Monday 16 September 2013

The Gabriel Construct "Interior City" review

 


A meta-analysis of comments and reviews posted on this solo release fromGabriel Lucas Riccio suggests that the music is more or less saturated with influences and styles. For the aficionado of avant garde or “progressive” music this is high praise indeed, but for the casual listener the layers and depth of sound here may be problematic. There are certainly elements of rock, metal, jazz and classical music here which will unquestionably tick all the boxes for most readers of ThisIsNotAScene. The sound is by no means a chaotic conglomeration of these influences however, and Riccio, in association with Travis Orbin andThomas Murphy of PeripheryDavid StivelmanSoren Larson and Sophia Uddin, has crafted a signature sound which, despite being reminiscent of the Rock In Opposition (RIO) movement, is identifiably his own.
“Arrival in a Distant Land” which opens the album, develops steadily on a background of dissonant piano before the haunting vocals add a further dimension. The juxtaposition of dissonance and harmony is unsettling initially, but as the listener become accustomed to the construction of sound, the character and elegance trickle through. The percussion is, not surprisingly, very much to the forefront on many of these pieces, and many of the rhythms are densely populated. There are some truly outstanding moments of pomp and grandeur, such as the opening of ‘Curing Somatization’ which leave the listener metaphorically breathless with intrigue. Another extensive track which pushes the ten minute mark is ‘Defense Highway’, which again, is propelled along on dissonance and layers of instrumentation that are bewildering, yet on a level which many, hopefully, will understand, deeply fulfilling....

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