Colin Powell is a favourite musician of this website. In addition to his work with Nova Cascade, I also reviewed his last release recording as A Multitude of One, a collection of songs collated over several years, and containing some real gems.
Now, Colin is about to release A Templar’s Tale, a concept album delving into this country’s rich medieval past a la Wakeman, and at its heart is Sir Geoffrey de Beaumont, a fictitious Templar knight (a military order founded to defend pilgrims on their journey to Jerusalem in the twelfth century), who narrates the story of the Templar’s journey. The tale unfolds through spoken passages and songs performed by Colin, merging storytelling with sweeping musical landscapes.
The album itself, which you can obtain at Colin’s Bandcamp page, https://amultitudeofone.bandcamp.com/album/a-templars-tale comes with a 44-page illustrated medieval-style booklet containing lyrics and rich background lore, offering fans a deeper dive into the Templar’s world. A great idea, and one for those of you who love to immerse themselves into a tale and its music.
Regrettably, this reviewer does not have the resource to discuss all 44-pages, but I most certainly can provide you with a decent summation of what this fine album has to offer.
We have seventy-five minutes of music spread over twelve tracks, so you are certainly getting your progressive money’s worth.
Now, Powell has done everything on this. He composes, performs, records, mixes, and masters, astounding, really, and from the off, those of you who are not familiar with his work, let me begin by saying that there was a reason he was invited to join Nova Cascade to replace the late, great, Eric Bouillette, and that is because he is a very, very good guitarist, and some distinctive riffs hit you immediately on opener, The Tale Begins.
Colin has released a video taster for this album on YouTube, and I have embedded this below for you to enjoy and whet your appetite. Eleven- and three-quarter minutes of musical joy. I played Stone and Gold on my Progzilla Radio Show last Saturday (available as a podcast, simply go to https://progzilla.com/lazland-on-progzilla-radio-episode-17/ ), and I remarked on my introduction how much I liked the vocal, and Powell throughout plays the narrator to wonderful impact. On that track, there is also some wonderful organ and voice effect work. Powell has a warm and descriptive voice which takes the listener along on this particular journey, taking you from the reasons for the setting up of the Order in The Dawn of the Templars right up to its legacy.
There is a romanticised telling of pilgrimages in our time, but the truth was very different in the period we are discussing here, prior to the introduction of mass transport. It was, simply, a dangerous undertaking. Yes, the promise of eternal redemption awaited the successful brave soul, but the threat of kidnapping, slavery, death was ever present (“The Trials by God’s Hands”), and I think that trepidation is put across nicely at the start of Footsteps to Jerusalem in a very dramatic start and then wistful reflection in its notes.
Throughout, Powell captures the glory of choristers in the vocal effects soaring above the narrative, and at times, the sound fills the room very nicely.
The Sacred Oath has a couple of beautiful guitar solos, lovingly delicate, most certainly ones for fans of Latimer to lap up.
An Unholy War is dense and dramatic, the guitar riffs telling a tale of mighty clashes between Christian and Muslim warriors in a time of huge butchery undertaken in the name of God, this is as good an instrumental depiction of war as you are likely to hear, five minutes of a fret masterclass.
The Battle Of Acre is spread over some sixteen minutes (thus, qualifying for consideration on the website’s annual “epic of the year” award), captures in all its gory glory the historical Siege of Acre, in which Guy of Jerusalem fought back against the marauder and conqueror, Saladin, in what became the Third Crusade and which, incidentally, still has major political and religious ramifications to this day. The Prelude is precisely that, an introduction to that event, and has some very deft keyboard work and a female voice infused with the blood of the middle east, it all builds up to an intense introduction to The Battle itself, heralded by thumping timpani and orchestral impact. It is extremely ambitious, and Powell pulls it off with aplomb, densely symphonic, the noise reducing then to a gorgeous piano against a soundscape of synths as the narrator describes the carnage unfolding deftly before the orchestral battle takes centre stage, each side entrenched in blood. It is extremely impressive, and The Aftermath which closes the suite has a pleasingly classic prog rock feel to it, the keyboards washing over you and a haunted guitar solo.
The guitar harmonies on The Grand Master are exquisite, heralding the dawn of a new leader from the ashes of Acre. The whole short piece is one of the prettiest I think you will hear in 2025.
The Thirteenth Day tells us of the Order’s dissolution at the hands of the Pontiff, though there are still many who believe that the Order exists in the hands of secretive Masonic Orders (a conspiracy theory which, in all honesty, carries very little weight in modern times) and is another strong paeon to classic progressive rock, taking its time, building, thoughtful, the sung vocals reminding me a wee bit here of Tony Banks’s on The Fugitive, which I enjoyed.
The full-length closer, Legacy of the Templars has been pre-released, and this epic is embedded below. A noble and fulfilling conclusion to this album, it is a thoughtful musical and vocal discussion of a group of knights Powell clearly admires and has an interest in set in a symphonic and classic rock context.
If you like those classic albums of yore such as King Arthur, and the like, then I guarantee that you will find much to enjoy in A Templar’s Tale, the product more than matching the ambition in attempting such an opus.