At the beginning of this millennium, Overhead arrived from the great North with two majestic albums ("Zumanthum" and "Metaepitome") that were to mark the progressive planet forever. Since then, we have to admit that the band, apart from the fact that they've only released three albums in 15 years, have been a bit slow, hesitating between a hazardous metallic orientation ("Of Sun and Moon") or a pop side in their latest release ("Haydenspark"). So, it's with some circumspection that we start listening to their new production, 'Telepathic Mind', announced by the band itself as a Magnum Opus, spread over two CDs and 90 minutes, with a content strongly marked by the current events of the 2020s, Covid's pandemic and the war in Ukraine in the foreground.
The first moments offered by 'War to End all Wars' and even more so by the first epic 'Ghosts From the Future' will immediately remove any doubts as to the musical quality offered by Overhead. This album marks a return to the basics of the band with a varied progressive music alternating vocal and instrumental passages, multiplicity of themes, variation of rhythms, tonalities and ambiences at the service of a music that speaks as much to the senses as to the cortex. The flute is very present without being invasive, as well as the guitar soli scattered between all the tracks without it becoming a compulsory part of the music. The perfect mix allows us to savour the beautiful bass parts in a perfect balance between all the participants, whether in the introspective parts ('Ghost From the Future') or in the more hard-hitting 'Sail Across the Universe', a track that starts out in Boston-style AOR mode before taking a more metallic turn, including growls, while keeping an endearing melodic turn.
As for the title track, it will unfold a real progressive festival for more than 17 minutes, assembling a host of ideas and variations of all kinds, instrumental passages where the flute is particularly honoured, before a totally grandiose finale. To detail each track in this review would be to make it longer than necessary, as these 90 minutes are rich in every respect and will offer multiple listenings to receive all the subtleties. Nevertheless, it's impossible to ignore the single (at least in its format) offered by 'Tuesday that Never Came', a very quiet track whose superb melody gently rises in power, offering moreover a magnificent contrast with the odd rhythmic gimmick that accompanies it on the keyboard. Great art.
With "Telepathic Minds", Overhead offers us a sweet treat able to gather and convince all the audiences of the progressive sphere, accessible and complex at the same time, while revisiting many styles associated with the genre. A stunning return to the top of the first division.