This coming Friday, independent hard rock act Judicator will release its new album, Concord. The band’s seventh album, it is a record that will find a wide appeal among hard rock fans. That is due in no small part to its featured musical arrangements. The lyrical themes that accompany said content adds to the record’s appeal, making for even more reason for audiences to take in the record. The album’s production rounds out its most important elements. When it is considered alongside the album’s overall content, the whole therein makes Concord a welcome addition to this year’s field of new independent albums that is worth hearing at least once.
Concord, the forthcoming new album from Judicator, is an interesting new offering from the veteran outfit, which for years has apparently come to be known as a power rock band. This is of note because the nine songs that make up the body of the roughly 50-minute record only a handful really come across as being power metal in the purest sense of the genre’s definition. The record’s first two songs, ‘Call Us Out of Slumber’ and ‘Sawtooth’ are clear power metal style compositions. They are easily comparable to works from the likes of Dragonforce. As the record progresses into its third entry, ‘Johanna’s Song,’ the band seems to change direction, opting for a more symphonic prog approach a la Shadow Gallery. The arrangement here is still in line with the record’s first two songs, but is clearly a change that in its own right is sure to keep listeners engaged and entertained.
‘A Miracle of Life,’ the album’s fourth entry, changes things yet again, this time moving in an even heavier direction. The Dragonforce comparison is once again evident. At the same time, listeners can also make comparisons here to works from the likes of Battle Born. That duality is sure to draw in audiences just as much as the album’s first three tracks. From there the band moves into even heavier territory in ‘Weeping Willow.’ This song is along the lines of something that Dream Theater would have composed in the mid- to late 1990s. That is meant in a purely observational manner, while also showing the change of direction that the band continued to take with the album’s musical arrangements here.
‘Imperial’ takes Concord back to Judicator’s power metal roots. At the same time, there is something truly intriguing here. That noteworthy aspect is the vocal performance of front man John Yelland. Yelland opts to utilize some surprising death/black metal type vocals in the song’s opening bars. From there, that heavier vocal performance becomes more of a supporting element to his more familiar “clean” vocals. The pairing makes for an interesting juxtaposition of sound and style, especially against the song’s clear power metal instrumentation.
As the album reaches its penultimate (and title) track, the Dragonforce comparison becomes once again evident. That power metal lean continues once more into the album’s closer, leaving audiences with a sense of fulfillment through that familiarity. Keeping this in mind, the overall musical presentation of Concord makes the record worth hearing due to the diversity therein. There is plenty of familiar power metal work throughout the album. At the same time, the band does branch out somewhat with some more prog rock and metal leanings. The whole is a presentation that is certain to engage and entertain listeners in itself.
The lyrical themes that accompany that somewhat diverse musical content builds on the record’s appeal, offering audiences works that – according to a news release distributed in January – center on the American West. At the same time, the record is not a concept album despite this fact. The noted Western themes become quickly evident in ‘Sawtooth,’ which would seem to address the issue of Manifest Destiny and western expansion. This as Yellen sings from the vantage point of the song’s subject, “Into the unknown we carry a torch/Ride into the unknown/We stumble and fall/Fight both nature and man/Subduing the countryside/Sawtooth peaks above/Scrape the violet sky/Rivers down below/Hug the valley walls/I wasted too many years in obedience/ Pursuing a life that was never mine/Grant me/Merciless/The trials of a frontier life/Sowing seeds of pain/You hope will one day feed you/Reap and sow/Into the unknown/We carry a scythe/Ride into the unknown/We thunder and rise/Fight nature and man/Subduing the countryside/Grant me life!” This is clearly a story of a man who has ventured out into the unexplored West, with all of its dangers, natural and otherwise. This is a man who wanted freedom, his freedom to live his life rather than that of the working man, working for someone else. It is that story of the American dream. It definitely makes for an interesting story that will certainly engage audiences.
Another example of the western themes featured throughout Concord is the album’s title track, which is also one of its singles. According to Yellen, the band, with this song, “wanted to capture the tension between despair and hope – how beauty and devastation coexist, and how we, as individuals and groups are tasked with choosing which force to nurture.” The song does just that, lyrically speaking. This as Yellen sings of people living free yet at the same time “like free range slaves.” This as the people “serve an elite/Who you see as chattel…in a silent war/For the country’s soul.” This is a theme that certainly resonates today. That is because even though it is part of a bigger story of lives in the old West, it certainly is how so many people in America live today. To that end, it is another theme that is certain to resonate with listeners, further showing how much the lyrical content featured in Concord has to offer audiences.
‘A Miracle of Life,’ the second single from Concord is yet one more example of how the album’s lyrical content makes it worth hearing. Yelland said of the song, “This song is about the quiet trade-offs we make in the name of safety and comfort – until we wake up one day wondering where our freedom went. It’s a call to reclaim a spirit of defiance, to protect the things that make life unpredictable, painful, beautiful, and ultimately worth living.” This is a theme that is not only fitting in a wild, western land, but even in today’s world, especially with everything going on, what with a wannabe dictator/autocrat in the White House and his equally evil flunkies empowering him to try to take those things in question. In the case of this song, what has been taken is the farmland, which is all “state-owned.” The subject sings here, “When did we trade our freedom/Our will to risk our lives for love?” before encouraging people to stand up against the powers that be that have taken control of the farmland and the people. Again here is a message that is just as resonant today as it would have been in a time when people were just expanding into the untamed west. To that end, it offers audiences just as much to appreciate lyrically as the other themes discussed and the rest of the album’s lyrical material. When that whole is considered along with the album’s overall musical content, the whole therein makes the general presentation of Concord a record that proves itself well worth hearing at least once.
Knowing this, there is one more item to note. That item being the record’s production. From the beginning of its nearly hour-long run to its end, the album’s production ensures a positive aesthetic to the presentation. That is because of the balance that is brought to each arrangement. The instrumentation in each composition is expertly balanced with the vocals, ensuring the fullest depth to each composition. Keeping that in mind, the effect thereof is nine songs whose presentation is just as appealing as its content. To that end, that whole leaves Concord a presentation that will certainly appeal to a wide range of audiences in hearing it at least once.
Concord, the forthcoming seventh album from Judicator, is a presentation that audiences will agree is worth hearing at least once. That is due in part to its featured musical arrangements. The arrangements see the band branching out somewhat beyond its familiar power metal roots, including more prog and heavy metal leanings. That expansion of sound and style does plenty in itself to make the record worth hearing. The lyrical themes featured alongside the album’s musical arrangements add to the appeal because while they take on stories of the old West, they are in many cases just as relevant today as they would have been some two hundred plus years ago. The production that went into Concord puts the finishing touch to the whole. That is because of the positive aesthetic that it ensures through the balance of instrumentation and vocals in each song. Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of Concord. All things considered they make Concord a work that will appeal to a wide range of hard rock fans. To that end it proves a welcome addition to this year’s field of new independent albums.
Concord is scheduled for release Friday. More information on the album is available along with all of Judicator’s latest news at:
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