Secrets of a German Pow: The Revelations of Hauptmann Herbert Cleff

Everybody loves a good ol’ dumping on bedroom projects. Ain’t nuthin like tearin’ instrudjental solo guitarists a new one for how generic their riffs are, and repeating for the thousandth time that soloing dost not the songwriting maketh (think, djenter, think!). On the flipside though, whenever a solo artist does come out with something worthwhile, it becomes all the more impressive. Enter The Vicious Head Society, a solo project by Graham Keane. Now to call this an actual solo project may be a bit of a stretch given the plethora of session musicians featured on this, but all the writing and composing is done by Keane. This band has been on my radar for a while since they were featured on a Reddit series for underrated prog metal artists, so I was excited to finally have an excuse to listen to them as I saw that they had a new one coming up. So the perennial question is of course, does it live up to my own personal hype?

The Lindsays offer strong, eloquent versions of the three Op. 55 quartets. Their playing is full of vigour yet alive to the nuances and felicities of a composer near the height of his powers – perhaps already there in the splendidly volatile F minor Quartet. The Kodály Quartet on Naxos provide an assured rival performance at bargain price, but the Lindsays’ attractive blend of exuberance and poise gives them the edge.