Phoenyx - Keepers of the Flame (1990)

This album was a bit of a gamble - albeit a very cheap gamble. It lay in the Real Groovy Sale Price bins, at the kingly cost of $1 or $2. The band photo on the back makes them look like wanna-be gypsies from the mid 80s - big hair, tattered clothing in a cornucopia of styles. The cover depicts a phoenix so stylised that I only just realised it WAS a phoenix. It's pretty wicked - all celtic design. Nice gold font on the cover too - that must have cost a fair amount to print. Inside, the paper is thinner, more like an actual booklet than the glossy cd covers I'm used to, and the list of instruments is appealing - electric violin, mandolin, tambourine, bodhran, mandola, flute and something called a florlogue.  Also bagpipes and a female vocalist. Hrm, I thought - sounds like folk. Could be folk-metal, could be folk-rock or could be pure folk, either way, it's probably worth $2.

And when I put it in, I fair wooped with glee. DEFINITELY worth $2.

Phoenyx are pretty obscure. They're from San Francisco, California and labelled as "Celtic fusion rock". Googling "Heather Alexander" is interesting - because the vocalist is apparently actually Alexander James Adams - from his website:

Alec is also the appointed heir to Heather Alexander. Heather, who was actually a changeling, was called back to faerieland in November 2006; at the same time, Alexander, the child in whose place she had originally been left and who had been raised in faerieland, was released after beating the faerie queen in a fiddling contest. Thus, Alec now carries on Heather’s musical legacy.

This band just become officially even more interesting (finally reading more carefully through wikipedia I discovered he is transgender and transitioned in 2006). He also indulges in a little filk music. And he's pretty funny too. Okay, so I've got distracted and am visiting his website, where this is video of him performing "He of the Sidhe" - this is the story mentioned above (the duel with the faerie queen) - ohmigosh, that man can fiddle! Seriously, I expected to see smoke coming off the strings. He appears to be a bit of an icon in the Pacific North-West. He now lives in Oregon with his wife and many animals.

This is the only album Phoenyx released and it is (not surprisingly) out of print. But if you think it sounds interesting, there is a bunch of solo stuff available through his website both of his and Heather's.

Now, to get back on track... Inside the booklet, the lyrics are illustrated with simple line art, giving it a real storybook feel and the music, well, let's give it a listen, shall we?

"Banish Misfortune/Lark in the Morning" are two folk reels, playing back to back and inspiring a lively, frisky mood upon the listener, promises of what to expect. There's a slightly discordant edge to one of the instruments, I think Ritual make use of them.

In "Stormbringer" the vocals come in, and oh boy, does Heather have a powerful voice or what! There are definite echoes of the 80s here, with a lilt to her accent and an almost masculine depth* - when she wants it to. Not metal by a long shot, but definitely rock. The music is alive and energetic, giving quirky little trills.

"The King of Elfland's Daughter" is a duet, between male and female (Heather and Alec, now that would be weird and chronologically improbable) - there's no other vocalists listed for this track.

"Black Unicorn" has a menace to it, the music low and looming. Vocals with the lilting accent. Music evocative.

A far more lively number is "Cat and the Fiddle". Pure folk, with very little of the rock but perhaps a tiny touch of country.

"Hey diddle diddle, answer me this riddle...
Hey diddle do, tell me what you will..."

 "Marley O'Reilly"  is a reel jig, with a good rhythm to dance and spin to and some very delicate fiddling.

"The Voices of the Sea" is a haunting number, with eerie vocals drifting in a spectral fashion. Heather's voice is edged with sweetness. This is a siren song - a soft and gentle, luring tune from a mermaid to a sailor, wishing them well on their voyage.

The mysterious "Creature of the Night" gets off to a haunting start. Alexander's voice is powerful and slightly ominous. It increases in tempo and menace, as the sinister Satyr lures the innocent and ithe ignorant into the woods. The gentle music evokes the feel of the dark forest in which strange creatures lurk.

Another set of reels now - starting with the slow and melancholic, "Musical Priest" becomes more lively as it frisks and folics into "Butterfly" then dives and dips into "Swallowtail".

Something a little more aggressive now - "March of Cambreadth". It opens with some marching fiddle and violent lyrics:

"Axes flashing, broadswords swing, shining armour's piercing ring..."

Keeping in the spirit of the Celts, they even spelled "armour" the English way.

Now, something's "Up in the Loft" - something threatening and strange. The turne is dramatic and the chorus jerky and a little discordant, while the fiddles whimper and the drums and guitars thrum with tension.

"Oh but yesterday I heard it, with its haunting mournful cry..."

A jerky and strange intro leds us into the ghostly, modern and pretty intense "Concentration". Vocals on this piece are from Cat Taylor. It's not a heavy song, but the back-and-forth tribal rhythms and the whispered vocals are disturbing and creepy. Very different from everything else.

The album concludes with "Yo Ho!" A rousing nautical tune with somewhat dark lyrics that - partway through, goes into the folk song about sailors that we all know and love (but with possibly different lyrics).
Like all good folk songs at sea, it has a light and whimsical verse, then a rousing chorus that the rest of the crew can join in with.

"If you eat ship rats then you get more meat..."

Hrm, I'm in the mood for pirates now. Maybe I should skip past Q this time (it's just Queensryche again, I've nothing else) and leap into Running Wild. What do you think?

This is a charming album, folk blended with  rock and a smattering of the quirky and curious. It has a light and whimsical feel, like the band were having a bit of a lark when they created it. For something a little bit fun, with some quite entertaining lyrics and a vocalist that sounds like she stepped out of the 80s and does a bitchin' tenor**, this might well be the album for you. Of course, it's out of print, so you're out of luck - unless your local store is trying to clear it at a mega cheap price, that is!

Let's give it a 7/10.

* not surprising, really. 
** I'm trying to prove I know something about vocal scales now. I don't. So if I'm wrong, so be it.