Proghma-C

Bar-Do Travel

Written by: PP on 22/10/2010 01:02:42

Highly experimental, orgasmic musical landscapes that morph into Meshuggah-like hypnotic sequences. Dreamy clean wails in the vein of Tool and A Perfect Circle completing an intelligent and well thought-through avant-garde outfit. Sound like something you might be into? If so, I'd like you to meet a band called Proghma-C from the extremely versatile and varied Polish music scene, which seems to spit out excellent bands at an increasing pace these days. They've been around for about eight years now and have spent most of that time developing their sound which culminates in this release, their debut album "Bar-Do Travel", that should indeed make fans of any of the aforementioned fans feel satisfied in anticipation of the bigger releases.

Though Proghma-C often momentarily sound like exact clones of Tool and/or A Perfect Circle, they expand on this art rock platform by adding hypnotic metal passages, brief elements of jazzy metal in the vein of Ephel Duath, and sometimes space rock ambiance that supports the audiovisual experience that is this album and keeps them at a distance to their famed peers. The music is purposefully directed to induce the listeners into a trance-like state, where they begin to explore the distant corners of their mind, which by the way, starts to feel like infinite space itself when really focusing on the music. Occasionally, inconspicuous spoken word passages are introduced at a tone and pitch that reminds me of real life hypnotists, adding into the avant-garde feel of their complex song structures. What really describes the album overall, however, is the usage of the guitars. They are often content at repeating a Meshuggah style droning riff but appear to morph seamlessly into spacey sounds or jazzy strumming without sounding out of place at all.

Basically, the whole release fits suitably underneath the umbrella term 'art rock'. This stuff isn't written to appeal to any niché or target group in particular, it's simply an outlet for the band members to release their artistic aspirations and see where that leads them. In that sense, "Bar-Do Travel" succeeds in its mission. However, when you place it in direct comparison to the likes of Tool, A Perfect Circle, Meshuggah, Cynic, et al, you'll have no choice but to admit that it doesn't quite live up to the same surreal experience that all of those bands are known for. I know, I know, that's not fair, because they are all extremely respected and established bands with wide fanbases, but the comparison is inevitable especially in songs like "Kana". Oh, by the way, there's an excellent rendition of Björk's "Army Of Me" finishing the album off, which has been nicely adapted to the Proghma-C sound. In summary, well done, but needs some development.

Download: Kana, Spiralling To Another
For the fans of: Tool, A Perfect Circle, Meshuggah, Riverside
Listen: Myspace

Release date 15.02.2010
Mystic Production

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