Band: Bernard
Album: A View Beyond a Cave
Label: Floodgate Records
Review by: JoshIndieVision
www.myspace.com/bernard
Floodgate strikes gold again! First they bring us The Myriad, who’s 2005 release “You Can’t Trust A Ladder”, blew me away and now comes Bernard. I had heard about these guys when they had released their independent album “Trust? Yes? Are You Still Here in Darkest of Holes?” but really didn’t get into it as much as I probably should have. The one thing that album showed was what this band could be, given a better recording and time. Well “A View Beyond the Cave” proves just that.
This is ambient, atmospheric rock at it’s finest! The music sweeps you away into another world. “Reconcile Our Lives” is a track that continues to build and build over each other to a symphonic bliss in the end. It starts off with a simple piano melody and Jonathan’s soothing dreary vocals. Then comes in light percussion and some bass. Next the guitar slides in nicely. Layer upon layer this song grows all the better.Excellent utilization of strings into the end of the song! After hearing this song I wasn’t sure if the album could live up to it.
Next comes “To Those Of This World”. This song definitely has a Coldplay vibe to it while not really moving too much in that direction. I’d say this is much more enjoyable than any Coldplay song I’ve ever heard. Again Jonathan’s vocals are stellar! Again you feel this song building into an epic chorus.
“Too Far” is probably the most accessible track for radio. It has a super catchy feel to it. Not in a hit pop song, thrown away after a week type of way, but of a song that truly deserves to be heard.
The rest of the album continues in this way and does not disappoint. There are no tracks on this album that I felt I should be passing up. My attention was sealed from start to finish.
You will be seeing big things from this trio!! I look forward to catching a live show to see how they can possibly pull off the feel of this album. Judging on the album alone though, I honestly have no doubt in their ability to do that.
Standout Tracks:
“Reconcile Our Lives”, “Bus Mute”, “Too Far”
Similar to: Coldplay, This Beautiful Mess, The Myriad
www.bernardmusic.com
www.myspace.com/bernard
www.floodgaterecords.com