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Barock Project

Neo-Prog

4.04 | 346 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Sometimes I'm shocked by how much my taste can clash with the majority on this site -- which is usually my best tool for discovering music.

This is my first and perhaps last Barock Project album. Frankly, the songwriting is dull.

I love classical music (chiefly baroque/romantic), but here, aside from the piano which is at times good, the classical instrumentation adds little. When classical music is bad it's soporific; this album brings out the worst in those influences. It's like someone imitated Bach without understanding music theory, and tried to make up for it with weird rhythms, time signatures, the occasional abrupt key change, and out-of-place guitar solos. Several of the songs have nice instrumental outros, though.

What a strange complaint to voice on this site, but it feels too... proggy? Like, focused on complexity for its own sake instead of on compelling melodies and engaging harmonic progressions. Compare to IQ at their worst.

The musicians are skilled enough to keep me from giving just 1 star (vocals at times evoking Steven Wilson). The production is good. I liked bits of every song. But it was a struggle to make it to the end. The composition just doesn't do it for me. The musical narrative is missing, the suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat when each new phrase begins.

If you manage to get there, the second half is better than the first. Appropriately, "Alone" is simply vocals with minimal accompaniment. "Rescue Me" is the catchiest track. Finally, the first part of "Twenty Years" delivers beautiful melody over beautiful guitar harmony, soured only partially by the maudlin string accompaniment.

At least the record is unoffensive and easy to listen to. Plenty of major harmony and nothing too dark or aggressive. Recommended if you're having trouble sleeping.

chikinn | 2/5 | 2017-5-7

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