Prog royalty and multinational supergroup, THE TANGENT were formed in 2002 and are based around northern England, not that vocalist Andy Tillson's extremely English voice wouldn't give it away in a minute. With eight full-length albums under their belt - "The Music That Died Alone" (2003), "The World That We Drive Through" (2004) "A Place In The Queue" (2006), "Not As Good As The Book" (2008), "Down And Out In Paris and London" (2009), "COMM" (2011), "Le Sacre Du Travail" (2013) and "A Spark In The Aether -The Music That Died Alone, Volume Two" (2015) they have embarked upon a ninth, released July 21, 2017: "The Slow Rust of Forgotten Machinery".

Oddly there's not much macro-level variation on this album, unless I'm missing something. It's very engaging, and every track is well-structured, but they don't stick out much when compared if only because each one consists of a medley of any number of different prog styles. Now I love me some tech-death, so I realize similar songs aren't necessarily a problem - but when said songs are as long as 20 minutes I do feel it's worth pointing out. One notable exception is "Doctor Livingtone (I Presume)", an uncharacteristically upbeat-sounding tune, an entirely instrumental track consisting largely of brighter and very prog melodies. That said, THE TANGENT do run through a fair musical gamut. Opener "Two Rope Swings" serves as an overture of sorts, mainly helping depict the album's sonic range and two main moods: contemplation and bustle. There are elements of melodic Canterbury prog, moody piano melodies, jazzy Hammond organ spasms, fanciful flute work, burbling bass, interesting rhythms and time signatures - essentially everything short of distorted electronic work that you'd be likely to find among progressive groups. The bass lines are to my ears the most captivating layer of the band's sound (on "Slow Rust" in particular), although the piano certainly shines here and there.

I'll give the band credit for "A Few Steps Down The Wrong Road", which gives an even-handed (and well-composed, with one of the better spoken word sections I've heard) yet sensible reading of Brexit and then nearly completely ruins it with a comparison to Nazi Germany because every politically-oriented work these days doggedly obeys Godwin's Law in stark defiance of applicability or good sense. That being said, it's definitely the most charitable view of 1930's Germany I've read in a while, so the band remain more conscientious than most talking heads. A solid album on all levels.