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Scott's Song by Song #55: Spriggan Mist - The Glare


Welcome to issue #55 of Scott’s Song by Song (#scottssongbysong). For more information about this series, click here: 


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As I resume album reviews this week, I am checking out the latest album from the UK Pagan Prog-Folk band Spriggan Mist.  I am somewhat familiar with their music, and have several tracks in my Apple Music/I-Tunes library.  The band formed in 2008, and released their first album in 2009.  The album I am reviewing here, “The Glare” is their sixth studio album, released about a month ago (Early November 2025).  This review came to me via Anne-Claire of Bad Dog promotions.  We have had a loose association since around March of 2025. As always, the only compensation I receive is a digital review copy of the album, and I am always free to “call it as I hear it”.  Back to Spriggan Mist, they seem to be a very colorful band, formed by husband and wife multi-instrumentalists and composers Baz and Maxine Cilia.  Baz primarily plays bass, along with bazouki, and composed lyrics.  Maxine, plays guitar, keyboards and saxophone along with other wind instruments, and is the primary composer. The dynamic, costume wearing lead vocalist is Fay Brotherhood.  Neil Wighton is on lead guitar and Ali Soueidan is the new drummer, recently replacing Colin Garratt.   As for the band’s name, a Spriggan is a malevolent fae character/trickster/bodyguard of the Faery realm in Cornish folklore; best not to make one mad!  Spriggan Mist have their own Spriggan mascot named Sebastian who occasionally graces their album covers and merch, as well as sometimes appearing as a costumed character with the band (think Iron Maiden’s “Eddie”).  I would highly recommend checking out the band’s webpage for information about the individual band-members’ backgrounds, as they are quite an interesting lot indeed! (https://www.sprigganmist.com/meet-the-band )

As usual, this is a cold listen.



Without further ado, let’s check out “The Glare”.



Track 1 - The Gaze of the Dragon (1:43)



This opener is the shortest track on the album, with the rest clocking in between 6 and 8 minutes long. This one fades in with a synth chord, and Fay begins to sing in her distinctive voice.  She reminds me a little of Kate Bush, but has her own distinct flavor.  As the short song progresses, the instrumental accompaniment becomes more orchestrated and dynamic.  She warns of the Dragon luring you to his crystal cave.  I am sure this will set the stage for what is to come.



Track 2 - Ianatores Teresteres (6:50)



A quick Google query tells me that Ianatores Teresteres means “doorkeepers of the earth”.  Heavy guitar kicks this one off, and the guitar and rhythm section begin rocking a riff to lead in Fay’s vocals. Musically this is a heavy rock track, so far, albeit a good one. At just before 2:30, however, the music settles down with a clean guitar riff and flute.  The rhythm section soon joins in with a groove.  Eventually Wighton joins in with a guitar solo in this instrumental break.  The vocals return just before 4:30 on this musical theme.  After a verse the two guitarists trade lead riffs in a call and response style. Following that there is a section with harmony vocals and minimal accompaniment.  The band kicks back in hard at around 6 minutes.  Pretty good track.



Track 3 - Pieces of Glass (7:54)



The longest track on the album at nearly 8 minutes.  It begins with a tribal drumbeat from Ali Soueidan and what sounds like a harp to my ears, though no harp player is credited. Fay’s vocals soon join in.  This has a mysterious vibe to it. After she sings “Tik-tok, tik-tok”, there is a wonderful dual lead guitar harmonized section at around 1:30.  We are in 6-8 here as the vocals return. At around 3 minutes we get another “Tik-tok, tik-tok”, then there is a bridge. At 3:35 there is a heavy guitar riff then a gentle piano part juxtaposed.  The harmonized guitars return thereafter, leading to the next verse.  There is a nice vocal countermelody before 5 minutes. This one has a bit of a symphonic metal feel to it.  Just before 6 minutes, however, an acoustic guitar part takes over and flute soon joins it.  At around 6:20 the guitar drops out and only the flute remains.  Some accents join the flute, before they go back into an acoustic based groove.  An electric guitar comes back  just before 7 minutes, then just after 7 minutes a lead-guitar with a bagpipe-style tone enters the soundscape. They are gradually building up the layers of instrumentation.  Then at 7:30 everything but the flute drops back out.  The tempo slows as the solitary flute brings the track to a close. Excellent song!  I would say this is my favorite track so far.



Track 4 - Faery Wood (6:30)



Gentle acoustic guitar starts us off here.  Fay joins in with the rhythm section and a clean electric guitar ostinato accompanying.  We are in 6-8 again, but slower than the previous track.  Things begin to build in intensity around 2 minutes, then the music explodes as the next verse begins.  The way Fay says “The Faeries” at around 2:40 really demonstrates her unique tone. A flute solo takes over at around 3:30. Fay sings a line a cappella just after 4 minutes before the band comes back in hard. This is quite an engaging track!  Acoustic guitar takes back over before the 5 minute mark.  Fay’s voice returns and draws the listener in.   By 6 minutes there is another flute solo with a new chord progression to take us to the song’s conclusion.  I really enjoyed that one.



Track 5 - Crystal Caves (7:10)



Perhaps this is the crystal cave referenced in the opening track?  This begins in an upbeat 4-4 in a major key with shimmering guitars and the rhythm section.  They switch to minor chords for the chorus, sounding rather ominous.  This one seems a bit influenced by 60s folk-rock like The Byrds, particularly in the verses. There is a bridge around 2:30. Another new section begins at around 4:15.  At 4:52, the music shifts again with a mysterious vibe leading-in the flute, then lead guitar.  The flute (maybe recorder, or even clarinet?)  and the guitar harmonize with each other around 6 minutes in.  This gradually begins to fade taking us to the end of the song. Cool track.



Track 6 - The Cult (6:00)



Chiming clean electric guitars with some harmonics set the tone for this one. A bit of bass backs them up.  A jaunty 4-4 beat kicks in around 30 seconds in. The verse gets a bit heavier with distorted guitars.  I like the chorus with the vocal harmonies and big guitar chords. Fay’s fluttering vibrato continues to captivate. At around 3 minutes, lead guitar takes over with a melodic solo.  At 3:45 there is an unaccompanied guitar riff that reminds me ever so slightly of the main melody in Edvard Greig’s “Hall of the Mountain King”, but it isn’t an exact quote.  Then a more standard guitar solo takes over. The rhythm guitar layering reminds me of the type of sound that Alex Lifeson used on the “Clockwork Angels” album.  After another chorus, the song concludes with harmonized guitars.  A good track.



Track 7 - When Stars Collide (7:39)



While not quite a closing epic, this is the second longest song on the album.  We start off with a riff with accents on beats one and two and harmonized guitars in between.  Fay begins singing on this riff.  The chorus is full of vocal harmonies.   There is a transitional riff, then a synth solo at around 3 minutes.  Another verse follows.  At around 5:15, there is a dreamy synth part that takes over and the rest of the band drops out.  Chimey clean guitars join in and then we get a saxophone solo.   The bass & drums play some accented beats. At 6:30 Ali and Baz lay down a groove.  By just after 7 minutes they drop back out and the synth and chimey guitars take back over to take us to the end, and a final bass note lands on the final chord. Good track!



OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:



I’d say the Sprigs have done a good job here.  It is a very strong set of songs and quite entertaining.  While Fay’s unique voice really stands out, the rest of the band work quite nicely together to create some terrific soundscapes.  For me, “Pieces of Glass” was the strongest track but none were bad. While there are not any odd-metered sections that I detected, the music is still proggy in its scope. I’ll call it a solid, enjoyable album and give it 4.25 out of 5 stars (which translates to an 85% score).


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Scott


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