Album Review: Beardfish +4626-Comfortzone

Beardfish is one of those prog bands that has gotten loads of priase during the course of their career, and again upon the release of their previous album, "The Void". While they are critically acclaimed as one of the leading purveyors of modern prog, I was less than enthused by that album. When I reviewed "The Void", I found it a needlessly dark and uninviting listen, the kind of album that does little to pursuade the listener to keep listening. Compared to what had been a strong crop of other prog albums, Beardfish was low on my totem pole of modern prog. So when their new album was announced, I cannot honestly say I was excited for another go 'round with the band.

The good news is that, in the true spirit of prog, this new album sounds very little like their previous one. Much of the cold, modern atmosphere is gone, replaced by a more vintage aesthetic, which is a choice that works very much to the band's advantage. Some people will complain that this sort of sound too closely mimics the past, but there's a reason why those bands from the 70s gravitated towards the same tones; they work.

Modern prog too often becomes dark and insular, too focused on a narrow set of sounds that don't allow the music to expand and ingratiate the way it should. In that way, this is already a far superior album to "The Void".

Beardfish's sound here is more lush, more organic than before. "Hold On" might come across sounding a bit too much like an outtake from the 70's, but that is its charm. The song itself is a fine composition that brings a solid mix of instrumental muscle and melody, but it comes to life because of the chosen sonic palate. There is a vibrancy in the natural sounds the album offers up, where there is nothing standing between us and the music. We are hearing the songs unadorned, uncovered, the way music is supposed to be.

Beardfish takes an unusual tact with this album. Their compositions are neither rooted in technical proficiency, nor in songs. By that, I mean to say that their are complex in the layering of sounds, not in the actual finger-stretching of the playing, but those layers are not building songs of the traditional variety. The longer pieces stretch on for seven to fifteen minutes, but they seldom return to hooks that remind you of where they started off. That is a hallmark of progressive music, but it's also a failure of basic songwriting. Very few of the ideas, vocal or instrumental, are strong enough to serve as the anchors for songs.

What that means is that by the time you're done listening to the album, it's hard to recall anything that you've just heard. Plenty of prog bands are able to integrate strong, catchy melodies into their music. It is not impossible, but it's something Beardfish has not efforted to do here. It's a shame, because the record suffers for it. There are moments here and there that are highly enjoyable, but then they get lost in passages that go on and on without much in the way of resolution.

"+4626 Comfort Zone" is certainly a better, more enjoyable record than "The Void" was. That being said, it's still an album that leaves me frustrated. Beardfish are clearly capable of doing great things, but they refuse to write music that can appeal to anyone who isn't deeply invested in prog. There is little about this record that will interest people who don't see the problem with the traditional verse/chorus song structure. Beardfish is certainly doing a fine job of being progressive, but I think they're standing too far outside of convention to be the band they could be. "+4626 Comfort Zone" is another Beardfish album that leaves me scratching my head.