Richard HolmesPhantom Spell – Heather & Hearth (Cruz Del Sur Music / Wizard Tower Records)
It’s fair to say Kyle McNeill is having one hell of a year.
Back in March, his ‘day job’ band, Seven Sisters, released the illustrious Shadow Of A Fallen Start Part 2. Our take? “A conceptual masterpiece that’s pitched to perfection”.
And now his Phantom Spell project is taking centre stage.
Phantom’s debut, Immortal’s Requiem, saw the Sisters’ frontman indulge his love of 70s prog – think Uriah Heep on a Camel-ride – and it featured in our Trad Metal Albums of 2022.
Heather & Hearth shows that its predecessor was no flash in the pan – and that McNeill is deadly serious about Phantom Spell. Yes, this is a solo record, but with a live line-up now in place, he’s been leading his proggy minstrels across Europe.
Phantom Spell weaves the magic
When it comes to creating wistful, mystic prog rock, McNeill is a sorcerer par excellence.
Of course, the Maiden-esque, metallic thrust of Seven Sisters is still in the frontman’s DNA: the pacey Evil Hand, which kicks-in mid-album, is proof of that, as are parts of the title track – which bring to mind the fretboard heroics of The Cauldron And The Cross.
But Phantom Spell has given him the space to grow as an artist and writer, and the chance to swap the astral shock and awe of Sisters’ work for the rustic pastures of mythical Albion (his version of Old Pendle, a Lancashire folk song, is spine tingling).
McNeill seems to be revelling in it.
Certainly, the majestic Siren Song is right up there with his best work. Shaped around a stirring, memorable chorus, it’s hypnotically simple: the stylish guitar and organ embellishments make the track richer, without ever threatening to overwhelm it.
And that song, as well as A Distant Shore’s gentle refrains, show just how far McNeill’s singing has come in the years since the Seven Sisters demo. He admitted to Rushonrock that he cringed when listening back to his delivery on Sisters’ self-titled, 2016 debut. There should be no such worries now.
The centrepiece? It has to be the near-12 minute opener, The Autumn Citadel. The song rises into the heavens, built from a kaleidoscopic musical blueprint, and by the hands of a master craftsman whose dexterity knows no bounds.
As a gateway to Heather & Hearth, it’s some statement.
And it’s typical of an album that enchants at every turn.
The spell has been cast…
Photo by Zepic.
