I approached with caution to PHANTOM SPELL‘s upcoming album ”Heather & Hearth” while seeing its cover art. Well, after the first minute of opener ‘The Autumn Citadel’ I was completely spellbinding by the magic music coming out of the speakers.
Phantom Spell is the brainchild of Kyle McNeill, frontman / guitarist for London based classic metal stalwarts Seven Sisters. Having established his command of songcraft over several albums with the UK’s twin-guitar renegades, McNeill has decided to add a second string to his bow, delving heart-first into a musical love letter to his favorite prog rock artists of yesteryear, combined with the proto-Metal from the second half of the 70s.
”Heather & Hearth” is like a mixture of these styles & sound ranging from the harmonic melodies of early Uriah Heep, Camel, Magnum, Wishbone Ash, to the haze of Genesis, the magical inspiration of Yes, and the musicality of Kansas. Even prog-adjacents like the very first Iron Maiden, second half of the ’70s Judas Priest when they were pretty progressive, Blue Oyster Cult, and more.
There’s classic riffs, Hammond organ, psych guitars, analog-like synths, mellotron, all mixed together with dynamism – this is progressive 70s, but rocking too. And McNeill not only sings very well, he has performed all you can hear on this album.
Fans of any of the bands mentioned above should listen to ”Heather & Hearth”, a wonderful vintage progressive / proto metal album full of great ideas.
Unsurprisingly, being an album masterminded by a guitarist, features some excellent guitar playing. McNeill plays with a distinct contrast between the deeper and more heavily distorted tone of the backing rhythm guitars and the higher and cleaner leading melody lines with minimal distortion (be they solos or riffs carrying the melody in between vocal sections). This is not an unusual sound for practitioners of traditional heavy metal, but in McNeill’s hands it sounds epic and energetic.
Musically, the album delivers smooth, deceptively complex music whose intricacies aren’t immediately evident thanks to its hooky guitar work, soaring vocals, and clever nuances that don’t call attention to themselves, and incorporates some acoustic and even folk melodies.
When it all comes together on tracks like “Evil Hand,” the haunting “A Distant Shore,” and the epic album highlight “Siren’s Song,” McNeill really shines. All these are song-format tracks, but there’s also two grand epics in opener “The Autumn Citadel” and the title track, more expansive in arrangements and of course, more ‘proggy’.
PHANTOM SPELL’s ”Heather & Hearth” drips with all the early metal / progressive rock nostalgia implied by the cover artwork. The music itself is a well-crafted love letter to heavy metal of old when this type of music wasn’t still called that way, and a worthy exploration by McNeill into the wider depths of Seventies progressive music.
Although the intoxicating energy of the lead guitar can’t be maintained all throughout, the softer moments add contrast to even better highlight the breakout highs, and together the contrasting moments weave a musical spell that I’m content to let entrap me.
Highly Recommended
Tracklist:
Disc 1 (35:58)
1. The Autumn Citadel (11:47)
2. Siren Song (03:33)
3. Evil Hand (03:46)
4. A Distant Shore (05:52)
5. Heather & Hearth (10:57)
Phantom Spell – Heather 2025
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