Search - Titus Groan :: Titus Groan

Titus Groan's strange journey

Mart Graef | Eindhoven, The Netherlands | 01/06/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some thirty years have passed since I heard "The Hall of the Bright Carvings". Now, to listen to it again is like recovering lost time. This really was the British progressive rock sound of the early seventies. The music tried to avoid trivial tunes (and, accordingly, was usually unfit for dancing), and the lyrics - if any - were obscure, often as incomprehensible as life itself.
Titus Groan derived their name from the novel by Mervyn Peake, the first volume of the Gormenghast trilogy. The music evokes very well the dark atmosphere of this strange and marvelous book. In fact, it was the music that aroused my interest in the book, not the other way around. Peake's books have always remained in print, but the band Titus Groan somehow disappeared from the scene. The 1970 album (actually an extended EP) exhibits all the characteristics of a debut of a promising rock band. The concept was very ambitious (multi-part complex pieces), but the result was not yet fully developed. It resembles in a way the first albums of other English bands of the same period, such as Wishbone Ash and Gentle Giant. It makes one wonder what the next album would sound like.
But there isn't a second album. What went wrong?"

Titus Groan is cool!

Mark | Indiana | 09/17/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Throughout our lives we come into contact with a wide variety of music through many different peoples and mediums. Occasionally we stumble upon a real treasure. Titus Groan is just such a gem. Unfortunately, the album that I aquired was so badly scratched on one side that it could not be played, but the other side was fine. This side contained "The Hall of Bright Carvings, (the entire side if I remember correctly) a unique blend of electric guitar and clarinet performing dueling banjo type riffs. The music has a dark,almost gothic feel (similar to King Crimson or Tangerine Dream). I consider myself a music connoisseur savoring Wagner to Yanni, Willie Nelson to REM. If you enjoy everything from the meat and potatoes of Led Zeppelin to the delicacies and eccentricities of Yes and Jethro Tull, you will enjoy this album."