Normally,
I comment on how being a reviewer brings me into contact with bands and
artists that I might otherwise miss out on, but in this case I was
ahead by a long way. The debut album by Persona Grata, Reaching Places High Above,
has had tracks featured on the radio show prior to the album arriving
for review, and so, I am a few steps ahead on this one, having heard the
album many times. Persona Grata hail from Bratislava in Slovakia, and
to my knowledge, are one of the few prog bands from that neck of the
woods. The band state their influences as Yes, Queen, Dream Theater and
Muse and although I have seen them described as prog metal, I think that
they neatly straddle the prog metal/prog rock area with their complex
rhythms and melody.
This album, Reaching Places High Above,
has been in the pipeline for a while, up to two years, while the band
have adapted arrangements, added layers and sounds, but it has finally
reached production and release. At the point of the initial recording,
the 5 members of the band were as follows, Adam Kuruk (keyboards),
Martin Huba (guitar), Martin Stavrovsky (vocals, rhythm guitar), Jan
Steno (drums) and Timo Streis (bass), but since that point, Adam Kuruk
and Martin Huba have been replaced by Matej Miklos (keyboards) and Peter
Luha (lead guitar).
Reaching Places High Above
is a 6 track album with a total running time of around 47 minutes and
the shortest track is track 5, “Venice” at 1:04 minutes and the final
track, “I Am You,” the longest at 14:10 minutes. The range of musical
styles across the album takes you through the aggressive, the intricate
and the laid back.
The
opening track, “Aces” (7:03) starts with some airline chatter
interspersed with a radio station broadcast prior to “wailing” vocals,
but this quickly becomes a “normal” voice which is very clear and
powerful (Martin Stavrovsky). Although this track drives along, it does
move close to out and out metal prog, but remains well under control at
all times, and despite its 7+ minute length, it feels much shorter.
Following
this track is “Edge of Insanity” (12:18) which heralds the
re-appearance of an instrument, once a cornerstone in prog bands, but
which seemed to simply get lost. That instrument is the flute and is
majestic in the right hands, but there is no information to identify the
mysterious flautist. This is a roller coaster styled track moving from
the gentle side of prog rock effortlessly into the full blown aggressive
playing prog, repeating these two styles before bowing out in the
gentler vein.
Tracks
3-5, “Istanbul”, “Orient Express” and “Venice” take the listener on a
journey, literally. The trilogy of tracks ooze atmosphere and serve as a
superb vehicle for the musicianship of the band members.
The
“tour de force” of the album is the closing track, “I Am You” (14:10).
Starting in a very atmospheric manner with synths, it quickly changes
into a sublime piano theme which then allows the other instruments to
build up prior to the entry of the voice. There is a point where the
track is little more than a melancholy synth which then builds to an
anthem like point as the track is almost “shown the door,” in the nicest
manner, by a stunning guitar in the background, but ultimately ends on
that atmospheric synth starting theme.
As a debut album, Reaching Places High Above, is
a gem and shows that if a band is prepared to spend the time “fine
tuning” their recorded material until it feels right, then that time
will have been very well spent. This
is a shining beacon of an album that gets both a “One to Buy” sticker
and also the “The Experience will last forever” strip on the cover as
well. My advice is to buy this album and prepare to be picked up and
immersed in the music, and at the completion of the album, smile as you
realize that was a superb way to spend 47 minutes, before pressing the
play button again.
5/5/ STARS
Key Tracks: Aces: Edge Of Insanity: I am You
Jim “The Ancient One” Lawson-MuzikReviews.com Staff
October 31, 2013
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