| The
Review |
I continue to be amazed at the variety of musical takes
on the progressive rock genre. Certainly one of the biggest
impacts the genre has incorporated is the influence of the
heavy rock and metal influences. The prog-metal genre stands
as testimony to that influence, but along the way there are
what seems to be a myriad of degrees. One of those unusual
ones came in the mail the other day, a Polish band by the
name of T.A.O. who on their first CD release entitled The
Abnormal Observations go from the hardest of prog-metal to
a host of softer more unusual influences. Their take on the
prog-sound borders on aggressive art-rock with a fair amount
of Avant-garde thrown in. It’s a fascinating cornucopia of
sounds and styles. ***
T.A.O. consists of Adam Jurewicz (guitar, vocal), Robert
Sztorc (drums, additional percusion, vibraphone), Kamil Urbanski
(keyboards, piano) and Lukas Adamczyk (bass). Vocals are sung
in English with just the slightest hint of accent although
it should be pointed out that three of the seven pieces are
instrumental. Now as for the music, well it’s a strange mix
of tempos and styles that you don’t often see in the combinations
used here. One minute it’s aggressive, straight-forward metal-ish,
but then stops, turns-on-a-dime and becomes sort of a herky-jerky
transition segment before moving into a groove section which
then becomes a little more proggy, then a little more arty,
then finishes with a nice rock rhythm. It’s quite something
to behold. Most of the songs, of which there are seven, are
roughly six or seven minutes and most of them go through variations
of what I’ve described above. Add in a few sound effects and
you have some amazingly complex progressive rock compositions.
Just when you think T.A.O. is a heavy prog-metal band they
fool you into thinking they’re really more about angular Avant-garde
rock, but then they change again into major-chord artiness.
The fact is they’re a mix of all the above. The more you listen
to The Abnormal Observations the more you hear the complexity
of what goes into each of these power-packed compositions.
***
For a first-time release T.A.O. have packaged a ton of
chops, great musicianship and unusual musical moments into
a jam-packed 45 minutes of music. I can’t remember the last
time I heard a CD that made so much use of musical influences
to create something so unique. The Abnormal Observations is
quite an amazing first time entry into the progressive rock
world. If you enjoy your prog with an under-current of guitar
crunchiness then this will be right up your alley, however
if you just want to hear something refreshingly different
you too will want to look into T.A.O. and The Abnormal Observations.
***
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