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THE THIRD ENDING – The Third Ending

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ProgRock Records has signed some great and often unknown bands. For this one, they went all the way to Tasmania. And what a surprise this band from down under proves to be. The Third Ending was formed in 2002 in Hobart. It took them all this time to write and record their first untitled album, but the result is awesome.
What starts as a singer songwriter album turns out to be one of the best prog(metal)rock releases I heard in a long time. The metal I have included in the style name is because their guitar sound is often bending to the heavy side. Nothing to worry about, if you’re not a metal fan because the rest of the music has nothing to do with metal and the guitar also uses some cleaner sounds, from time to time.
Transatlantic, Spock’s Beard, Neal Morse and even Porcupine Tree are never far away, but I only use this names to give you an idea of how they sound, because they certainly deliver a sound of their own.
Nick Storr is an excellent singer, who sounds sometimes a bit like Neal Morse, especially in the lower vocal regions. In the higher parts, he even sounds a lot better than N. Morse and to top it all off, he’s also a good keyboard player. The band is a bunch of top musicians who all play in function of their music without wanting to exhibit themselves.
The first four tracks are separate songs. The last 7 numbers form an epic of half an hour.
Let’s just look at a few of the many highlights. And let’s start with the best track of the album “Can You Hear Me”, a track built on a simple piano tune that grows to a climax, passing via an acoustic guitar solo that changes into an electric guitar solo. (goose bumps moment!). “Tungsten Blues” is an instrumental. It’s the heaviest track of the CD and brings the name Dream Theater to the surface.
The 3O minutes or 7 tracks that form one suite, start with a short acoustic song “Fingerprints” which has a reprise at the end of the story. And then the rock starts rolling downhill and once started there’s no way to stop it. Every track is loaded with progressive and/or metal ingredients. “Digital Sunrise" is heavier and ends with a clean guitar solo layered upon the heavier rhythm guitar. “Cold Light of Day” is a psychedelic (Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree) track which is a bit superfluous. “Falling” starts in reverse order, compared to the other tracks, the heavier part comes first, followed by a quieter piece, with an effect on the vocals as if it’s sung through a megaphone. (Compare with Steven Wilson). “Part V” contains a very steady drum pattern while the guitar is playing a bluesy solo. After the first instrumental half, the chorus of “Falling” is repeated. “Coming Around” could have been on a Neal Morse solo album. I even looked in the booklet if Neal wasn’t performing as a guest musician. ;-) The suite concludes with a reprise of “Fingerprints”.
A great new name in the prog (metal) world. I hope we can see them in Europe in the near future. A pity, Tasmania is so far away! By the way, I almost forget to mention the special, peculiar artwork. Check it out!!!

Musicians

Nick Storr: Vocals, Keyboards, Guitars
Andrew Curtis: Guitars, Backing Vocals
Cornel Ianculovici: Bass, Backing vocals
Andrew Knott: Drums, Backing Vocals

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Last updated: 20 mei 2007 .
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