Issue
#117B
Apr. '09
Prog Rock: Progressive Rock, it was born out of the psychedelic/acid
rock of the late ‘60s and evolved through the early ‘70s as bands/artists
abandoned the standard 3-minute pop, verse-chorus style songs in favor of
pursuing music on a grander scale. With Prog Rock, the artists would allow the
song to progress more in manners usually embraced by Classical compositions
(rigid structures with charted purpose) and improvisational freeform Jazz,
where the instruments were allowed breathing room in whatever direction they
saw fit. Combining these elements with song lyrics based upon Fantasy, Science
Fiction, Medieval, Mystical, Magical, etc. themes usually held together in
conceptual form, Prog Rockers established the 10-minute opus as a means of
escapism through music without the commercial aspects normally associated with
rock. Though considered to be short lived – in less than 10 years, Punk and
Disco ousted Prog as the genre du jour – and by 1977 Prog was all but declared
dead, but not really. The late ‘70s and early ‘80s yielded Prog Rock bands more
sales than ever before, but only after they had scaled their overblown,
pretentious, self-absorbed, technical and studio excessiveness back enough to
fit mainstream popular radio. The ensuing decades have seen their fair share of
Prog Rock bands carrying the torch, but it is almost regulated to an
underground type of genre. A genre where those who revel in it are almost
afraid to revel too loudly. A guilty pleasure perhaps? Not here at IndepenDisc.
We’ve declared April 2009 Prog Rock Month and we’re featuring two Prog Bands
for your enjoyment – guilty pleasure or not.
Oxcart is a MetalProg band from Portland, OR. and Sky Picnic is a PsychProg band out of Queens, NY (We reviewed Sky Picnic last week 04-01-09, this week 04-08-09 we review Oxcart).
Welcome
back my friends…
Oxcart, from the burgeoning music scene of Portland, OR gives us a Classic Prog release with The Equation – “A tale of
tragic loss and questionable redemption.” This concept album works on every
level of Prog brought forth through the years in such a precise manner that the
only way to listen to it is as a whole. The quartet of: Alex Feletar “The Gambler” (drums, choir), Matt Jones “The Businessman” (keyboards, piano, synthesizers, guitar, vocals,
choir), Ben
Carey “The Politician”
(bass, vocals, choir) and Jason Baker “The Religious Zealot” (guitar, vocals, choir) have crafted a Modern day
Prog Rock Opera that has us name checking every pertinent band/album from
Prog’s glory years stirred with the Hammer of the Gods metal influences of the
ages. In no particular order we hear/find/feel, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rush,
Iron Butterfly, Genesis, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Alice Cooper, Alan Parsons
Project, The Decemberists, Marilyn Manson, The Who, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Yngwie
Malmsteen and others that slip in and out so effortlessly.
Set in what comes across as 4 acts, the story leaves
a lot to the listeners lyrical interpretation (a lyrical synopsis is printed in the liner notes,
allowing a certain fraction of insight to the story), but as in true prog
fashion, it is the music that gets the points across. As with any Classic Prog
Album, if you can use the lyrics/tale as a secondary plot to the music, then
the band has accomplished what they set out to do, and here, with The Equation, Oxcart has
nailed it to the cross for all to hear. Bravo!
Inception, introduces the story with a sound bite (possibly
JFK?), explaining that with the development of the atom bomb, man has created
the power of self-extinction. Inception continues with swirling synths underlining the tale
of a lost soul searching for a better way, a better day, but to no avail. The
Genesis style build sucks us into the tale - more sound bites – then, a theme
statement “The world’s so full of fucked
up people / I can’t tell whose good or evil.” Equation then launches us into full-blown Metal, as we’re
chunka-chunka-ing down. Driving drums force the pace as the heavy chord
slamming has all the glory of the afore-mentioned Metal Gods. Wishes comes out of left field, a bit funky but quickly
morphs into a driving metal attack complete with a major, serious guitar solo
and intense falsetto vocals that drive the action. Amazingly, the piano is
introduced to clear out and end the song, which then bounces our wishes for a
better life into Office. With the sax a wailin’ and the piano hesitantly
pounding out a funky, smokey beat (wait a minute – weren’t these guys just
Heavy Metal bastards? Now they’re tossing sophisticated Pink Floyd studio prog
at us? Coooooool.), which evolves to the ending with another Metal assault.
“Everything is
so confusing / Everything is so amusing / All your words have left me shaken /
Wondering if I’m mistaken”
Act 2 is The Gambler Trilogy; Gambler,
Pt. 1, Gambler,
Pt. 2, and Gambler’s
Lament, all show
our (anti)Hero taking a gamble with his life. Pt. 1 starts in true Sabbath form
- we’re pushed to the edge right from the start. A good old-fashioned song of
rage from the genre that created it. Pt. 2 suddenly re-introduces the Alan
Parsons style synths. Very slick production and layering, very ultra-modern
psychedelic. Punching drums and vocal F/X continue the story as everything is
lost. Very tight, Oxcart
produces power even when they’re laying low, setting you up for the kill – “Give my father back his money NOW!!!!!!!” Trippy piano runs and fuzz chords come in to lead
the ensuing jam session. Reverb heavy piano chords guide us into Gambler’s Lament – “I have nothing else left” replete with excellent choir vocals
evoking Pink Floyds The Great Gig In The Sky. Short wave bursts ends the
trilogy (and Side A) on a down note.
We start Side B with the epic Desert. Again evoking Floyd – Welcome To The Machine –
This monster drum and guitar build accentuates the mantra of “Start a new life” with the knowledge of
how hard it is - that heavy weights need to be lifted - and it just might not happen.
An Angelic choir feeds the desperation into an ominous lumbering beast that the
Gilmour-esque lead soars through (Classic Prog at it’s finest). Explosions begins with a sound bite of a ranking German
officer (or is this actually Hitler?) seemingly announcing the bombing of Berlin. The chatter of fighter pilots on a bombing raid
confirms. This Led Zep Physical Graffiti inspired Metal classic is all summed
up with an Iron Maiden vocal “I don’t
wanna try / To fall in love again / Think I might explode.” The song Genesis then gets heavy Dark Side Of The Moon piano on us
as we slide out of this self recovery. Nicely placed.
The final act moves us into self defeatist territory
and strays a bit south with Tetherball, but not without underlying purpose, this is, after
all, a concept album and if it were all laid out plainly why would we continue
to listen and listen and listen to it again and again and again? Lesson attempts to explain what our protagonist has learns
through all this, but the synth driven metal storm tells us otherwise. Roger
Waters always had the knack for bringing the story into the mind of the
subject, here Oxcart
dives deep into that
mind, this story really doesn’t have a happy ending. We know it, we hear it, we
feel it and we are swept right into Commencement (the song segues throughout the album match the
moods and needs of all the compositions). In what I can only describe as
surreal (is this the same band?), this weird, delicate, definite cool down of
angelic choir over Marvin Gaye does Detroit, wraps up one of the best Modern
Metal Prog Rocks albums of this era. The Equation has been written…
Oxcart,
Welcome back my friends…
The
Equation by Oxcart
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