Next installment in BLT's tactic of releasing the material for their upcoming album Chapter III – Stories. Well, originally the plan was to release a series of five singles before finalising the actual album. The latter was originally envisioned to happen late in 2010, but life doesn't always go as one expects.

You see, drummer John Van Tongelen had actually already given his notice in the beginning of this year, but he lingered on to secure the rum job for the previous single, "Oceans Apart"/ "Where Kindred Spirits Meet" (review posted 30/05/2010), and play all gigs until a new guy was found. But in the meantime BLT was forced to seek a new suited drummer, and in late June John "officially" handed over his drum sticks to Michel Lodder (from, among others Helluray, this natural talent started playing at an early age, went to the Cleuver drum school (headed by Focus drummer Hans Cleuver), and studied double bass drum kicks from Ernst Van EE (check Helloise and Ayreon, among others). Now a drum teacher himself, e plays a wide variety of genres from straightforward to Proggy Jazz Rock. His influences are quite diverse, but the fact that he's also heavily into Greg Bisonette and Mike Portnoy are what set BLT onto him in the first place. A fortnight after Lodder's recruitment, BLT released a video for their last single's title track (can be viewed on either the band's facebook page, or via a link in the blogs of the band's own webpage).

Both new songs on the new single are what the band itself would call mid-tempo BLT tracks, each with its own twitch. The original demo version of “The Peter Principle” goes back to 2007, and “...could've come straight off a Saga album...”(quote), but then went through the band's treatment. The original idea of the song was to make fun of a co-worker rendered incompetent by a wrong promotion, and unwilling to heed the warnings or admit it. It's also a tongue-in-cheek reference to BLT's mastermind Geert Fieuw, whom indeed likes to hold the strings somewhat. In the reworked version the band describes the song as “...something that sounds like a mixture of Mr. Mister meets XTC and Rush with Marillion and Santana stuff on top of it. The bridge and solo part revolve around a progression in Lydian mode (a technique often used in Jazz/ Fusion that gives an off-center, need to resolve feel) that is being shifted through key changes of a minor third, effectively shortcutting the musical circle of fifths into a square of thirds. Call it PostRock, Prog-Lite in 4/4...to us it's still BLT through another sonical aspect...”...after which Geert makes his excuses for making the description sound like a migraine. Well...sorry he should indeed be, because when push comes to shove, this is simply a great “Neo-Classical” Prog Rock BLT track.

The second song is based on an old midi keyboard demo which was tucked away in the computer of Geert's unfinished studio. When the guys started working on the song, they started off from the guitar point of view, which sounded heavy in stead of the band's usual neo-classical approach, but when Geert started adding the orchestrations everything fell into place. Definitely one of the band's harsher songs on the album to come – so far – and it apparently inspired singer Jo De Boeck to perform some of the gutsiest vocals in his BLT career. Geert mentions the song to sound like Iron Maiden meets Nightwish with a hint of Jeff Scott Soto and R.J. Dio...but all I personally hear, is a very nice, heavier, BLT song! And as far as I'm concerned, as long as Fieuw and De Boeck keep working together, anything they come out with will always have their combined signature on it : BLT, Belgian Classic Melodic Rock with a Proggy side!

Well, you know, no matter what Geert or I tell you, you can always make up your own minds, since both tracks were posted at myspace.com/beyondthelabyrinth.

90/100

Tony.