GANDALF’S FIST

Road To Darkness NIGHTKEEPER PRODUCTIONS

Tenth anniversary celebration of the cult proggers’ best work.

When Gandalf’s Fist originally released this concept album in 2011, it was a bold, sweeping project that unfortunately fell slightly short of its ambitions. But here, Road To Darkness is effectively revamped. Not only has it been remixed and remastered, but much of what’s here has been reimagined, adding new sections to bring more cohesion to the project.

The album was recorded over one weekend by Dean Marsh and Luke Severn back into 2011. Several years later, they, together with the rest of their bandmates, had time to adjust things, releasing it on vinyl for the very first time. This re-upholstered version retains the eerie dreaminess of what was there first time around, but to this has been added more depth and maturity, and the music shines brightly from the moment the twisted No Place Cyclone opens up this space rock opera.

Famously, the album is the band’s interpretation of the famed L Frank Baum 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz. Put in a sci-fi setting, what this offers is sinister and spellbinding. The band nod towards Pink Floyd and The Dark Side Of The Moon on Emerald Eyes, while the disturbing Twilight At The Gates Of The Prism Moon is reminiscent of Igor Stravinsky. Elsewhere, there are elements drawn from the 70s prog worlds of Hawkwind and Gentle Giant, meshed in with the classical universes of Chopin and Ligeti, and occasional daubs of Jean-Michel Jarre are also detectable.

Gandalf’s Fist beautifully bind these disparate influences, ensuring uniformity and flow. There’s also a wacked-out humour running throughout, ensuring the album, for all its potential pretensions, is never stifling nor too highbrow. And where does it all end? Final track Assorted Lunatics hints this is all in the mind of someone locked in a padded cell and that adds an extra layer of unease.

Tweaking classic albums can sometimes smack of opportunism, but with Road To Darkness, Gandalf’s Fist have done themselves proud.