Now I’ve been to Ballarat a few times but never stumbled upon the Balawat that lends it’s title to the opening track on Graham Green’s newest offering ‘Rage of the Innocents’. For those not in the know Balawat is the site of the ancient Assyrian city of Imgur-Enlil, which lies 25 km from Mosul and the gates in question in the song ‘The Gates of Balawat’ are the sets of decorated bronze bands that had adorned the main doors of a number of buildings in that ancient site. They are stunning things to behold and I remember seeing them as a kid in the British Museum on a school trip. Here Greene paints a suitable evocative picture by means of his six string and that’s just where we begin the journey.
Musically ‘Rage of the Innocents’ sees Greene picking up where he left off with ‘The Guitar Vinci Code’ as far as style goes, and it looks like the course is firmly plotted here developing those themes from that previous EP further on the 11 tracks here.. As a collection of music ‘Rage’ does what all great instrumentals should do – convey not just the light and shade but the depth of the shadows as well ass evoking an emotional response in the listener. What I love about Green’s work is that, like Satriani, he paints landscapes and builds stories, conjuring images out of sound and holding them there before sweeping you onward. It’s a journey you always undertake with him never alone.
All of the landscapes here are different sometimes starkly sometimes subtly. From the desert scene of ‘Balawat’ to the rocky shore’s of the Shetlands where ‘Wulver’s Stane’ has its genesis, brought to life by notes and rhythm and melody of a distinctly northern type, wilder and cleaner than Celtic. It’s a Folky feeling that is revisited on ‘The Road to Bedrule’, another wonderfully evocative title that evokes the borderland between England and Scotland with it’s fiddles and warmer sound.
And that is just dipping the toes in the water of what is a great and rewarding album. There re stark contracts here, beautiful colours and vivid landscapes and awe are pulled though them all on the silken strings of Greene’s guitar. If you want Rock then the dizzyingly intricate ‘Fools and Angels’ will take you ear; and if you want stormier fare then ‘Captain Dangerous’ is another standout.
Elsewhere there is the hard rock of ‘Ghost of Chance’ the dark path of ‘Only Time’; the cliff-top wild ride of ‘Thrill of the Chase’; the heavy riffing of ‘Rage of the Innocents’ and the final delicate beauty of ‘State of the Arc’ all of which could take the crown. Picking favourites here though is a thankless task – it’s not about the individual songs at all, it’s all about the work as a whole. I honestly believe that this may be Greene’s masterwork, though I’d hasten to add the postscript ‘so far’…
