Quite possibly Mark Murdock’s most loved project – existing alongside MASHEEN MESSIAH, THE NEW EMPIRE and his solo and collaborative output – the ensemble named CYMBALIC ENCOUNTERS had a heavyweight aura to them from the very beginning: from 2013’s when this Japan-based American, who’d played in Peter Banks’ EMPIRE, roped in Percy Jones and John Goodsall to contribute, as composers and performers, to his “Cymbalic Encounters” album. It wasn’t a one-off affair, though, as The BRAND X veterans stayed on to appear on that record’s successors, 2020’s "Exploration Of The Southern Constellation" and its follow-up that’s titled “Cerulean Cathedral” and is slated to be out on September 16th on CD and as a download and on October 21st on vinyl.
Being a brilliant musician – and this scribe’s co-writer on the “Oblivion Bound” concept – drummer Murdock knows how to go about a prog-fusion idea, so there will be enough to enjoy on the forthcoming platter, one of the last records to feature the great late Goodsall’s guitar, although a lot of it comes from earlier times. In Mark’s words, “I had been sitting on some of these songs and some I had only on Bandcamp before, but decided to put them together as one release. There is another CYMBALIC ENCOUNTERS release in the works, and it will not include any BRAND X members. That era has ended.” However, that period’s last pieces run like this:
Cerulean Cathedral
1. Cerulean Cathedral
2. The Fallout Shelter At St. Peter’s Sq
3. Flight To Catharsis
4. The Ending Film At The Endless Theater
5. The Unwelcome Doormat
6. Lost Shadows
7. The Man With The Changing Face
8. Polarity
9. Falling Velocity
