Gandalf’s Fist: Decennium

With gigs having been impossible for as long as they were, Gandalf’s Fist took the option of creating their own set-list and then pulling those songs from their relevant releases, remixing or remastering them and then presenting the results as Decennium, a ten year (of official releases) celebration released on the tenth day of the tenth month of 2021. It’s a neat idea and one that makes for a pleasantly unusual compilation where the flow of the music is just as important as the songs themselves. For the uninitiated, Gandalf’s Fist are an outfit of UK (and I quote) ‘Medieval Space Rock Wizards’ - obviously! If nothing else that self-billing reveals the humour in much of what this outfit do, serious musicianship backed up with tales of frogs, badgers and underground worlds to be escaped from.

Fittingly the ten songs assembled are culled from all of GF’s major releases, covering seven albums and a standalone single release as it does so and only the band’s two most recent albums - The Clockwork Fable and The Clockwork Prologue - are afforded more than one song each, with both having two. However, with everything here either remixed, or remastered - or in the case of “Monolith� which featured on From A Point Of Existence, a brand new version altogether - the whole endeavour flows as one cohesive experience, just as a setlist would!

From the early “Into The Darkness�, which highlights the more space rock side of the band, through to the latter day “Solar Sun�, which moves a similar framework into a more ethereal setting, the standard is ridiculously high. Featuring the talents of nine contributors, in essence the band these days comprises Dean Marsh (vocals and more instruments than I care mention!), Luke Severn (additional vocals), Chris Ewan (bass), Stefan Hepe (drums), Ben Bell (keys, synths) and Keri Farish (vocals), while Melissa Hollick (vocals), Dave Oberle (vocals, percussion) and the ubiquitous Troy Donockley (bouzouki) also lend a hand.

The band’s whole catalogue is thoroughly worthy of investigation, but for me it’s the two Clockwork albums that truly stand out, with A Day In The Life Of A Universal Wanderer and A Forest Of Fey close behind, but here the strength of the likes of “Monolith� really shines through as a more forceful attack reaps rewards. Add in the hugely underrated and magnificently named “Winter’s Mourning�, which has long been a favourite of mine and the first track the band recorded when they expanded into being a six-piece, and all of this outfit’s strengths are given a chance to be revealed.

Gandalf’s Fist are a band who seem to have gone under the radar for too long. Their recent releases and some updated reissues do seem to be slowly righting that wrong. However, if you still haven’t caught up with their refreshingly individual take on the UK prog-rock sound then Decennium is a fabulous place to start. From there you’ll discover a host of great music to delight in and be amazed by.

Track Listing
1. Shadowborn (2021 remix)
2. The Circus In The Clearing (2021 remix)
3. Solar Huntress (2021 remix)
4. Victims Of The Light (2021 remix)
5. Into The Dark (2021 remaster)
6. The Battle For Tannhauser Gate (2021 remix)
7. Monolith (2021 version)
8. The Clokkemaker (2021 remaster)
9. Winter’s Mourning (2021 remaster)
10. The Master And The Monkey (Part 1) (2021 remaster)

Added: November 5th 2021
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Gandalf's Fist online
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Language: english

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