A TORN MIND - EP review added 4th March 2010
EP Review: Barriers EP (2010)
For fans of: Prog Rock... and giant EPs
Scottish band A Torn Mind - Grant Kilpatrick on vocals and guitar,
Chris Hartles on guitar, keyboards and saxophone,
Ryan Anderson on bass, and Euan Sked on drums - are a progressive rock outfit with their roots set in the musical landscape planted by Genesis, Pink Floyd and so on. There's a vaguely modern feel to the music too - mainly in the style of production - but otherwise Barriers nods to retro-licious fantasy.
This EP is gigantic...for an EP. The 5 tracks total just under 40 minutes, making it longer than plenty of full length albums. Of course size is pointless without quality, so it's lucky A Torn Mind have managed to integrate plenty onto this release. There's a fair portion of not so good moments too, but not enough to totally spoil the experience.
The musicianship is very good, and some of the compositions are superb, but most of the tracks go on a bit, and the vocals are often uninspiring. The end result can be frustrating as it occasionally hints towards greatness. The soft opener 'Sixes & Sevens' is a reasonably innocuous track that does little to stand out. 'Edge Of The World' is much more interesting, with some seriously good guitar/keyboard jousting. 'Titans' is emotive and very good when it gets going, but a lot of it is stop-start, It also, unfortunately, reminds me in places of the comedy song 'My Lovely Horse' from the sitcom Father Ted - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xp-ShbrbuY&feature=related. And that's not a good thing.
I love the crazy saxophone in 'Impurity'. The remainder of the song is only average. Final entry 'Vita' has some interesting moments too, notably the 'Mexican segment' just over half way through.
A Torn Mind can clearly play. If there's one thing this EP suggests it's that they need more focus. There's a certain lack of cohesiveness throughout, and the moments of excellence are quickly buried by an overabundance of normality. Barriers certainly doesn't write the band off; there's no reason why they shouldn't produce something properly inspirational some time in the future. This isn't quite it though.
Check out... Those Father Ted comparisons.
Track List:
01. Sixes & Sevens
02. Edge Of The World
03. Titans
04. Impurity
05. Vita
Artist's website(s): A Torn Mind , MySpace
