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░ ██ ██ Artist: Dec Burke ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Book of Secrets █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2016 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2017-04-16 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Progressive Rock ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: Festival Music ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ The seemingly innocuous appearance of Barack █
█ ObamaÆs voice at the start of Another Hope is a █
█ pivotal and profoundly brilliant seminal moment █
█ for this exceptional third solo album from Dec █
█ Burke. Taken from his New Hampshire primary speech █
█ in 2008, ObamaÆs calm confidence and quiet █
█ authority exhorts a reassuring call for hope, self █
█ belief, courage and optimism at a time when things █
█ seem dark, chaotic and hopeless: █
█ ôWe can disagree without being disagreeable, [we] █
█ understand that, if we mobilize our voices to █
█ challenge the money and influence that stood in █
█ our way and challenge ourselves to reach for █
█ something better, there is no problem we cannot █
█ solve, there is no destiny that we cannot fulfil.ö █
█ Spoken at a time when he was still a Senator, they █
█ are inspiring words which are powerfully █
█ prophetic. Coming at the start of this particular █
█ track, which in turn is placed at just over the █
█ half way point of an eight track album, they come █
█ remarkably close to defining the fiercely █
█ intelligent and highly perceptive message being █
█ relayed throughout Book of Secrets. █
█ The album is boundlessly energetic, █
█ unapologetically direct and infused with a strong █
█ rock-oriented power, drive and focus. There is a █
█ commanding and cheerfully infectious conviction to █
█ the music which provides a sweeping sense of █
█ urgency and pressing immediacy. The songs are █
█ incisive, vigorous and spaciously dynamic, █
█ radiating a busy sense of character whilst also █
█ conveying serenity and poise. █
█ At the heart of it all, Burke treads a conflicted █
█ path between optimism and an ever present air of █
█ frustration and even pessimism. The album superbly █
█ captures the sparkling exuberance of enthusiastic █
█ belief in the future with the restrained and █
█ quieter reflections of self-doubt and the █
█ pragmatic understanding that things donÆt always █
█ work out for the best. Life is beautiful, the █
█ world is a wonderful place to be, the future is █
█ rich with possibilities; but things are not █
█ necessarily what they appear to be, hope is hard █
█ won but easily lost, and all our intensity and █
█ passion stand forever on the edge of collapse. █
█ Book of Secrets is a hymn, an ode to precarious █
█ balance, to tipping points, to the momentum of the █
█ pendulum when it reaches mid-point between joy and █
█ despair. The music is an equally diverse mixture █
█ of styles, moods and competing instrumental █
█ emphases. Unlike his previous releases, Burke █
█ seems to have decided to let the guitar, rather █
█ than the keyboards, be the primary lead in █
█ providing drive and impetus to the song writing. █
█ The difference is immediately noticeable and █
█ hugely impressive, not just in the lively and █
█ industrious spirit it brings to each track but █
█ also in the sheer inventiveness and technical █
█ brilliance of some of the solos he conjures up. █
█ Kristoffer Gildenl÷wÆs bass work is the perfect █
█ match for each mood, lively and nimble on the more █
█ boisterous tracks, but also providing a █
█ melancholic and lingering depth where required. █
█ The scintillating keyboards of Carl Westholm surge █
█ and swell in accordance with the mood, filling the █
█ sound stage one minute, falling away to become █
█ isolated and refined the next. Steve Hughes on █
█ drums is buoyant, pulsating, driving out the █
█ rhythms, blending aggression with deftness and █
█ subtlety of touch. █
█ Such distinctive virtuosity is matched by the █
█ bustling diversity of the songs. Reflection opens █
█ with the ominous sound of rolling thunder, an █
█ almost tribalistic drum beat emerging from the █
█ empty space, punctuated by a piercing electric █
█ guitar creating a distorted presence in the █
█ soundscape before they all come to a halt and a █
█ heavy drum and crunching guitar beat sets up a █
█ piano riff repeated throughout the track, offset █
█ with an urgent, pleading harmonic vocal. Beautiful █
█ layering sets up lyrical poignancy in urging a █
█ time for thought and contemplation. █
█ After a floaty, dreamy acoustic-driven intro, Hate █
█ and Lies segues, via the sound of police sirens, █
█ to a frenetic, throbbing hard rock rhythm and █
█ chorus, built on punctuated, forceful drumming and █
█ overlaid with rumbling banks of keyboards ending █
█ in the returning sound of approaching thunder. The █
█ storm carries us into The Sun Will Rise which █
█ musically, and lyrically, brings us full circle to █
█ where the album starts; an exhausting journey █
█ ending with strummed guitars and a melodic vocal █
█ calling for hope, courage and belief before █
█ becoming shrouded once more in the sound of █
█ thunder. █
█ In between we encounter the enjoyably anthemic █
█ Take and a chilled, languid piano-led ballad in █
█ the form of Intervals. This is the sheer joy of █
█ listening to progressive music when it has been so █
█ carefully conceived and delightfully crafted. A █
█ lot of time has been lavished on all aspects of █
█ getting this ærightÆ. As a result, Book of Secrets █
█ is a magnificent and hugely impressive █
█ achievement. The album brims with invention and █
█ imagination, whilst repeated listens are rewarded █
█ with new insights and a deepening appreciation of █
█ the musical excellence on offer. Highly █
█ recommended. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. Reflections 6:16 ░
░ 2. Everlasting 4:08 ░
░ 3. Take 5:23 ░
░ 4. As High as the Sun 5:01 ░
░ 5. Another Hope 4:49 ░
░ 6. Intervals 4:50 ░
░ 7. Hate & Lies 5:28 ░
░ 8. The Sun Will Rise 3:59 ░
░ 39:54 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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