Discipline - Captives of the Wine Dark Sea

It’s been 30 years since their formation and six years since they have released a new album. One of the bands that have been around from day one in their hometown in Detroit, Michigan and discovering their music on Prog Rock Deep Cuts with Ian Beabout, is Discipline. With four albums in the can, they've released their fifth album on the label, The Laser’s Edge this year entitled, Captives of the Wine Dark Sea.

The themes of the album deal with; disbelief, struggling to write and looking back on what was by achieving success, and the haunting images that will come at you as if it's the elephant in the room. And the themes fit well into the new album. The current line-up is Paul Dzendzel on Drums, Matthew Kennedy on Bass, Tiles guitarist Chris Herin, and vocalist and keyboardist, Matthew Parmenter.

And working with veteran music producer Terry Brown (Rush, Voivod, FM, Max Webster, and Klaatu) in the mixing level who also worked with Matthew’s third solo album, it’s a very interesting combination. Discipline have never disappointed me with the art and theatrical side of their music. With Captives of the Wine Dark Sea, it’s a return to ideas as Parmenter describes it as “an escape to ameliorate the workaday world.”

Life Imitates Art deals with the struggle on writing a hit and success while Chris’ lead guitar and Matt’s piano share the introduction and the verses by his vocals. With it’s pounding beats, ‘60s psych-organ, and the lines “That’s why we make pretty songs for all the boys and girls to sing along/in High School and Reunion/I remember that one too and life imitates art.”

Matthew is describing to the listener that while a band or an artist writes a successful song and it gets on the radio, they realize the big question that lays ahead of them “What is going to happen now? We’ve come a long way, what is going to happen in the years to come?” It’s a great song and I just can’t get enough of it. But let’s move on. S is a gothic ride of instrumental terror.

The vibes of Brubeck’s Blue Rondo a la Turk comes to mind as screeching guitars, ominous string sections go on a dangerous ride towards the rapid rivers and the waterfall that is bound to happen at any moment, at any second for the first 2 minutes and 24 seconds. But then, it goes deeper into the tunnels showing these haunting images as Herin’s guitar digs us towards those moments a tiny between Richard Pinhas and Roger Trigaux as Chris honors the RIO (Rock In Opposition) movement.

Love Songs gives Parmenter to delve in the acoustic folk-blues walking composition. It deals with not wanting to hear the same old “I love you” songs and being alone from the situation. Matthew really digs into these Lennon-sque lyrics that strike a chord before the mid-ragtime piano section with some heavier territory.

With Here There Is No Soul, Discipline delves into the essence of The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter and at times country-sque lines with the Keith Richards touch for the first minute and thirty-eight seconds. But then, it digs deeper and deeper into the soil as the organ and rhythm guitar riffs and soars to a closing end finale on the last 53 seconds.

The closer, Burn the Fire Upon the Rocks is a 14-minute epic that gives Chris Herin a chance to come forward. He goes into the Zeppelin-sque riffs and Beatle-sque styles from the White Album-era throughout his guitar. There is a rising sequence between the mellotron, mellowing drums, and piano. Not to mention some 10cc vocalizations on the first 4 minutes and 9 seconds.

Discipline’s music may not be everyone’s cup of coffee, Captives of the Wine Dark Sea is a return to show that they are not stopping. Mellowing, haunting, and different types of sound alongside from their progressive inspirations.