Nathan Mahl - "Exodus" Review

Artist/ Band: Nathan Mahl
Title: Exodus
Label: Unicorn Digital
Year of Release: 2008
Offical Artist/ Band Link

The Review:

I’m somewhat of a newbie to Nathan Mahl’s music but aware of them via the internet. I was presented their latest release, Exodus, from their label and eagerly played the album. While there isn’t any new ground broken here, it was an enjoyable experience. One down side, and it’s minor, is the vocals. Sometimes they’re really good and others expect an acquired taste. The musicianship should be noted, is quite beautiful and to my ears would have been better as a more instrumental album.

Musically, it’s primarily of the symphonic and progressive genre with some bits of fusion mixed in. The mood of the album varies from slow symphonic to an faster upbeat nature. If you haven’t figured out, the theme of the album is biblical and tells the story of the Israelites as slaves in Egypt, oppressed under the Pharaoh and wanting to be free.

This is one of those difficult albums, where I’m not sure I can recommend it to people such as myself that haven’t heard any of the band’s previous works. Perhaps that’s a journey I will have to make but for now I can say that this album will satisfy mostly fans of Nathan Mahl. I will keep listening with an open mind, as all (or most) good progressive rock fans do.

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on July 10th, 2009

Tracks:

01. Burning Bush

02. Let My People Go

03. The Plagues

04. The Parting

05. Down From The Mountain

06. 40 Years (For Andy Latimer)

07. The Last Climb

08. Canaan

09. Zipporah's Farewell

10. The Price Of Freedom