From time to time, I’ll feature an album I missed reviewing back upon its release. One of those albums I found recently is, Nova Cascade’s Back from the Brink. The album was released on September 9, 2021. If I remember that time, I was deep into discovering Phantom Elite and Edge of Paradise; while listening to Greta Van Fleet’s latest album, The Battle at Garden’s Gate. However, sometimes it is better to find things like Back from the Brink at a quieter time anyway.
Back from the Brink is spectacular. It helps fill the hole left by the recent passing of Vangelis. A mostly instrumental, ambient progressive rock album like this needs to be appreciated in its entirety, and preferably on headphones, alone and free from immediate comparison to the music of other genres. I know I appreciate this album, now more than I would have when it was released. I am looking forward to the follow up album, The Navigator in 2023.
Nova Cascade is a UK-based collaboration between musicians: Dave Hilborne, on lead vocals, synthesizers, and programming; Dave Fick, on bass; Charlie Bramald, on flute; Eric Bouillette, on violin, acoustic and electric guitars; and Lorenzo Poliandri, on drums and percussion.
Every track on this album is an elegant opportunity to appreciate the warm, relaxing music of progressive/ambient rock played by experts. The synthesizers and programming alone are worth the ticket to this adventure. Dave Hilborne’s vocals and lyrics are great. As an example, on the song, “Phantom”, he sings some lyrics which remind of early Arena, “It’s easy to slip through a crack in the world. So easy to fall through a crack in the world like a phantom. Oh. what you’d give for the second whip. A chance to put things straight with the second whip”.
Later, on the track, “The Hill”, Dave sings, “Softer than skin, I’m an easy catch. Watching the world from this safe distance. I’m too fragile to speak or to cause offense. Still sliding downhill, when it comes to it”.
These two songs, “Phantom” and “The Hill” are two of the best tracks, but I also enjoyed the opener, “Rectify”, “The Minutes After”, “There Is Always a Way”, the title track, and “Long Winter”. There are no fillers on this album. It is one of the best progressive rock albums of 2021. If I would have reviewed it last year it probably would have made my top progressive rock albums list.
Get this album and check out the rest of their discography. Then, get ready for something special with the release of The Navigator, next year.
Track Listing
- Rectify (2:44)
- The Minutes After (6:19)
- There Is Always a Way (2:42)
- Phantom (4:24)
- Classroom Keys (2:25)
- The Hill (3:28)
- Back from the Brink (10:35)
- Long Winter (4:55)
Absolutely spot on review!!! Thank you!
Thank you Rick.
I’m struggling to think of an instrumental better than the title track ‘Back from the Brink.’ I do love Come in number 51, your time is up by Floyd and Lawrence by Camel, but they seem shallow in comparison!