricist would have expected »A Feast Of Consequences« to be bursting with fresh musical ideas, but let’s not forget that Frank Usher was always an important musical (co-)writer of some of the best compositions in Fish’s solo career, and his absence as a songwriter is felt on »A Feast Of Consequences«. Usher’s absence has been filled, with mixed results, by Fish’s old pals, such as new/old guitarist Robin Boult, longtime bassist Steve Vantsis, who also came back after leaving in 2008, and seasoned keyboardist Foss Patterson (ex-Camel).
Gavin Griffiths (ex-Karnataka) is back behind the drums too, while production was once again handled by Calum Malcolm (who has worked with Nazareth and Simple Minds, among others, during his producing career), who already proved himself on the rather gloomy »13th Star«. There’s absolutely nothing to fault on the production side, which is on par with Fish’s best solo records. The often effective female backing vocals come courtesy of Elisabeth Troy Antwi.
All of the above did a fine job on the instrumental and production side, but unfortunately it’s Fish himself who, on »A Feast Of Consequences« (a noticeably lighter and less inspired affair than its dark predecessor), falls a little short of expectations as a singer of such unique emotional range. This time he often has to lean on Troy Antwi, who, by the way, is a terrific singer too. The color of the ‘Fish’ voice is of course still recognizable from a mile away and no less charismatic than it used to be, but it’s technically more and more worn down by the ravages of time, so he steers clear of the high register at every opportunity. That wouldn’t even be a problem if his vocals hadn’t visibly been robbed of their former theatricality. At times he even sounds a bit tired, so you often miss that storyteller’s fire that could always be counted on to deliver unforgettable drama.
The first half of the album is somewhat weaker than the second, made up mostly of art-rock ‘hybrids’ and average (semi-)ballads that offer nothing new, nothing Fish hasn’t said countless times before, except that on some of these tracks he sounds far less emotionally invested than you’d expect. His backing band is excellent throughout, but way too many of the arrangements on the opening tracks are so generic and monotonous that it’s hard to talk about progressive rock in the true sense of the word. Until somewhere around the sixth track (the excellent »Crucifix Corner«), the album just doesn’t ‘budge’. The nearly 11-minute, properly stretched-out (quasi-)epic »Perfume River« could just as well have come out as a four-minute song, since rhythmically it sits in the same rhythmic key for most of its length and, apart from some fairly varied acoustic and synth embellishments, goes nowhere. Fish is merely average here, cautiously watchful at the start until around the midpoint, when a short electric guitar improvisation kicks in, signaling the end of the sluggish mood and more variety. Only then does Fish raise his voice a little and start to resemble his ‘good old days’ self.
»All Loved Up« is an average hard rocker that some Deep Purple type would probably have rearranged into an interesting single, while Fish, with overly straight-ahead rhythms and generic synth backing, never manages to conjure the drama you’d expect. »Blind To The Beautiful«, spiced with a Celtic flavor and with a backing singer helping him out on the chorus, is a rather predictable and cautious love ballad with pastoral acoustic guitar and positivity-tinged symphonic arrangements. The title track is one of the better moments on an album that is far from without its bright spots. It opens like yet another pastoral ballad with resolute acoustic guitar chords that build a pleasant melody, while Mr. Fish finally sounds a bit more energetic, just the way you’d expect him to. After the first stretch comes a dramatic flash of a shift into a more spirited and complex section.
The symphonic experiment »High Wood« opens with Fish’s declamation. Despite some lovely orchestral arrangements, punchy guitar passages and a fluid transformation from ballad into more energetic rocker, it sounds a bit dull, repetitive, even ‘cranky’. The second half of the album sounds markedly more inspired than the first. The aforementioned »Crucifix Corner«, despite its slow intro, is one of the peaks of »A Feast Of Consequences«, with Mr. Fish and company managing to create a prog-rock classic of grandiose proportions that ranks even among the best moments of the ‘Fish’ career. Fish once again sounds ‘just right’ and spits out mighty emotions that are in tune with the turbulent atmosphere and the majestic guitar-and-keyboard harmonies flowing through dynamic drum meanders.
»The Gathering«, gifted with a carnival-style intro, is a positivity-tinged pastoral power ballad that radiates Fish’s traditional Scottish patriotism and nostalgia through both its atmosphere and lyrics, and could easily become an anthem for the Scottish independence movement. With its distinctly dark mood and biting guitar phrases, »Thistle Alley« could easily have found a home on »13th Star«. On »The Leaving«, which features melancholic string arrangements, Fish once again turns to a narrative-flavored vocal technique. »The Other Side Of Me« is a pleasant pastoral ballad where, with plenty of help from the female vocals, you can especially feel that in his old age Fish, by all appearances, is turning with his vocal ‘storytelling’ more and more into a sort of Scottish version of Leonard Cohen. »The Greatest Unravelling«, yet another song with a slow intro and a thoroughly tried-and-tested sonic formula, impresses above all with ethereal Mellotron waves and dynamic guitar passages, while the vocal duets between Fish and Troy Antwi turn out quite well. It seems the Scottish hardman will lean on his backing singer more and more in the future, which is both good and bad.
A visibly weary Fish, with only the occasional flash of brilliance, wades through the full range of emotions his longtime fans have always taken for granted on »A Feast Of Consequences«, and does it rather listlessly this time. It’s far from a bad album, but with a bit more inspiration it could have been a lot better. The main problem is that there aren’t many songs on it that leave a lasting mark on the listener, the way Fish managed to do through most of his colorful career. The Scottish highlander also leans a little too heavily on reliable but overused sonic tricks from earlier albums. What’s glaringly obvious throughout is that, now that he’s finally become a happy family man, he’s lost the precious source of inspiration that lay in constant personal (above all romantic) frustrations, however cynical that may sound. Still, the release of any new Fish studio album is a special occasion for all fans of the romantic days of prog rock, and the faithful will, as they buy the album on his personal website and at gigs (it won’t be available in stores), be willing to cut ‘the Fish’ some slack this time.
Line-up
Fish – vocals
Robin Boult – guitar
Foss Paterson – keyboards
Steve Vantsis – bass guitar
Gavin Griffiths – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Liz Antwi – backing vocals
Aidan O’Rourke – violin, wind and string arrangements
Production
Calum Malcolm
Track list
1. Perfume River (10:58)
2. All Loved Up (5:07)
3. Blind To The Beautiful (5:12)
4. A Feast Of Consequences (4:29)
5. High Wood (5:26)
6. Crucifix Corner (7:25)
7. The Gathering (4:30)
8. Thistle Alley (6:08
9. The Leaving (4:59)
10. The Other Side Of Me (6:09)
11. The Great Unravelling (6:32)
