Label: Frontiers Music Srl.
Release date: 09.11.2018
Production: Gary Hughes
Rating: 9.0 / 10
The long-running British melodic hard rockers ten, who grew into a septet a while back and now field no fewer than three guitarists, put out the excellent album “Gothica” last year. It confirmed that three guitars, and the somewhat heavier sound that comes with them, are the lever Ten used to create an artistic extension of their own self-evolution. A minimal one, sure, but it counts. So the change isn’t drastic, which would surely have suited neither the band nor its fans. It’s just right, bringing a pleasant freshness to otherwise predictable songwriting templates. In fact, Ten haven’t changed stylistically since “Stormwarning”. You know in advance what you’re getting from Ten on a new album. And the new album “Illuminati” follows the vocabulary of its predecessor “Gothica” down to the last detail.
But does it also chase the same level of artistry (in terms of expressive quality) successfully? Whenever a band releases a very good album, the question comes up of whether its successor will be worthy of it. Artists can dodge this trap in different ways. Ten handle the situation by repackaging their long-proven, always-igniting musical recipe again and again, and serving it up fresh. They’re very good at recycling themselves. That recipe is theirs alone, and if you’ve mastered the craft, it guarantees success and keeps a solid fan base at your side, so there’s no sensible reason to stray from the formula. The nuances lie only in how the creative inspiration is channeled, and of course in the production.
Unfortunately, that means the album reviews end up sounding alike too, but never mind. “Illuminati” is quality personified, no doubt about it. Credible quality, too, because Ten are one of the few melodic hard rock bands that can boast their own, clearly defined, self-made vocabulary. Plenty of that originality naturally rests on the shoulders of main songwriter and band boss Gary Hughes, and on his vocal performance, with a voice you recognize instantly. So in the space of a single year, Gary Hughes is responsible for two excellent albums that are truly close in quality.
The new album “Illuminati” once again packs in a pile of little details that sneak into the bombastic arrangements. That’s how Gary Hughes and his crew prove that, despite the predictable, formulaic song structures, they’ve once more dug seriously deep into polishing and detailing the new music. The album carries a concept, the concept is once again wrapped in mystery, and once again Ten prove themselves incredibly skillful and daring tightrope walkers in the chosen theme, delivering a gripping, darkly melancholic yet hugely epic, at times almost solemn atmosphere. There are lots of added orchestrations in the arrangements, Celtic ornaments in the passages, and above all exceptionally good and varied guitar soloing that livens up the songs in the mid-eight sections. Idea-wise, “Illuminati” again delivers a pleasing range of compositional variety, and with the band’s cemented style, the album stays interesting and flows with high dynamism.
In short: it took Gary Hughes just one year to create an excellent new album, which proves the man is at the peak of his creative powers, especially considering that Ten are a band almost 30 years old, one you could say left their best years far behind them long ago. Fans of the band will be thrilled once again.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Be As You Are Forever
2. Shield Wall
3. The Esoteric Ocean
4. Jericho
5. Rosetta Stone
6. Illuminati
7. Heaven And The Holier-Than-Thou
8. Exile
9. Mephistopheles
10. Of Battles Lost And Won
Line-up:
Gary Hughes – vocals
Dann Rosingana – guitar
Steve Grocott – guitar
John Halliwell – guitar
Darrel Treece-Birch – keyboards
Steve McKenna – bass guitar
Max Yates – drums
