The Night Watch – Boundaries

Canadian prog group The Night Watch deliver a unique and engaging 36-minute instrumental piece that comprises the entirety of their second album, Boundaries. Beginning with the hard-driving opening section of the piece, the Evan Runge’s violin playing leads the proceedings melodically and stylistically, injecting a lilting, somewhat Irish feel to the heavy rock sound. Although there are no named divisions in the piece, the music meanders through several stylistic shifts, with violin almost always out in front save for several guitar-led sections (played very competently by Nathanael Larochette) that offer some wisely chosen contrast to the violin fireworks dominant elsewhere. The final third of the album drags somewhat (before the more dramatic build to the climax), but no doubt such a section– as with most of the piece– works much better live. The music is challenging (both for listeners and the performers, no doubt) but the presentation is deliciously unusual, and while one might envision such a piece as a cult classic– in the right circumstances, it almost certainly could– one could also hope that the tasty violin work might prompt more than one aspiring violinist to stretch out into prog rock and beyond.

Rating:  3/5