{"id":49737,"date":"2015-06-30T07:47:11","date_gmt":"2015-06-30T12:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=49737"},"modified":"2015-06-30T07:47:11","modified_gmt":"2015-06-30T12:47:11","slug":"odins-court-turtles-all-the-way-down-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/odins-court-turtles-all-the-way-down-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Odin\u2019s Court | Turtles All the Way Down<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Turtles All the Way Down<\/em> is the seventh full-length release from Maryland-based progressive rock band Odin\u2019s Court. It\u2019s also the first album of all-new material since the band\u2019s 2011 release Human Life in Motion<\/em>. Since that point, the band has become a three-piece with Rick Pierpont (guitars), Dimetrrius LaFavors (lead vocals) and Matt Brookins (everything else).<\/p>\n

Over the course of the last few years, Odin\u2019s Court has quietly become one of the very best bands in the American Progressive Rock scene, and Turtles All the Way Down<\/em> is a perfect example of why that is the case. The album benefits from three key elements \u2013 innovative song structures, evocative guitar playing and vocals that resonate emotionally. Like Enchant, Odin\u2019s Court\u2019s brand of progressive rock is tinged with metal, but not so much that they fall into that all too crowded Dream Theater worship sound. This is more like Pink Floyd with just enough of a metal edge.<\/p>\n

Band mastermind Matt Brookins (who wrote, produced and mixed the album) continues to impress here, delivering soulful, evocative guitar solos reminiscent of Vinnie Moore\u2019s early work. His soloing never feels technical for the sake of technicality; instead it sets the tone and atmosphere for the album. And when he\u2019s joined by Rick Pierpont the result is just stunning. You don\u2019t have to be a \u201cguitar guy\u201d to be moved by these two guitarists\u2019 interaction and collaboration. The vocals are just as moving. Dimetrius LaFavors has a clear, strong, higher-octave voice that\u2019s just perfect for this kind of music, and he manages to make even the most high-concept lyrics connect on an emotional level.<\/p>\n

Turtles All the Way Down<\/em> is a concept album, and as such it works best as a total listening experience. There are individual tracks that stand out though, especially \u201cInsomnia,\u201d \u201cThe Warmth of Mediocrity\u201d and the three instrumental title tracks (which sound so good back-to-back-to-back). The 17-minute closing track \u201cBox of Dice (Does God Play?) is also remarkable.<\/p>\n

This is such a powerful album overall, and another reminder of just how good Odin\u2019s Court really is. Fans of bands like Enchant, Spock\u2019s Beard, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Queen, Porcupine Tree and Shadow Gallery will definitely want to give Turtles All the Way Down<\/em> a listen (or several). It\u2019s time for more people to discover the best-kept secret in American progressive rock.<\/p>\n

Genre: Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nMatt Brookins (g) (k) (b) (d) (v)
\nRick Pierpont (g) (v)
\nDimetrius LaFavors (v)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tTurtles All the Way Down, Pt. 1
\n2.\tAnd the Answer Is\u2026
\n3.\t\u2026But What\u2019s the Question?
\n4.\tInsomnia
\n5.\tThe Depths of Reason
\n6.\tTurtles All the Way Down, Pt. 2
\n7.\tThe Warmth of Mediocrity
\n8.\t(A Song For) Dragons
\n9.\tThe Death of a Sun
\n10.\tBack Where the Daffodils Grow
\n11.\tLife\u2019s Glory
\n12.\tTurtles All the Way Down, Pt. 3
\n13.\tBox of Dice (Does God Play?)<\/p>\n

Label: ProgRock<\/p>\n

Website: www.odinscourtband.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 8.75\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist — Turtles All the Way Down is the seventh full-length release from Maryland-based progressive rock band Odin\u2019s Court. It\u2019s also the first album of all-new material since the band\u2019s […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":49735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[2317,11338,1098,3456,11340,11339],"class_list":{"0":"post-49737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-odins-court","10":"tag-progressive-metal","11":"tag-progressive-rock","12":"tag-progrock","13":"tag-turtles-all-the-way-down"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}