Spock's Beard
Noise Floor

Last chapter of the review trilogy titled “May 25, 2018.” I don't know if anyone else had the idea of doing a “review trilogy” on the web, and I don't even know if this can be considered a trilogy, I don't really care, but I'm finishing it anyway. On May 25, 2018, the thirteenth studio album by Spock’s Beard was released, a band significant for the progressive revival of the '90s, as well as for my own formation as a prog fan (like many, I imagine, we started with progressive metal, post-progressive, or modern neo-prog groups or prog-revival and then went backwards).

Of this triad of albums, I believe Spock’s Beard stands out victoriously, surpassing expectations (as with Arena and Subsignal, we mostly got confirmations). They already surprised with their 2015 work, with new ideas and sounds well-integrated into their classic style, and they do so again. In this “Noise Floor,” Spock’s Beard, contrary to what the title might suggest, reinvent themselves and rediscover a pleasantly and brilliantly melodic side. Not that they weren’t melodic before, quite the contrary, but here they have taken their melodic component and put it at the forefront, developing and enhancing it to the maximum, resulting in an absolutely stunning outcome. A stylistic choice that could somewhat remind one of the more introspective and catchy period of albums like “Octane” and “Spock’s Beard,” but here everything is brought to full bloom.

To achieve this, they obviously give up overly complex and dynamic tracks, opting for absolutely linear structures, slow or not particularly sustained rhythms, and extensively laid-back riffs, reducing virtuosity to what is necessary; and they achieve the result without ever straying into pop, which is very easy when structures are simplified; they also rely on a decidedly powerful weapon like Ted Leonard’s voice; I consider him one of my reference vocalists having first known him as the vocalist of Enchant and cheered when they chose him as the new singer in 2011; however, hearing him perform with Spock’s Beard, I kept wondering if he was truly giving his all with his new band; personally, I continue to find him more suitable for the more melodramatic sound of Enchant (I hope they decide to release a new album soon after the supposed farewell April Fool's joke launched on Facebook), but here, in his third work with the band, he proves to be a real asset, almost essential to giving the album that powerful and sunny melody.

Emblematic tracks of this approach are especially “What Becomes of Me,” with its brilliant piano-strings combo, and the predominantly acoustic “Somebody’s Home” with its strikingly bright refrain. These two tracks alone already offer an idea of the album's overall economy. There’s also a lot of simplicity in the darker “So This Is Life,” with its slow and dramatic progression led by the organ, almost in Van Der Graaf Generator style, but it might also recall “Us and Them” by Pink Floyd. The brilliant melody paradoxically plays the main role even when the rhythms become more sustained like in “To Breathe Another Day,” an energetic, straightforward AOR track in Kansas style with some hard touches in the chorus, having a very summery and convertible feel with hair in the wind (wind that blows bassist Dave Meros’s hair in the song's video, perhaps alluding to this?). Nevertheless, the melodies remain smooth and regular even when the length becomes more considerable, as in “Have We All Gone Crazy Yet” and “One So Wise”; the former is only moderately complex, the latter has just some bounces in the intro and an acceleration with an intense synth solo. However, there are indeed two notably dynamic tracks, namely the instrumental “Box of Spiders” (with its AOR-style synth intro) and the concluding “Beginnings,” endowed with a remarkable instrumental section.

Do not overlook the bonus EP titled “Cutting Room Floor,” featuring tracks from the album recording sessions, quite important to better understand the album's melodic nature; in fact, three of the four tracks are even simpler and more elemental than those on the main album, notably “Days We’ll Remember” with its very bright AOR melody in Styx style, yet here too there’s the lively instrumental deviating from everything else, named “Armageddon Nervous.”

Let’s not forget that this is the album where historic drummer Nick D’Virgilio reappears in the studio; he left the band in 2011, replaced full-time by historic tour member Jimmy Keegan, but now that Jimmy decided to leave the band, Nick takes back the drums without officially rejoining the band. Here he delivers a dignified performance that, however, doesn’t become decisive in the album's economy, nor does his technical prowess significantly stand out, but it’s not his fault; the album's calm style simply doesn’t spotlight his skills.

In conclusion, “Noise Floor” has been a truly pleasant surprise, the melodic exam is passed with full marks, and Spock’s Beard proves they still have much to say.