Echolyn is Back! With maybe the best progressive rock album(s) of the year, Time Silent Radio; which will be released on the 7th of March this year. They have been making music for over 36 years, and as they say, they’re, “still just getting started…”
Echolyn is one of the most innovative progressive rock bands in America. The band started in the fall of 1989 with Brett Kull, Christopher Buzby, Ray Weston, Jesse Reyes, and Paul Ramsey. By 1991 they had released their first eponymous album, Echolyn. It was a brilliant start for this Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, progressive band. Not many bands in the USA were making progressive rock at the time, and none were as prolific as Echolyn. The progressive rock bands of the era, in the USA, were more metal progressive; like Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Symphony X, and Tool. Few were making the modern, and traditional styles of progressive rock, from Europe, with multiple and odd time signatures in their music. Echolyn filled that void perfectly.
Echolyn has released some amazing albums over the years, including: 1992’s Suffocating the Bloom, and their biggest hit album MEI; which was released in June of 2002. They have also headlined many festivals such as ProgFest ’94 in Los Angeles, CA, ProgScape ’94 in MD, and ProgDay ‘95 in NC.
Echolyn, began touring extensively and released some wonderful live albums during the 1990s and early part of the new century. In 2005 the band completed and released a brand new album titled The End Is Beautiful, an urban, angular, somewhat back-to-basics, rock album on August 23, 2005. That album was followed immediately by the band’s first-ever European tour in early September of 2005.
Now, 25 years later Echolyn will release their latest album (s) this March, on the 30th year anniversary of the release of their 1995 album, As the World. The two new albums: Time Silent Radio II and Time Silent Radio vii, encompass over ninety minutes of brand new music, written, arranged, recorded, mixed and mastered between 2018 and 2024.
The albums are, as the band states, “meditations on time and the currents of change inherent in it”. Glenn Rosenstein, (Producer of As the World), mixed and mastered the songs: with the music still written by the core and steadfast partnership of Brett Kull, Christopher Buzby, and Ray Weston. Jordan Perlson played drums once again for Echolyn to complete the writing process and add his unique expertise, intuition of rhythm and feel to this collection of nine diverse, yet conjoined, songs.
Two longer songs are featured on the 45-minute album Time Silent Radio II titled “Time Has No Place” and “Water in Our Hands”. Another seven songs, (46 minutes of music), are the focus of Time Silent Radio vii. The band states, the albums, “sing with life and experience. Both albums share in their stories of intimate and distant encounters, joy, love, fear, and the ephemeral and enduring experience of time”.
So, without further ado, let’s start with the “longs”, and Time Silent Radio II.
“Time Has No Place”; at over 16 minutes, is the shorter of the two tracks on Time Silent Radio II album. However, don’t let that fool you into believing it is any less masterful. The long song is separated into four parts, A, B, C, and D. Part A, begins with, background noises, like a train station, or airport, filled with background music and television noises. Then, beautiful, light electric guitar riffs set the pace, the rhythm and melody. The piano and drums enter to help build the growing soundscape. Then, we hear, Ray Weston and Brett Kull’s voices for the first time. The sound of the vocal harmonies remind me a little of Jeff Lynn, and his supporting cast from the band, Electric Light Orchestra. In fact, “Time Has No Place”, overall, has a real ELO feel to it. Especially the harmonies, and canter. And, after all…ELO did make that album, Time.
Brett, along with Ray Weston wrote the lyrics for most of the songs on both albums. On Part A – “Into Blue and Green”, the music is fast paced and full of energy. Brett Kull and Ray Weston sing together the melodies and harmonies, counterpointing each other’s sound and their combined lyrical contribution. They sing, “Tumbleweed and hawk are waiting for the perfect…time. To say the simplest things – like. What makes you weep in the minutes left behind? What makes you weep for what you’ll never find?” They continue, “Not going out on lost ships. With cannon killing dreams. We’re drinking from, we’re drinking from a cup of goodbye dying oceans. There’s nothing to say when the blast is upon you. There’s nothing more to say”. The band plays a great instrumental section. Then the vocalists return, “Time, it has no place. I’m flying by into blue. I’m flying by into green”.
Then Part B, brings one of the most heartwarming melodies on either album. It will take you by surprise, after the exciting and fun opening from Part A. When they sing this section, it reminds me so much of Jeff Lynn, at that moment he sang “Eldorado”, on my favorite ELO album. In the back of my mind I could hear, “Here it comes another lonely day… I’ll sail away. On a voyage of no return to see. If eternal life is meant to be.” On Part B, “The Air of Ivy Hill”, Weston sings the best part of this four piece song. Weston’s voice and that soft warm melody are unforgettable. Weston sings, “It’s never been as quiet as your eyes. They finally found a way from all of this. The pain you’re in what’s willed is not a sin. Time has lost its place in all of this. They’ll be waiting but please don’t hurry. Just hold in the air of Ivy Hill. Everything’s been given. All these days that I’m reliving. Still holding in the air of Ivy Hill”. Absolutely brilliant!
Then, after a short musical interlude, Part C, “Emerald Garden”, commences. This section has a very Beatlesque feel to the melody. The singing duo reaches out to its fans, “He brushes up against her. As they wait in line. Knowing nothing’s better than that moment in time. As their sidewalk meets the sunlight. They stand still in love. From the dream that they live in and are always part of. A hundred million shimmering photons. Bounce across the waves. Calling from some emerald garden. Where time has no place”. Yes, progressive rock, just like it used to be….remember?
Then, after a short and wonderful musical interlude, Part D, “Forever Anymore”, begins with the full band, including bass, drums, keyboards, guitar and choirs. The duo sings, “The stillness between exploding sounds. Light behind the peppered clouds. Smell intoxicates and fuels the end. Metal scars unblemished blue. Rains in bursts on what we knew. Resignation has no place in time”. Then, later they sing, “Midnight ocean. Eighteen thousand. Swallow oil and blue green sea. Find your place in midnight oceans. You won’t know forever anymore…” An absolutely fantastic way to open an album of this intensity…after their fan’s long wait. However, the best is yet to come!
“Water In Our Hands”, a nearly 29 minute masterpiece of modern prog, is my favorite song on both albums. IT, is the reason I, and you will buy this album. This song has six parts, as you might imagine with a song of its length. Every one of them gets better.
“Part I”, opens with orchestration and sort of a slow morning sunrise sound. Guitars riffing, drums rumbling, bass balancing, and keyboards waiting for their turn. Together the singing duo brings to mind a Greg Lake depth, to their vocal sound and lyrics, “Find your way in the song you hear. To save your heart from the fire. The melodies will lie and soothe. Walls and towers ever higher. Reaching out and leaning towards. Some love above what you feel. It’s in your verse where you belong. In your head you sing along. A sudden breath, a pulsing vein. You’re lost again”. Yes indeed! Lost, in an amazing song, like it used to be…in the past…brought…thankfully to the present! The kind of music and lyrics that inspire musicians to make music, and listeners to buy it. They sings, “Everybody wants some time. All the time!”
Then, “Part II”, will leave you “Happy and smiling”. Willing to “walk a mile to drink your water”. The duo sings, to the beat and the cadence of Jethro Tull’s “Living in the Past”, “A river, swollen, dying. Drying canyons of earth and sky. A highway going nowhere. In the cosmos of our time. Lost in the wonder rushing. Heating pavements. Burning miles. Weightless almost reckless. Punching atoms. Of what’s undone – Gone!” No, this is not a copy in any way. They didn’t even realize they had matched that same pace as the Tull classic, when they wrote this.
Then, they sing, “We won’t go gently from being center. To cross the outer line. We walk so easy, with heavy horses”. (Whoa, another Tull reference). “Trampling little bits of time. Take our crooked arrow. Dip it in the marrow. Paint the dead bones. Leave our empty barrel. Heated in a memory. Bury that time!” Yes, if only we could control time. Together they sing some of the best lyrics near the end of this part, “How much do you need before you’re safe? We only want enough to get a taste. You shouldn’t be afraid of how we are. We only want all you have”. Another of my favorite parts of this epic song.
“Part III”, opens with cool keyboards and a slower, deeper mood. The duo sings, “Had three words that would have changed everything. Lost them to a rerun killing time. Mark the skin to remember how it feels”. Then, almost in a rap pace and cadence, to the lyrics, “This is how we break. Can’t deny the weight when the hook is set. Easy to be numb. Want to be someone, only we forget. We burnt bright for the colors, and for what. Lost in empty words, fighting off the blur. We’re not ready yet!” Ah yes, burn bright my friend, back to Marillion’s “Torch Song”. Such a wonderful reminder, unintended I imagine. But I’m thankfully there, none the less.
Then the band is let loose, before the singers return with heavier vocals, “Find your way! The full bass fills the air. They sing, “This is how it ends. Hanging on a fence dying like a vine. Stretching for the sun. Someone else has one. Gotta make it mine. We burnt bright for the colors, and for what? Hanging on a word. Fucking on we blur. What a waste of time!” (Why do we, as humans have that jealousy, instead of making our own happiness, indeed). This section ends with a keyboard piece that immediately took me back to vintage Gabriel-era Genesis. Thank you for that.
“Part IV” opens with the continuation of those keyboard moments, before the duo sings, “Talking on Mountains your loud megaphone whines. Making the waves of the pleads that will rise. Is there something left. Or nothing in our place and time? Who will rise – to take my time”. Wonderful Hamond-like keyboards, join in to support the singing, “There are things we are that shouldn’t be sung. Those waves drown the song in misplaced love. For hate”. Amen. Another of the best parts of this epic song. Those lead guitar riffs are perfect.
“Part V”, opens, with that Hammond sound and the vocalists singing, “Find your way in the song you hear. To save your heart from the fire. Reaching out, some love above. Leaning towards, you’re lost again. Make it right, make it right”. As the melody from Part II returns, to bring a smile to my face. The beautiful Lamb Lies Down on Broadway – like piano near the end of this part is absolutely excellent!
How will they close this epic? “Part VI”, reminds us of the moral of the story. After a brief pause and slow piano interlude. The singers sing, “Wake up, wake up, no heavy eyes. Everything hurts sometimes. If you know how to care!” They sing, only with the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar. Listen, to these words, and let them sink in, “Some will say, we’re in losing our minds. Spinning in our towers and revolutionary halls. As everyone cries and dies. At sixty-seven thousand miles per hour. We drink the same worried fate. And spill against our broken present state. It’s water in our hands”!
Then…they dive deeper, into your emotions, “There was something you said. And it only made me cry. There was something we wanted to share. But there’s never any time. I’ve seen first-hand. That man is wolf to man. If you don’t understand. Then you’ve never been bitten by lover or friend. Some would say that life’s an occupation of time. Of dreams passing in dreams passing…What was that you said? It doesn’t matter anyway. Because every word is swallowed by earth and sky. It’s water in our hands!”
The power of this reflection reminds me of Greg Lake on “Take a Pebble”. They sing, “Can we save our ourselves? To celebrate, hold, and then send us into time? Everything, you and I last forever. Nothing lasts forever, nor earth and sky – no earth and sky”. This song is like an experience. Like Yes’ “Awaken”, or my all-time favorite, “Supper’s Ready”. No it will never replace them, but it does live up to their power and majesty. Not just music, but an emotional experience…that we can all live…over again.
Time Silent Radio II was performed by Jordan Perlson, on drums and percussion; Ray Weston, on bass, lead and backing vocals: Christopher Buzby, on piano, keyboards, and backing vocals; Brett Kull, on guitars, keyboards, percussion, lead and backing vocals. Special guests include: Katie Barbato, singing backing vocals.
Time Silent Radio II, was recorded by Brett William Kull at Catapult Sound and Chateau Fornance. The album was mixed and mastered by Glenn Rosenstein at Skylight Sound Studios, Franklin TN. Lyrics were written by Brett Kull and Ray Weston.
Time Silent Radio vii
Although its songs are shorter in length, this album is in no way inferior to the other. In some ways, some of its highlights are even greater than the long tracks.
Time Silent Radio vii, opens with the song, “Radio Waves”. This song opens with the sounds of the city streets maybe and a familiar TV series, with people singing, “The friendliest friends you’ll ever see. On the land and on the sea”. I tried Googling it, but found nothing similar. I’ll have to ask them during our interview, where they got that. The vocalist sings, filled with a spring or summer mood, “This feels dead… trapped in the back seat. The vinyl breathes hot as sin. Hanging long as long as you can. Laughing with the roof down at 65°. Smells like sunshine and being alive”.
Another wonderful ELO – like song, with the fun spirit and emotion of “Mr. Blue Sky”. The vocalists continue, “Out the doors and running fast. Disappearing lost in the day. That’s where I feel that I am found. Waiting on the wonderful. Wherever you are, whatever you do. Whatever the song you sing the words will always follow you. The rain, the love, the hate. Yeah, it all will follow you”. Just like all of my favorite memories of taking ELO up to the top of that hill on a summer day, and playing, “One Summer Dream”, as loud as I could. Feeling the emotion of the song surround me. Yes, they’re absolutely right; it still stays with you, always.
“Silent Years”, opens with belled chimes and a Spaghetti Western kinda guitar riff. The vocalists sing, to slow guitar, piano and keyboards, “I know you more than you knew me. And here I am – the now that you lived for 30 years between us. A span in our time. The silent years between us. We pass through time, billowing curtains. Dying light shines through our shadows. Oh, I could’ve shared a lot of things. You never knew, ooh, you never knew”. Absolutely! Nostalgia is wonderful, but don’t squander too much time in the present. They close with an ELO-like echoing vocal ending, similar to what I remember from On the Third Day. Another one of my all – time favorites.
“Cul-De Sacs and Tunnels”, is the best song on this album. And again, its that deep, emotional melody. Like “Can’t Get it out of My Head”, it stays with you long after hearing the song. The vocalists’ deepest emotional lyrics are in this song. If you’re not moved by this song…pinch yourself. Something deep moved them to write this song, for sure. Warm piano, keyboards and soft guitar set the mood, along with birdsong, As the vocalist sings, “I need today to shine. I need this to be over. I’m always nervous when I lie to her. She’s only asking why I can’t stay”. The chorus sings, “Ooh, ooh”, like the way ELO’s backing vocalist did on their albums.
“Boulders and Hills”, is a surprise, bare-knuckled look at life today. At times, it almost feels like a song directed at someone. Like Queen’s “Death on Two Legs”. Ray Weston and Brett Hull sing, “There’s a fight in the room. When the bills have their day. Waiting for blood from white collar bastards. There’s no more, there’s no more, there’s no more to give. I want more. But I got nothing left to give – I’m shaking boulders on a hill. Watching the dead die”.
Weston and Kull sing, “The holes we dig. We chase good gods. To fill our mouth. With the shit we eat. Choke on your pills and guns. There’s plenty of fucked for everyone. We are all the same. Just numbers counting by. Pushing By. Shallow hesitation. Deeper so the mark decides. Tall bridges over broken things. Who will be my coffin when she sings?” (That would be the Fat Lady). Then, that Freddie Mercury range, “You have taken everything. You have cost me everything!” Soft piano takes us out…to calm everyone’s nerves.
“Our Brilliant Next”, is a great vocal display. The singer sings, “Look to the skies, into red piggy eyes. Oh Lord is raining. Red eyes it’s raining. Sorry my love I’ve fallen. I’m sick with regret for everything I’ve wasted. Blame it all on our numbered days. Blame it all on morning rain. But I’ve kept us from our brilliant next”. A tough song of regret.
“On We Blur”, opens with a relaxed, almost jazzy feel to the melody. Ray Weston sings the lead vocals on this track. He sings, “On the eve of something less inviting all the movements are the same. The rain don’t care that it’s falling. All the voices tell me to ignore it but my own won’t let it be. The air don’t care whose lungs it’s filling. So on we blur. On the morning after hell has broken. Nothing changes nothing will. The wreckage don’t care who it’s taking. So on we blur. So are we”.
“Tiny Star”, is the epic closer you always hoped it would be. The singers return to complete the album. They sing, “I’ve wanted to say something more. But can’t find the time between broken lines. Of comet tails that burn across our sky. The angry word that we spoke today. Lingers on as we’re running to stay. It’s a ripping tide, that pulls us all astray. The harder things that we’re learning to try. They’re taking time as were learning to fly. Are they worth the time? Are they worth the time we’re giving?”
They continue singing the powerful lyrics of a closer, “Every moon rises differently. It all depends on your galaxy. Between your hope and hopelessness. You are a tiny star. Ever wonder just how you are? Would you travel just as far. To find the place you want to be. To be a tiny star?” A soft, fun-loving melody for an epic song. Then, the powerful closing lyrics, They sing, “How am I supposed to be someplace. If I’m already there? I don’t know how to belong. I don’t know how to be home”.
Then, just like the Good Witch of the North, from Wizard of Oz, Katie Barbato sings, “Just say goodbye, you’re already here”. Weston and Kull bring the album to conclusion, with, “All we need” are just words we should let go. From all the weight comes a beautiful center. A blinking diamond and little light inside, inside you”.
All lyrics on Time Silent Radio vii, are written by Brett Kull and Ray Weston. They trade off singing lead and backing and sing together most of the time. Jordan Perlson, plays drums and percussion. Ray Weston also plays bass. Christopher Buzby, plays keyboards, and sings backing vocals. Brett Kull, plays guitars, keyboards, and creates the sound design. Special guest includes: Katie Barbato, who sings backing vocals.
Time Silent Radio vii, was recorded by Brett William Kull at Catapult Sound and Chateau Fornance. The album was mixed and mastered by Glenn Rosenstein at Skylight Sound Studios, Franklin TN.
As I mentioned earlier, these two albums may be the best albums of the year, in the progressive genre. They are that good…and that complete. The hardest question may be which album is better? The two, “longs”, as I call them, on Time Silent Radio II; or the somewhat shorter tracks on Time Silent Radio vii. For Echolyn, that is an enviable position to be in.
Every track I’ve detailed here is worth your listening time. Once you get into these magnificent works, you will surely want to hear them to conclusion. And even if I have spilled some of the lyrics and surprises, they don’t sound as good on paper. These two albums must be experienced, as all soon to be classics deserve. These two vocalists are two of the best in modern prog. The way they harmonize and bounce ideas, sounds and lyrics off each other is amazing. If only more bands had their ability and gracefulness. The genre of progressive rock would grow at twice the speed, if only we could find more bands like Echolyn.
So, yes, I recommend both albums Time Silent Radio II, and Time Silent Radio vii. Please give both of these albums your time in March. You will be forever grateful, as I am, that I was chosen to hear this music in January.
There is “no place like home”, and it is here in the USA, with a progressive rock band, Echolyn. A band that respects the journeys, sounds, and accomplishments of the past; but also creates for the future. A very bright future indeed!
Time Silent Radio II
Album Track List:
- Time Has No Place – 16:37
- Water In Our Hands – 28:51
Time Silent Radio vii
Album Track List:
- Radio Waves – 7:01
- Silent Years – 4:31
- Cul-De Sacs and Tunnels – 7:09
- Boulders and Hills – 6:53
- Our Brilliant Next – 5:47
- On We Blur – 5:41
- Tiny Star – 8:29
Band Website and Social Media Links:
https://www.echolyn.com/
https://www.facebook.com/echolynband/
https://echolyn.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4gDS6GaqnAnBXbTfGR6LhA
YouTube and Music Video Links:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC226SQVcBAk5iWN8Gf1W9Wg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzLDBOCOoDM&list=OLAK5uy_nuMoLz1GzNGZ7TFThnxTFkQ8iZypOpzYA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3-PYHa3aLw&list=OLAK5uy_mqjR4005VN2VoNDASdcOoGFspE4aGEIM4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dfH0FBb61s&list=OLAK5uy_m0zd4ejSXp6OPv7PBDVH4_Gj69brbdj_M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9e9sIK22mg&list=OLAK5uy_m5eKuUdhg-Cr8UeHMlNwUn6xP7iv3K3OA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1flAhXdzcn8&list=OLAK5uy_lReolUY6xjttq7bgm9p_6_OsEzgPLV6f0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbGCtjQa068&list=OLAK5uy_lW0GkWW9IZPHx19NeurzU9GQtLqptosoc