Saturday 10 January 2015

The Road of Bones (IQ, 2014)

I really liked IQ's album "The Road of Bones" since I first listened to it. And I think its title track is one of the best songs in it. It's a perfect case of prog rock crescendo, coming out of a dark, scary mood and rising up to a full, energetic wall of sound. Peter Nicholls' voice leads this course, bringing out one of the best vocal performances in the band's history, from the softer tone to the most powerful singing. The rythm section also offers a remarkable contribution, including broken tempos matching with some intriguing Eastern xylophone effects.

"The Road of Bones" is IQ's eleventh studio album.

The lyrics are also gloomy, as they provide an inside look on a serial killer's life and feelings. That's why the crescendo here isn't a mere question of style, as it stresses the psycopath's perverse story:

The shadow crossed my face
All the features came to waste
Shallow graves I mark with stones
As I walk for the road of bones.

And when the wall of sound, the distorted guitars, the bombastic keys and all the rest come in, the listener actually sees the man going along his morbid path. Another magic and progressive spell.

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