Artist : Gandalf’s Fist

Album : The Clockwork Prologue

Release Date : 01-07-2019

Added : 27-09-2019

With its three hours and a quarter in 3 CDs of 'The Clockwork Fable' released in 2016 (see here), I had trouble getting into the world of 'Cogtopolis' (city plunged in darkness for centuries and whose inhabitants sought to find the light of the sun), certainly due to the length of the artwork and perhaps also due to enough long narrated parts (not easy for a Frenchman to follow). 2019 sees the Englishs of 'Gandalf's Fist' release 2 new CDs that do not fit in the sequel to 'The Clokwork Fable' but which contains I quote 'Dean Marsh', 'a musical extension of the previous in the same way of the manufacturers video games that introduce new levels in a game that the public has enjoyed'. For me, 'The Clockwork Prologue' was a good way to get into this story with compositions that appeared to me more accessible and, inevitably, this can only make you want to dive back into the first 3 CDs. The listener is immersed in the story without any pause, the narrated parts alternating with musical compositions in a progressive style and for this last baby, 2 newcomers complete the already long list of the various artists, the singer 'Keri Farish' and keyboardist 'Ben Bell'; regarding 'Keri Farish', she illuminates with her clear and warm voice several compositions where her singing transmits a real emotion like in 'The Clockmaker' or in 'Solar Huntress'. Overall, whatever the style that oscillates between folk, rock and hard-rock, the musical parts have beautiful melodic lines that become accustomed very quickly. And if it were necessary to retain only a few titles, I will first mention the two major titles 'The Lamplighter (Overture)' which with its 15 minutes offer a typical title of a progressive and sought after varied, then of course 'The Clockmaker' which is my crush of the album but also compositions like 'Leader of Men' which in a 70s hard-rock atmosphere has some reminiscent of 'Uriah Heep' or 'Blackening' which is a kind of mixture between 'Deep Purple' and 'Black Sabbath' with a Hammond organ that takes us a few decades back. In short, with 'The Clockwork Prologue', the Englishs of 'Gandalf's Fist' released a double album that will fill once again all those who liked 'The Clockwork Fable' and is intended for a public loving a melodic progressive with various influences and who enjoys following a story with long narratives...

Line Up / Musicians

Dean Marsh (Guitar, Mandolin, Keybords, Mandole, Bass, Vocal), Keri Farish (Vocal), Ben Bell (Piano, Hammond, Keybords, Bass Organ, Guitar), Stefan Hepe (Drums, Percussions), Christopher Ewen (Bass), Luke Severn (Tubular Bells, Flute), William Stewart (Violin) + Vocal : Dean Marsh, Luke Severn, Ben Bell, Melissa Hollick + Acteurs : Mark Benton, Tim Munro, Alicia Marsh, Bill Fellows, Paul Kavanagh, Keri Farish, Christopher Ewen, Ben Bell, Rafferty Marsh