Dominici's music could be broadly described as progrock with long, lucid melodic rock moments. And is all the better for venturing outside the restrictive confines of contemporary progressive rock (which is ironic, considering how liberal and liberating progrock was once viewed as being).
Album opener '
Monster' is a real attention grabber. Surprisingly, it's an instrumental, filled with heavily rhythmic progrock and flowing, pastoral passages, punctuated by guttural growls and native chants. In the beginning, the tune is sketched around a dominant piano, but that's soon elbowed stage left by biting axework, buzzing riffs and dizzying keyboard runs.
Memorable melodic fragments come and go, all seemingly looking for a place to fit in this kaleidoscopic, eight and a half minute scene stealer.
'Monster' is really a question, opening the album's 'state of the nation' concept. The album's lyrics are narrative driven, linking episodes in a worldview of a future dystopia, where corruption is rife, and finds itself roundly and worthily condemned by Dominici. You can almost see it shrugging its shoulders and soundlessly mouthing a disdainful 'whatever'.
For most of '
Trilogy, Part 2' a witheringly high level of melody is maintained, sometimes hidden behind the band's musicianship, which admittedly is polished to a gleaming technical shine. Unfortunately, some great tunes are undermined by Dominici's clear determination that the lyrics' should shape the album. No insights are available, no profundities aired. Consequently, the clichéd themes drag the album down.
On
'Nowhere To Hide', Dominici's city cop (the hero of the piece) relates :- "I've let some clean ones walk, I've put some dirty ones away." Now, if that had read :- "I've let some dirty ones walk, I've put some clean ones away", then we may well have had something infinitely more interesting on our hands.
As it is, the outstanding melodies written for songs like
'Captured', 'School Of Pain' and '
The Calling' fight manfully with a set of lyrics that constantly butt up against the buffers of conventionality. There's nothing new here, no matter how passionate the delivery and well dressed the cast.
But, if you don't listen too carefully to the words, there's no question this is a melodic prog feast. Colourful, frantic, measured and listenable. That said, the discerning listener might just be a little disappointed.
Written by
Brian Tuesday, April 17, 2007
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