by Bob Keeley
Spirituality and a concern for things beyond the visible world are not new topics in progressive rock. Songs evoking themes of “something beyond” have been included in early ELP, King Crimson, and Genesis albums. Yes’ Close to the Edge is based on spiritual journey of Siddhartha and their Tales from Topographic Oceans was inspired by a footnote in The Autobiography of a Yogi. More recently, The Flower Kings have multiple albums with philosophical or religious themes and Neal Morse has worn his beliefs on his sleeve in a number of his albums starting with Testimony and continuing to his latest pair of albums on the life of Joseph from the book of Genesis. Echoverse’s debut album, Whispers Between Worlds, falls firmly in this category of spiritual prog albums.
The four members of Echoverse (multi-instrumentalist Doug Bowers, drummer Kyle Fagala, vocalist Kyle Graves, and guitarist Rob Perez) are steeped in both the world of prog and in the Christian faith tradition. Their music has many of the hallmarks that one might look for in a prog album; intricate instrumental sections, songs in non-traditional time signatures, virtuosic playing and singing, an epic length track, and thoughtful lyrics. Every song on Whispers Between Worlds speaks of the faith of the members of the band. As with many of the bands mentioned previously, though, sharing their beliefs is not a prerequisite to appreciating the album. In fact, the opening track “Not Like the Other” calls out the hypocrisy found in some churches who seem to concentrate on outward displays of holiness while missing the point of loving people.
“Not Like the Other” is a great way to begin the album with a riff in 7/8 time and solid vocals. It is no surprise that this was selected as the lead single as it is the most up-tempo song on the album. The guitars and Hammond organ tell us that we’re in vintage prog territory. While singer Kyle Graves doesn’t sound at all like Geddy Lee, “Not Like the Other” would not be out of place on a late Rush album.
After the up-tempo opener, things slow down a bit with a trio of slower songs. “Sins of the Father,” “Feelings of Grey,” and “Empty.” All three feature moody reflections on the human condition and our failings both personally and as a society. “Empty,” in particular, presents the Christian message of hope. While they don’t have the spark of “Not Like the Other,” all three show the more contemplative side of the band as they explore deeper lyrical themes.
The centerpiece and highpoint of the album is the 31-minute epic, “The War Within.” Presented in nine sections, the track ebbs and flows from one section to the next as the story of “the war within my soul” progresses. The war they sing about is a spiritual conflict rather than a physical one where the inner self continues to struggle with “The snare of ‘I’m not good enough.’” Later, as the inner struggle begins to resolve, they realize that “I thought myself unworthy. How could I be so wrong?” The song shifts tempo and style with each new section and is bigger than any of the other songs, painting a broad landscape of sound. The transition from part IV, Push Back” and part V “Now” is especially evocative. Like all good epics, “The War Within” has multiple musical themes that are reprised throughout the piece and when the “It’s never me, it’s always you” earworm from the first part of the piece comes back near the end, it seems like an old friend has returned, even on first listen.
The album concludes with “Walk Alone,” a song which begins as a piano ballad but builds to a nice climax that serves as a strong close to the album.
Overall, Whispers Between Worlds is a solid first outing for Echoverse and hopefully a sign of great things to come.
Released on August 20th, 2024
Order here: https://echoverseband.bandcamp.com/album/whispers-between-worlds
Track Listing
1. Not Like the Other (5:44)
2. Sins of the Father (6:45)
3. Feelings of Grey (6:42)
4. Empty (5:23)
5. The War Within (Total Time 30:54)
I. I Walk Away (5:17)
II. Something Sinister This Way Comes (1:51)
III. The Devil in My Ear (2:35)
IV. Push Back (3:20)
V. Now (3:57)
VI. Final Conflict (6:05)
VII. Back Where I Belong (3:51)
VIII. I Know It’s You (2:52)
IX. The War Within (1:06)
6. Walk Alone (6:17)
