SCARECROW ~ III.... review

 

Desert Psychlist sang loud in our praise of Scarecrow's debut album, the self-titled "Scarecrow", and our admiration for the band grew even stronger with the release of the excellent "Scarecrow II". Those albums saw the band mixing doom, proto-metal, prog and orchestral music together in ways other bands were just not attempting. Having not heard anything from the band for quite a while Desert Psychlist wondered if Scarecrow were still a going concern and had not disappeared into that ether that has swallowed up so many good bands over the years but then out of the blue we got a message from Artemis (vocals/flute/keys/oud/clarinet) that a new album was imminent and that it would be preceded by a brand new EP. "Golum" Unfortunately Desert Psychlist were unable to write up a review for "Golum" but we still desperately wanted to write something up for the bands new album when it dropped  That album, "Scarecrow III".(Scarecrow Records & Ritual Sound) has now landed and Artemis, along with Max (guitar); Elijah (bass) and Vadim (drums/percussion), will need to strap themselves in as we predict a lot of love coming their way for this absolute gem of a release.

"III" begins with "The Saffron Skies Overture" an eastern flavoured orchestral piece featuring the oud. a lute type stringed instrument. The piece starts very dramatic and almost doom-like but then morphs into this sweeping desert like soundscape that evokes images in the minds eye of endless dunes, imagery very much in keeping with the artwork that adorns this album. Its all change for next song "The Hymn", this is a stuttering proto-metal rocker over which Artemis' wails his vocals like the offspring of an unholy coupling between Rush's Geddy Lee and Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Max lays down seriously impressive lead, Vadim and Elijah anchoring the groove with  thunderous drumming and gritty bass, the song further enhanced by Artemis' swooning keyboard flourishes. There are quite a few songs gracing "III" that could be considered masterpieces in their field and the first of those is "Eastern Nightmare", this is a song no other band but Scarecrow could pull off , at times it has the feel of a Broadway musical at others it feels almost highbrow and operatic, there are passages that are blustering and heavy and other passages where the vibe is almost playful, its just mesmerising from start to finish. Following track "The Foe" is modern prog-metal but played with old school prog-rock panache while "Rising Sands" is part a heavy metal gallop and part an Arabic whirl, crunching power chords finding themselves sharing space with exotic eastern motifs and orchestral flourishes, mark this one down as masterpiece #2. The mood is melancholy and reflective for the languid and beautiful " Eternal Ones" but then shifts to soaring and torch-like for the excellent "The Turtle". Things get nicely bluesy and emotive for penultimate track "Saffron Skies" but bluesy and emotive with a dusky desert undercurrent. Final song "Scarecrow III The Suite" could easily pass for a movie soundtrack due to its expansive nature, the word journey is often bandied about far too much in music reviews but this instrumental DOES take you on a journey, a journey through sun bleached landscapes where traditional and modern instrumentation flits in and out of orchestral type arrangements over backdrops of exotic rhythms, this is most definitely masterpiece #3. 

  If blustering heavy rock, swaggering proto-metal and luscious prog light s afire beneath you and you are not afraid to occasionally dip your toes into more highbrow waters then you cannot go far wrong by giving Scarecrow's "III" a whirl, it will be a decision will not regret.

Check it out .... 

© 2024 Frazer Jones