I didn’t think people made music like this anymore, though I’m so glad it hasn’t disappeared from the music sphere altogether. That said, tying down precisely what is happening here isn’t easy. It is not that Tyler Kamen makes music that doesn’t fit on the musical map; it is more that he evokes so many sounds and styles that his music seems to be ever-shifting through the sonic landscape.
Third Eye Temple is music based around the sound of his fantastic guitar work, one that blends rock, blues, and folk but is also embued with an unexpected soulfulness – unexpected if you think that this is just another rocker wielding a guitar. And that eclectic approach is what keeps everything moving forward.
“How To Open a Portal,” which kicks things off, is seductive and understated, like much of his work found here, but it is also ornate, the solo, in particular, pushing into neo-prog territories, just slightly. “Charming King Snake” is spacious and blues-infused, hazy and harmonious, “Those Roads of Old” evokes something of the past in its lingering notes and emotive sonic reach, and “Fata Morgana” is the perfect showcase for Kamen’s fantastic psychedelic-soaked guitar work.
There is something Santana-esque about the sounds here, although not beholden to the Latin grooves that defined that sound and leaning more into the sound of European 70’s bands and, at its most florid and fanciful, reminding me of bands such as Yes or Genesis, and perhaps even occasionally the bands they influenced like Marillion and Pendragon, although perhaps less so than on Kamen’s previous outings.
It is a gorgeous collection of songs and a reminder that rock music doesn’t have to be big and bombastic and that it can be artful and eloquent, majestic and mellifluous, poignant and poised.
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