DIAGONAL - Arc

Absent from the recording scene for a full seven years, Diagonal are an English progressive-rock band who have won over genre enthusiasts with just two albums. For the Brighton outfit of Alex Crispin, Luke Foster, Ross Hossack, Nicholas Whittaker and David Wileman, along with returning member Daniel Pomlett, the time has now come to pick up the interrupted conversation.

While staying true to a sound halfway between Gentle Giant and Caravan, the six musicians have crafted a sonic blend that takes in not only progressive, kraut-rock and jazz, but also psychedelia, folk and post-rock. For their second album (“The Second Mechanism”, 2012), Alex Crispin had even sacrificed his role as singer, but after that instrumental binge, Diagonal return to relying on the undeniable appeal of his voice, often reminiscent of Peter Bardens of Camel.

“Arc” is the band's most pliable and velvety record yet, though no less effective or intelligent for it. Organ, piano and sax stretch out with skill and inventiveness over a rhythmic fabric that is at times intricate and dynamic, at others more mechanical and fluid.

It's in the title track that the band condenses its skill and harmonic invention, amid gritty guitar fuzz, rhythms reminiscent of King Crimson, brief sax and keyboard interjections, and a distinctive harmonic refrain that hints at developments and solos destined for incendiary live performances.

The opening notes of “Arc” are likewise entrusted to an intricate funk-rock groove that gradually slips into the arms of intense guitar solos (“9-Green”), a perfect sonic canvas for appreciating the band's rhythmic and harmonic balance. The pattern repeats in the even livelier “The Spectrum Explodes”, amid progressive flourishes steeped now in jazz-rock, now in hard-rock sonorities.

Softer, but no less assured, are the instrumental developments of “Citadel”, with keyboards and guitar introducing the vocals before leaving everything in the hands of a delightful multi-voiced dialogue featuring a vintage organ, sax and guitar in pinkfloyd-ian style. Unfortunately, that enchantment isn't repeated on the more languid “The Vital”, though the sax's whisper drifting over the keyboard's less dynamic notes has an unusual charm of its own.

Originality is certainly not the hallmark of Diagonal's approach, but the balance between stylistic elements is always refined and engaging, even when the tone turns downright introspective and melancholic. That's the case with "Stars Below", the most folk-leaning ballad in a Gentle Giant vein, and with the more ethereal "Celestia", whose warm, dynamic harmonic progressions skirting the edges of jazz bring the album to an elegant close that won't disappoint prog-rock fans.

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26/02/2020