Detailed Reviews [25 Yard Screamer - 2019 - "Natural Satellite"]

Prolusion. UK band 25 Yard Screamer have been a going entity for just over 20 years at this point, and have released new material at a regular and steady pace ever since their first album "The Pictures Within" appeared back in 2003. At the time of writing they have eight albums to their name, with the most recent one appearing in 2022. "Natural Satellite" dates back to 2019, and was released through the label White Knight Records.

Analysis. While initially coming across as more of a neo-progressive rock band with a little bit of progressive metal spice, at least on this occasion I feel that the band have left those pastures behind for a bit and have chosen to explore a bit of a different landscape here. Still very much inside a progressive rock context, but now exploring territories a bit harder to define in an accurate manner. The songs here come with an ebb and flow structure, where the songs typically alternate between three different main variations. The majority of the compositions revolve around gentler landscapes with dampened, clean guitars and careful keyboard details operating as the backdrop for expressive and emotional lead vocals, the vocals alternating between a more delicate and more emotional and expressive manner in this setting. This phase will then switch over to a style that for me is best described as hard progressive rock, with hard and occasionally beefy guitar riffs becoming a dominating presence along with the intensity of the composition being increased a few notches. For the occasional third phase present the intensity is turned up a further notch or three, adding a bit of a metal bite to the hard progressive rock foundation. For my sake I find the harder edged parts of this album to be quite convincing, both when explored in a more dampened manner as well as when having a richer and beefier expression going on. The more careful landscape here is a bit more of a hit or miss affair though, as for me at least many of them come across as lacking a bit in nerve and tension, without having a hook, a striking contrast or subtle details with enough presence to add life to these passages. This is pleasant and pleasing music of course, but these gentler landscapes lack those additional tidbits that manage to elevate the listener experience up to a level where they also have captivating features. This is, obviously, a matter of subjective taste, and for those that have a major soft spot for the vocals of singer James I wouldn't be surprised if these calmer sections will be regarded as an album highlight. He is a good vocalist both in a progressive rock context and in general, but for me he doesn't quite have the qualities to carry as much of the song as he seems required to do when the band explores the gentler landscapes on this specific production. Some albums will be a case of subjective taste and opinion to a greater extent than others, and in my opinion this album is one of those where your personal taste in music will be a more important factor than in many other cases.

Conclusion. "Natural Satellite" is a production that explore the ebb and flow between gentle and careful landscapes with an atmospheric laden orientation and the more vibrant territories of hard progressive rock, with opening cut 'The Storyteller' perhaps being the most imaginative of these with these too extremes developing towards one another in terms of intensity. For the rest of the album we have more of a strict ebb and flow back and forth movement, or creations that have a bit more of a purebred exploration of either one or the other. Those who generally enjoy albums exploring this ebb and flow movement from gentler to harder arrangements, and generally enjoy such productions when the vocals are a vital element in carrying the calmer sections, this album should be well worth a listen.

Progmessor: January 2023
The Rating Room