Seasons is the fifth album of guitar player and multi-instrumentalist Peter Cox which he releases under the moniker of Forest Field. As on his previous album Lonely Desert (2016, see review) his sole companion is the US vocalist Phil Vincent, who takes care of all the vocals on the album. New is guitar player Vince O'Regan, who worked with Pulse, Legion and Bob Catley, providing all the solos on Into the Lion's Den and trades solos with Peter on Trading Places. Seasons holds twelve songs that are divided in three instrumentals and nine melodic, slightly progressive compositions. Overall, the songs tend to be more powerful than on previous releases, as is Change The World ,a fine track that is musically pretty interesting, only the sound of the vocals give the whole composition something strange. Into the Lion's Den is my favourite of this album, a fine heavy track where the shredding solos lift the song above the others. Again the “nice” classic rock style vocal parts are a bit in contradictions with the song itself, a raw and more brutal vocalist would have been more suitable in my opinion. Personally I think Phil's vocals are best suited for a song like Rain In May. Another quite interesting song is the track that also sees the guesting of Vince on guitar; Trading Places, his heavy bits are the ones levelling the song. The three instrumental tracks combine ambient with guitars, where the final track On The Edge Of Winter is more of an experimental keyboard/computer driven track. Seasons mean a step forward for me, more power and not afraid of an experiment. The real weak spot remains the vocals in my opinion. There is something that give these vocals a distant sound, which for me makes Forest Fields album feel a bit inconsistent. Could be a production thing though or intentionally, or I am just not a big fan of Phil's vocal. *** Pedro Bekkers (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
