Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: IQ
Label: Giant Electric Pea
Release: 2014
Running time: 53:07
Rating: 4.5/5
After five years of impatient waiting by fans of this cult British neo-prog rock band, IQ are back with a new album called »The Road of Bones«, and you can tell the extremely dark nature of their latest studio effort right from the title. Gloomy, anxious ambient shades, mixed with often nihilistic and cynical lyrics from their brilliant vocalist Peter Nicholls, whose melancholic and mysterious voice is once again full of pain and disillusionment with a world inevitably racing toward the abyss, are nothing new for IQ. And yet »The Road of Bones« takes the mockery of humanity’s doomed rush down the ‘road of bones’ to the next level.
It’s worth mentioning that the IQ lineup has gone through quite a few changes since their previous studio album, »Frequencey« (2009). Mark Westworth (Darwin’s Radio) didn’t last long in the band, since the long shadow of original keyboardist Martin Orford hung over him, and quite a few IQ fans simply couldn’t be convinced he was a fitting replacement. The new IQ keys master is Neil Durant, a former member of the fusion outfit Sphere3, who pulled off his demanding task on »The Road of Bones« with flying colors, even though Orford still remains in a league of his own. The rhythm section has also been thoroughly overhauled since »Frequency«, with original drummer Paul Cook and original bassist Tim Esau both returning in the meantime. Esau last played with IQ in 1987 and replaced the cult bassist Jon Jowitt (Arena, Ark, ex-Jadis, ex-Frost*), who, after twenty years of successful collaboration, preferred to devote himself to other projects.
Since around 2000, IQ have needed a lot of time to record a new studio album, but their effort is usually richly rewarded. Those who enjoyed the very good »Frequency« but still felt something was missing, finding it not deep enough to count among the IQ classics, will get their fill on »The Road of Bones«, which may well be the darkest album in their history. From start to finish, the band never lets up in building a mighty, melodramatic atmosphere, with something anxious and sinister hanging in the air the whole time.
Besides Nicholls’ wonderful singing, which has always evoked Peter Gabriel (ex-Genesis) a bit, his excellent lyrics deserve praise yet again, often coming across as a dark, personal mirror of the modern era, where all values have become marketing tools and love is merely a marketing product. The one who keeps IQ from turning into too much of a classic-Genesis clone on »The Road of Bones« is above all guitarist, producer and main songwriter Mike Holmes, the only band member to appear on all their albums so far. With his simultaneously complex and punchy passages, which breathe freely between the orchestral arrangements, as well as his lively production, Holmes makes sure IQ don’t come across as just a modern version of classic Genesis.
»The Road of Bones« sucks the listener into a dark ambient abyss from the very first second, starting with the opening track »From The Outside In«, which opens with a searing guitar phrase and massive symphonic curtains draped over Nicholls’ melodramatic singing. Piercing guitar improvisations cut through the orchestral swells, while Peter’s vocals dissect a sick civilization from a distance, in the first person and with undisguised sarcasm. The instrumental section, with distorted effects and Mellotron swells, deepens the tense, dark atmosphere even further, and it will instantly floor all the longtime fans. IQ remain masters of slowly building extremely dramatic moods, where something enigmatic and unpredictable is always going on.
The title track opens with a longer symphonic intro in which Durant, with fragile piano arrangements and synth improvisations, proves he’s a true successor to Orford, while Nicholls takes a thoroughly theatrical approach to the vocals this time, faithfully backed by thickened bass lines and a colorful array of electronic percussion. A particularly ethereal effect kicks in when Peter’s voice climbs higher and is accompanied by massive Mellotron swells in the background. The fatalistic atmosphere erupts like a volcano when searing guitar passages and devastating drum fills crash in, backed by the wide symphonic walls of Durant’s synthesizer.
The nearly 20-minute symphonic-prog super-epic »Without Walls« opens with an unusually calm and soothing, almost balladic intro, where the pairing of Nicholls’ voice and symphonic embellishments slowly raises an ever more ethereal mood. Of course, all this doesn’t last long, so the (expected) shift into a dark, punchy section follows, where feisty guitar and keyboard improvisations take the lead while Peter’s singing gets a lot more biting and irritated. This epic creation, full of countless grandiose symphonic arrangements and complex time changes, with its distinctly dark and even chilling mood, will remind quite a few people of the epic classic »Harvest of Souls« from the album »Dark Matter« (2004), which until now was more or less considered their darkest achievement. Toward the end of this long symphonic carousel the dark clouds do finally clear and a beam of light shines through, thanks mostly to the closing epic arrangement and Peter’s somewhat more positive vocal approach, which still leaves a ray of hope for written-off humanity. On an album without a single weak moment, this epic treat, which will astonish even longtime fans who have ‘pretty much seen it all’, is certainly the highlight and a fine proof that IQ can still thrill with a super-epic of enviable ambient dimensions.
Sometimes it’s much harder to create a quality song that’s a bit more compact and, let’s say, simple, than a super-epic, but IQ don’t have any particular trouble with that either. »Ocean« is an interesting hybrid of a melodramatic, romantic power ballad and a symphonic-prog anthem, featuring almost classic IQ synth textures. Those sound like they came straight out of the eighties. That means all the longtime fans who’ve followed the band since the first half of the eighties will once again get their money’s worth.
»Until The End«, the closing track of the single/standard edition of »The Road of Bones«, is, as expected, the album’s big ambient climax, where IQ squeeze out all their best sonic virtues, with Nicholls’ vocals shining brightest, setting the stage right from the start for a tense journey through the most tangled and dark meanders of the human soul. Massive organ passages and sprawling synth curtains flow dynamically into fired-up guitar improvisations, while combative rhythmic shades keep the ambient air as stirred up as possible, and everyone who appreciates the best creations this cult neo-prog outfit has made so far will be satisfied. The triumphant, uplifting and epic finale will surprise quite a few people, especially given the overall gloomy nature of the lion’s share of this album, but the members of IQ, led by Nicholls, aren’t quite the nihilists they might seem at first glance, even though, together with the equally excellent Arena, they undoubtedly cultivate the darkest outlook in neo-prog.
And that’s far from the end of hanging out with IQ on »The Road of Bones«, since the bonus disc contains more than 45 minutes of extra music, with almost all the tracks fully on par in quality with the ‘regular’ part of the album. »Knucklehead« is soaked in electronic percussion and numerous digital samples on the synths, while richly layered Mellotron curtains slowly build a tense mood. Some of Holmes’ acoustic guitar is a welcome change alongside Peter’s singing, which once again delivers an utterly fatalistic and resigned lyric, while the Mellotron curtains in the background gradually take on downright chilling and sinister dimensions. »1312 Overture« is a complex instrumental drenched to the brim in sprawling synth improvisations, while cleverly timed drum fills radiate remarkable fusion-style boldness.
The epic masterpiece of enviable ambient dimensions called »Constellations«, which opens with an unexpected electronic intro, is fully on par in quality with the ‘regular’ part of the album (that is, the material on the first disc). Technical perfectionism, mixed with brilliant symphonic arrangements and vocal-lyrical theatricality, will once again enchant all the longtime fans. »Fall and Rise« features a superb instrumental intro with juicy bass lines and subtle drum fills across the cymbals, while Nicholls, with his vocal theatricality, once again conjures up exceptional ambient magic. Acoustic-guitar interludes in between add extra color to the ‘deep’, contemplative mood. The excellent »Ten Million Demons« stands out with its epic chorus, while mighty symphonic curtains dominate the background, deepening the sinister atmosphere in which Nicholls very successfully exorcises his inner demons.
At just under eleven minutes, »Hardcore« is one of two epics on the second/bonus disc and ranks among the darkest and most fatalistic moments on the double version of »The Road of Bones«. Nicholls’ strongly theatrical vocals, in the best Peter Gabriel tradition, ride on turbulent guitar passages and symphonic swells to build a melodramatic atmosphere nicely, one that mysterious shadows push their way through, and where mocking demons lurk in every dark corner like the bad conscience of morally notorious humankind. It’s interesting that IQ decided the material that didn’t make it onto the ‘regular’ part should come out as a bonus disc instead, and so it won’t be the second half of a single album, even though, as mentioned, it’s hardly any weaker in quality than the ‘regular’ standard.
»The Road of Bones« has everything IQ fans have been patiently waiting for over the last five years, so their excitement will know no bounds once they realize the neoprog masters have finally delivered a new studio masterpiece after all this time. With an almost classic lineup, missing only Orford, who this time is hardly missed, they’ve recorded an album of stunning ambient proportions that will shake every listener with even a shred of intellectual and spiritual sense from head to toe. At the same time, IQ have created so much new and, above all, interesting music that fans of their life and work will be able to enjoy repeated listens for a long time, right up until the next studio album comes out, which will most likely happen in about five years.
Lineup
Peter Nicholls – vocals
Mike Holmes – guitar
Neil Durant – keyboards
Tim Esau – bass guitar and bass pedals
Paul Cook – drums and percussion
Production
Michael Holmes
Track list
1. From the Outside In (7:24)
2. The Road of Bones (8:32)
3. Without Walls (19:15)
4. Ocean (5:55)
5. Until the End (12:00)
CD 2 (Bonus disc)
1. Knucklehead (8:10)
2. 1312 Overture (4:17)
3. Constellations (12:24)
4. Fall and Rise (7:10)
5. Ten Million Demons (6:10)
6. Hardcore (10:52)
