THE WATCH – The Art Of Bleeding (2021)
“The Art Of Bleeding” is the new album from Milan’s symphonic progsters THE WATCH. The quintet have garnered much acclaim for their classic Seventies Prog sound employing twinkling 12-strings, booming bass pedals, vintage keys, swelling dynamics, and Genesis / Gabriel-esque vocals. But while their peers shoehorn such techniques into dull copycat music in an effort to give it some oomph, The Watch weave them throughout their inspired works with the same kind of grandeur as the young Brits did those many moons ago.
And of course, they also like to step outside that box and allow themselves to be taken in different directions, including the occasional modern sound unheard of in the ’70s. Flashes of other notable influences color these pieces as well – read British neo-prog band IQ.
Beginning with a slow fade-in, ‘An Intro’ transitions into the moody ‘Red’ with a synth vibe reminiscent of John Carpenter, eventually exploding into an energetic track that pulls out all the stops: Rickenbacker, Hammond, mellotron.
The dark tale ‘Abendlicht’ follows, relating the thoughts of a suicidal man in the year 2065 (‘It is a hundred years since Rubber Soul…‘, croons Simone Rossetti during one gentle section, ‘…What we have now is everybody’s fault, it is the future we all stole‘). The song paints a grim portrait of a future Earth grappling with a shifting climate. It’s curious the way The Watch can take such bleak subject matter and make a bouncing toe-tapper of a prog song from it, but there you have it.
Heavy mellotron strings accent the sludgy, hypnotic riffs of ‘Hatred Of Wisdom’, a twisting track that briefly glances in King Crimson’s direction. The lyrics center on the way fear can become resentment and even murderous rage, like the horrific burning alive of so-called witches and heretics in ‘an age before electricity or science’. Sounds fun, right? Oddly enough, there are sunnier, major key sections in the piece which provide balance. The track is a good example of what The Watch can do when they steer further from the Genesis influence and craft something that band never would have.
The Tony Banks-flavored beginning of ‘Black Is Deep’ eventually opens up into a fully fledged prog instrumental, furious synths giving way to breezier, melodic guitar parts and Marco Fabbri displaying his impressive drumming. It’s a cracker.
The album’s opening melody provides the backbone to the final track ‘Red Is Deep’, which develops into a rocking piece about the violent revenge of New Guinea’s indigenous people on relentless loggers. Stretching out these stirring melodies is a technique they employ to great effect, and it is an equally compelling way to close ”The Art Of Bleeding”.
This 45 minute slab of symphonic prog cake holds up as a complete listen without a weak link. If you haven’t been keeping your eye on The Watch, perhaps now you will. The show a lot of classic prog influences, but it’s when they put pen to paper and design commanding compositions like these that they rise above the rest of the pack.
Highly Recommended
1 – An Intro
2 – Red
3 – Abendlicht
4 – The Fisherman
5 – Hatred of Wisdom
6 – Howl the Stars Down
7 – Black Is Deep
8 – Red Is Deep
Simone Rossetti: vocals, mellotron, synthesizers
Giorgio Gabriel: electric and acoustic guitars
Marco Fabbri: drums and percussions
Mattia Rossetti: bass, bass pedals, 6-12 electric guitars, vocals
Valerio De Vittorio: keyboards, hammond, mellotron, synths
BUY
www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Bleeding-Watch/dp/B09G9XPVMQ
