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The Forever Moment — Here to Stay
(Bandcamp no#, 2026, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-11-10

Here to Stay Cover art

The Forever Moment is the long distance art-rock duo of Ontario, Canada musician Steven Leak (Arturia Microfreak and Minifreak synthesizers, field recordings, found sounds, Red Panda Tensor and Particle pedals, TC Infinite and Zoom Multiplex pedals) and Mark Cook (Warr Guitar, fretless bass, keyboards, fretted and fretless guitars, samples, and beat construction). One may recognize Cook’s name from one of his other bands: Herd of Instinct, Liquid Sound Copany, T.A.P., or Gayle Ellett’s Electromags —  he is indeed a busy musician. This is The Forever Moment’s third album, and this time out the guest list is a lot longer, with seven additional musicians contributing drums, drum programming, keyboards, lead and rhythm guitar, and Chapman Stick on this track or that of the ten track set. The gist of their sound is rooted in poweful rhythms, complex interlocking melodic threads, odd meters and syncopations, and interesting soundscapes, all done without relying on vocals, although there are some spoken parts by way of field samples. It would be careless to describe the duo as a Crimson knock-off, although the influence is strong, from all eras of Crim, but Cook and Leak inject so much wonderful originality into their sound that a thought like that is quickly dispelled, and ultimately there is really no comparison other than the instrumental makeup and the general style presented. “Hour of the Wolf” is a superb example of a strong rhythmic underpinning with complex interlocking melodic threads, soaring synths and mysterious voice samples, while “Hope Is Like a Blanket, Like Wings” shifts to a more rocking sound with a powerful yet gentle guitar attack, perhaps a bit reminiscent of Djam Karet. “We are Living in a Time of Monsters, a New World is Being Born” opens with a spoken variation of the title that quickly gets down to a funky rock arpeggiations and an interesting percussive attack, making way for some gritty guitar soloing across its nine-minute length, while “Fortune’s Dance” opens with a spoken warning that quickly evaporates into howling guitars flowing over hand drums with some unusual rhythmic underpinnings. Here to Stay is another solid effort from The Forever Moment, perhaps the best of the three albums to date.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): The Forever Moment

More info
http://theforevermoment.bandcamp.com/album/here-to-stay-2

 

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