Detailed Reviews [TCP - 2016 - "Temporal Chaos"]

Prolusion. US band TCP was formed back in 2008, when fellow musicians Tarnecky, Tobias and Wright encountered one another on the internet. This formative threesome decided to have a go at a studio-based band, and over time this has resulted in three studio albums. "Temporal Chaos" is the most recent of these, and was released in 2016.

Analysis. First and foremost, this album may well be the swan song of this fine band, as founding member and the band's main lyricist Henry Tarnecky passed away in the spring of 2018. What will happen to the band is obviously unknown at this point, but when core members suddenly pass away it will at least more often than not lead to the demise of a band one way or another. But if this is TCP's swan song, it is a good one. We are dealing with a band here that has an eclectic approach to the art of creating progressive rock. A band well aware of the golden era of the genre as well as the revival in the 80's, and they tend to alternate between those traditions in a most elegant manner. They also appear to get some joy in combining elements from different traditions and eras into their material, one of those details that will leave reviewers scratching their heads a bit and will make ardent fans of one era or the other or die hard aficionados of certain traditions react in funny ways. That the band explore such boundary crossings in an elegant and compelling manner the icing of the cake, at least for those who appreciate quality music crafted by quality musicians. Hence we have an album that contains nods to both Pink Floyd and King Crimson, Genesis and Marillion, as well as other and less known artists that have explored the progressive rock pathways in the 70's and 80's in particular. Expressive rhythms and Frippian guitar details coexist quite nicely with atmospheric laden neo-progressive arrangements and the dark, warm landscapes of later day Pink Floyd and their ilk. Art rock of the kind hard to categorize and pigeonhole into any subset of the progressive rock genre live quite happily alongside sections with more of a symphonic progressive rock orientation. Albums like this can come across as creative statements, made with a high degree of artistic intent. In this case that may well be the case too, but this is also a band that hasn't forgotten that music should also be made with an audience in mind. So while both expressive and challenging at times, this isn't a production that is hard or difficult to listen to. The sole exception being the genre nerds of course, the ones that have a hard time wrapping their heads around bands that stray outside of both the box and the envelope.

Conclusion. Third time's the charm according to a proverb, and in my book TCP pretty much connected all the dots in the right manner when they crafted this album. It is a quality production on all levels, with good songs, good performances and a good mix and production that manage to highlight all the band's best sides. The sole slight weakness is that the vocals may be a tad divisive for some. Not a negative in my book, but it is a distinct voice and vocalists of that type will rarely have a universal appeal. As far as a recommended audience goes, if you enjoy bands like King Crimson, Genesis and Marillion in equal measures, this is probably a CD you should get to know better.

June 27th, 2018
The Rating Room