Rhetorica - Ganduri (Thoughts)
Self-released - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse
A quick scan through recent reviews posted previously to this one will turn up mention of a Romanian industrial metal project called Dirty Shirt. Well, this group comprises musicians from both Dirty Shirt and fellow Romanians, Legion, and was originally formed to open a festival organised by the two bands, but later developed into a fully-fledged band of its own after a positive reception. This leads me to wonder - have Pink Floyd got an untapped Romanian fanbase?
Rhetorica play metal-tinged progressive rock which stands out from most recent prog bands simply because of their flat refusal to go down the excessively widdly neo-classical path - this is slow-burning, melancholic psychedelic mood prog, and as such is a more than welcome relief from yet another Swedish supergroup's arpeggiating exercises. It's also an 18 chapter (read: track) concept album dealing with the central character's reflections on his life, a musical journey that takes in moments of depression, currents of elation and self-discovery, and a fair bit of aggressive chugging riffiness at times too. Lyrically, it's all a bit lost on me, seeing as none of it's in English, but musically, that's the impression I get.
Gilmore-esque leads float in and out of intricate keyboard melodies (occasionally backed by some cool Hammond organ moments too), and intermingle with more straightforward metallic riffage and meandering song structures to form an intriguiging mix. The production is somewhat thin, but that doesn't stop the album from acting as an interesting mid-point between Green Carnation's Light of Day, Day of Darkness and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon. Definitely worth your time if you're a prog fan who's more interesting in ambience than arpeggios.
7.5/10
Rhetorica's Official Website
Self-released - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse
A quick scan through recent reviews posted previously to this one will turn up mention of a Romanian industrial metal project called Dirty Shirt. Well, this group comprises musicians from both Dirty Shirt and fellow Romanians, Legion, and was originally formed to open a festival organised by the two bands, but later developed into a fully-fledged band of its own after a positive reception. This leads me to wonder - have Pink Floyd got an untapped Romanian fanbase?
Rhetorica play metal-tinged progressive rock which stands out from most recent prog bands simply because of their flat refusal to go down the excessively widdly neo-classical path - this is slow-burning, melancholic psychedelic mood prog, and as such is a more than welcome relief from yet another Swedish supergroup's arpeggiating exercises. It's also an 18 chapter (read: track) concept album dealing with the central character's reflections on his life, a musical journey that takes in moments of depression, currents of elation and self-discovery, and a fair bit of aggressive chugging riffiness at times too. Lyrically, it's all a bit lost on me, seeing as none of it's in English, but musically, that's the impression I get.
Gilmore-esque leads float in and out of intricate keyboard melodies (occasionally backed by some cool Hammond organ moments too), and intermingle with more straightforward metallic riffage and meandering song structures to form an intriguiging mix. The production is somewhat thin, but that doesn't stop the album from acting as an interesting mid-point between Green Carnation's Light of Day, Day of Darkness and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon. Definitely worth your time if you're a prog fan who's more interesting in ambience than arpeggios.
7.5/10
Rhetorica's Official Website
