The Custodian - Necessary Wasted Time

For a custodian, this guy sure has a hell of a mess lying around his office. Seriously though, this is some damn fine 70s era prog, so check it out!For some reason no prog is better than old school, English progressive music. Bands like Genesis, Marillion, Yes or the Flower Kings always put a smile on my face during those times when I want to mellow out to unique and sophisticated compositions without the heaviness of distorted guitars and machine gun double bass beats. And now I have new material to enjoy in The Custodian's debut album, Necessary Wasted Time.

The brainchild of lead singer and keyboardist, Richard Thomson (vocalist for progmetal band Xerath), The Custodian indulges his love of 70s era prog, and quite effectively recalls the sounds of the aforementioned bands that set the template for the genre. I'm not familiar with his metal band, but Thomson's voice is perfectly suited to The Custodian's sound, much like Neal Morse in Spock's Beard.

Those who prefer a heavier flavor of prog can still enjoy a mild crunch at times, as heard on Other People's Lives, but most of the tunes on this excellent debut fall squarely in the realm of the aforementioned 70s era progressive sound - particularly in the extended jam sessions that such music tends to become during its longer-than-radio-prefers run times. For me, it's the interaction of crystalline acoustic noodling with the warm thickness of a Hammond organ's chording and rich, syncopated percussion that really makes 70s prog such a good jam. And it's all here in spades.

The Bottom Line: Old school prog fans can indulge their musical proclivities with The Custodian's debut album - which may be considered necessary, but certainly not wasted time.

Tracks To Play On A Cool Sunday Morning With The Windows Open: The Man Out Of Time, Other People's Lives, Persona and The Sun Is God

- Genghis wishes it was cool enough to have the windows open these days...