The Book Of Revelations - The Plumes of Enceladus (Chapter One) - 2023
“..Malice À Forethought ...”
intro
Gerard Freeman is the man behind The Book Of Revelations. His fascination with the music of Genesis during the Peter Gabriel era led to this project. In order to now be able to play the music live, the project has grown into a real band. But on the album "The Plumes of Enceladus - Chapter One" Gerard Freeman is responsible for all instruments and programming, except the drums (Russ Wilson). He is mainly inspired by the first five Genesis albums. The concept and lyrics are based on Greek mythology. These are stories about gods, demigods and the contact between gods and humans. Greek mythology gave the ancient Greeks explanations for the origins of the world, the heavenly bodies, people, gods, evil, diseases, natural phenomena and the primordial elements earth, water, fire and air. It formed the basis of the religion of the ancient Greeks.
Gerard Freeman - all instruments and programming (except Drums by Russ Wilson)
review
The album opens with "Malice À Forethought (a cautionary tale in five parts)", a suite divided into five parts. "Part (i) The Hypocratic Oaf" (9:31) immediately blasts out of your speakers with brute force. What strikes me personally is that my first reference is not the music of Genesis but the music of Citizen Cain. This is mainly because Gerard Freeman's voice has a strong similarity with the voice of Citizen Cain's vocalist George "Cyrus" Scott and because both bands provide you with a whole load of lyrics. But both bands are very inspired by the Gabriel era of Genesis. In the last instrumental part of this part you can hear the keyboard sound of Tony Banks. An overwhelming opener. "Part (ii) Survival of the Wittest" (2:49) is a short uptempo song with a catchy melody and a positive vibe. This song is more guitar oriented. In "Part (iii) Revenge is Sweet, so Slayeth the Lord" (8:39) you can really hear those Steve Hackett sounds in the guitar parts. This section has more variations and tempo changes than the hectic opener. The varied guitar work in particular stands out here. But also the beautiful synth in the quiet and melodic parts. The last instrumental part of this part with beautiful guitar work is very beautiful. In "Part (iv) P and/or A" (4:07) you enjoy the flute and the plucking acoustic guitars that transport you back to the Nursery Crime (Genesis) album. Wonderful to be back in these magical Genesis spheres. This is a beautiful part. The first part of "Part (v) Post Box" (6:25) and the last part of "Malice À Forethought" is another uptempo part with a lot of lyrics. But there are also more melodic parts with beautiful flute and keyboards. The last part is very beautiful with a lot of melody and an intensity that slowly builds to a climax... beautiful.
Cathryn Turhan wrote the lyrics for the short song "Love Letter from a Newspaper to a Coffee Cup" (3:00). It is a beautiful ballad with strumming acoustic guitars that beautifully reflects the atmosphere of old Genesis.
The album closes with the suite "The Chthonic Deities of Vengeance" (18:42) which is divided into four parts ("Part (i) The Tri-cycle of Life" , "Part (ii) The Chthonic Deities", "Part (iii) The Furies at Work " and "Part (iv) All is Avenged "). With a duration of 18 minutes, this is a real epic with lots of variation and tempo changes. The great example from the Peter Gabriel era of Genesis will of course be the song "Super's Ready", but it would be sacrilege to really compare it with this. Yet in the last 5 minutes you hear a real homage to this epic of Genesis. The lyrics contain the necessary humor and absurdity. That is also a small reference to the old Genesis of Peter Gabriel. The end of this epic is very beautiful with wonderfully melodic guitar and synth parts.
conclusion
Musically it's not all that progressive, but that wasn't the intention either. You should see the album "The Plumes of Enceladus" from The Book of Revelations more as a tribute to Peter Gabriel's old Genesis. Especially the first part of this album reminds me more of the band Citizen Cain. But this band also has its roots in old Genesis, so things have come full circle again. For your reviewer it all started with the old Genesis, so I enjoyed being able to review this album. And I would like to recommend this album to fans of Genesis (Peter Gabriel Era) and Citizen Caine.