Astoria 
Artist:  Soulful Terrain
Label:  Independent
Time:  10 Tracks / 53 mins

There are so many good things about this release that it gets me excited just thinking about where to start. The opening track “The Great Unknown” is an emotional powerhouse that gives many hints about what to expect, as the brooding string effects and rhythmic loops join Eastern sounds to build excitement.

This is one of those largely-one-man-band projects that can sometimes have great strengths in the one man’s specialist area, balanced by real weaknesses elsewhere. Here, the strengths are many and shared around. Jason Williams is the prime mover, playing guitar, bass, keyboards and backing vocals. He has a passion for never being restricted in either style, loving the freedom to express himself in whatever form feels appropriate.

Elic Gurganus (what a great name!) has a distinctive and pleasing voice that adds plenty on tracks with straightforward melodies, like the opener and Celtic-favoured “Secrets in the Valley”. However, it feels like he tends to wander to the edges of pitch at times (“Astoria” and “Ocean Road”), enough to get you worried that he might fall off the edge.

There is a pleasing variety on this collection, with gently shifting changes of mood. Sometimes the changes are more immediate. “Secrets in the Valley” starts as an acoustic ballad, embroidered with fiddle, harmonies, top end percussion and a quiet keyboard wash. The guitar solo builds it up a step before a quick couple of bars that sound like they have been nicked form Sabbath’s “War Pigs” kick the piece into some energetic rocky fiddle.

Elsewhere the variety is between tracks. The piano-based “Drifting” does as the title implies, using a warm, ambience reminiscent of Jeff Johnson. “Into The Eastern Wind” has violin interweaving with guitar and keyboards as closely as two people doing a tango; and “Stand” is as heavy as this collection gets, especially at the end, where a low, growling guitar riff gives Williams something to pour an organ solo over.

Among the treats are Dave Bainbridge’s contributions to the several tracks. The synth solo on “The Great Unknown” is a huge highlight, with its pure, trebly sound and delicate pitch-bends. His piano solo on “Astoria” is about the jazziest I’ve heard him, and he adds swathes of Mellotron and organ more recognizable as him to the guitar work of “The Narrow Path,” which sounds like Anthony Phillips handing over one of his acoustic pieces to Phil Keaggy to finish. Bainbridge is fully his unmistakable self on the guitar solo for “Secrets in the Valley” – as is bandmate Frank van Essen, when he adds lead violin to “Lost for You,” with all the plaintive richness that he brings to Iona.
   
This overall tone of this classy collection reminds me of David Gilmour’s first solo album, but Celtically-adjusted. It has nearly all the things that prog should have in the twenty-first century, and that includes strong tunes, plenty of textures, instrumental adventures, a great sound, a unique identity, and the ability to strike the heart. It is a fantastic independent release, and I hope Williams would be proud if I said that this is probably the best Iona album without their name on. I love it.

Derek Walker