Ramage Inc. and Friends – A Quiet Earth (Charity Single)
Self-Released
Release Date: 26/06/2020
Review by Beth Jones
10/10
There’s no denying that in many, many ways this lockdown has been shit. However, amongst all the fear, anger, and sadness, there have been some silver linings. Our subject here is one of those, and while we don’t usually do single reviews, with Ramage Inc. being a firm favourite in this house, it was a must for us on many levels.
Firstly, the band, and the 30+ ‘friends’ that join them on this project are all superbly talented musicians, who live for playing music, so coming together to create this has been a great outlet for them in these weird times, where supporting each other is paramount.
Secondly, they have all given up their time to do this in support of a brilliant charity – Doctors Without Borders. Founded to save lives and speak out, the selfless Doctors Without Borders staff have helped tens of millions of people since 1971. The 13 founders have grown to over 36,000 staff on the frontline of emergency medical aid globally. At this time of global medical crisis, this could not be a more fitting charity.
But the reason at the forefront of me wanting to write about this single is its sheer magnificence, both conceptually and musically. I can almost guarantee that you won’t hear a better song than this in 2020.
The project started with an appeal to their fans on social media, early on in lockdown, to help them write some lyrics for a song. Many people suggested potential ‘next lines’, and these suggestions were formulated into the final lyrics. The music video beautifully illustrates this, with the lyric suggestions appearing on screen in the style of a social media comment, showing the name of the commenter.
The band then enlisted the help of an array of musicians from around the world to collaborate with. As well as the standard instrumentation that you would expect to see, the collaboration also added new depth, with an exciting array of instruments including Cuatro, Oil Drums, Timpani and a Lyre.
Ramage Inc. are a band known for taking on ambitious projects, but even for them, this was a grand-scale undertaking. They said about the project: “Quiet Earth explores a distillation and the emotional impact of the isolation experienced by the world in lockdown. We wanted to bring a collective of talent together who are currently experiencing their own version of isolation, as well as the direct connection and input from the fans, who have been incredible themselves in this project too”.
Musically, this composition is simply stunning. I have no other words suitable to describe it. Not only is it poignant and so, so relevant, but it’s huge in its sound, it’s diverse in its instrumentation, it’s masterfully performed, and it’s incredibly produced, to the point of moving me to tears with its magnitude. That’s not something that happens to me often. The last song that did that was Queen, ‘Mother Love’. It’s an immense meld of heavy progressive metal, with overtones of symphonic classical music, and undertones of darker, down-tuned blackened metal.
It would be spectacular to see this performed one day with all the collaborators together, and a full classical orchestra – idea for the future guys?! But for now, turn up the stereo, turn the lights down low, and just enjoy this wonderful, moving, and epically expansive tune, and if you can, give to the cause. The single is available via the bands bandcamp page. I implore anyone who appreciates musical achievement to check it out: https://ramageinc.bandcamp.com/track/a-quiet-earth
RAMAGE INC. LINE-UP:
Bryan Ramage – vocals and guitar
Allan Forsyth – guitar
Marcin Buczek – bass
Paul Hameed – drums
SINGLE PERFORMED BY:
Abraham Sarache, Adam Peeroo (Kvilla), Al Douglas (Storm of Embers), Alan Ross Van Downie (DoNpHoBiA), Anabelle Iratni (Devilment), Bea García García (Silentvice), Bob Anderson, Bryan Ramage (Ramage Inc), Callum Stevenson, Colin MacGregor (Catalysis), Darren Callaghan, Jim Shemilt (RumRunners), Jason Rebel, Jay Stewart (41Divinators), Jim Marten (Hedra), Laura Gilchrist (King Witch), Mateusz Głuszniewski (Guchy Music), Marcin Buczek (Ramage Inc), Marcin Durmaj (Ashborn), Romain Jeuniaux (Omnerod), Stuart McLeod (Storm of Embers), Tom De Wit (Dreamwalkers Inc) and David Stott (Ward XVI).
LYRICS BY:
Bryan Ramage, Howard Toshman, Jess Taylor, Neil McLaughlin, Jason Rebel, Darren Callaghan, Anne MacGregor, Callum Stevenson, Jackie Frank Russel, Tobias Schmuecking, Michael Martin, James McBay, Simon Patchett, Fraser Macintosh, Al Douglas
LINKS:
www.ramageinc.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/ramageinc
www.intagram.com/ramageinc
www.twitter.com/ramageinc
www.ramageinc.net
www.youtube.com/ramageinc
‘A Quiet Earth’ on YouTube:
‘A Quiet Earth’ on Bandcamp:
https://ramageinc.bandcamp.com/track/a-quiet-earth
Just Giving link:
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ramageinc
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Beth Jones and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.