ALBUM REVIEW: Miracles Beyond – Intelligent Music Project
Long gone are the days when classic and album-oriented rock bothered the charts or popular culture. One can choose to interpret this in two ways – that this music is of a by-gone time, or that it has become timeless. International supergroup INTELLIGENT MUSIC PROJECT are firm believers in the latter, plying their trade led by exactly the sound they love and nothing else. As has become firm tradition, their new album features a star-studded cast of familiar faces from the world of rock, with vocals sung by John Payne (ASIA), Carl Sentance (NAZARETH), Joseph Williams (TOTO) and Richard Grisman (RIVER HOUNDS), and a rhythm section of Simon Phillips (TOTO) and Ernest Tibbs (PROTOCOL). Alongside them, the core is formed by the cream of the crop of musicians from Bulgaria, where the group is headquartered. They return with their eight full-length offering Miracles Beyond, a collection of songs that combines the familiarity of hard rock with the innovation of infusing it with a plethora of outside influences.
A brief neo-classical introduction prepares the ground before the double-bill of Thunder and Days Rollin’ showcases the more straightforwardly rocking tendencies of the ensemble. Things get more exciting in the piano-led For You which features interesting chord selections and the novel choice of a guitar solo during the second chorus – it’s unexpected, but it totally works. Another surprise comes with the funky groove of Expecting You which carries associations with 70s DEEP PURPLE and a grungy interpretation of radio rock. I.M.P. are at their best when they incorporate this kind of variety which helps them stray far from other, more familiar territory.
One thing that helps with this is their tendency for constant harmonic exploration. There are many subtle key changes and chordal curiosities, as well as ambitious vocal harmonies. In that sense the album has as much in common with prog rock as it does with hard rock, in the vein of bands like ASIA, URIAH HEEP or more contemporary equivalents in SUBSIGNAL or ARENA. Lyrically, the record deals with themes of self-growth, hope and being a free spirit, which adds to the album’s feeling of lightness and positivity.
In its second half the album enters an interchange of ballads and rockers, of which the latter leave the more lasting impression. Then I Knew features a lively 80s sound, but the highlight is Right I Said – the hardest rocking tune on the album, featuring a pummelling rhythm and a lead vocal where Sentance’s voice soars to raspy heights that make one think of the immortal Chris Cornell. The album ends on a high with two more tracks that show a different dimension. Walls is an eight-minute prog monster of DREAM THEATER-esque proportions which showcases the band at their most metallic. The final bit of experimentation comes in closer Shine For You – a tune tailor-made for modern rock radio which has unsurprisingly become a hit single in their native Bulgaria.
Miracles Beyond offers an engaging journey through different eras of rock music, with plenty of variety and moments that will remind you of the timeless roots of the music we love.
Rating: 8/10
Miracles Beyond is out now via self-release.
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