ARCHES

Rational Diet's implosion after their fantastic 2010 album "On Phenomena and Existences" is a mixed blessing for fans of the band due to the rising from the ashes of two splinter bands, "Five Storey Ensemble" and "The Archestra". 2013 brings us the debut albums from these two new ensembles, and I find myself preferring the Archestra album over the Five Story Ensemble by significant margin.

What made Rational Diet exciting to me was the frantic, dissonant and yet incredibly tight performances by a tight rock/chamber orchestra. As far as the 'Chamber Rock' movement goes, Rational Diet's latest was tied with label mate Yugen's album from the same month as some of the most exciting music to have come out since it's inception in the 70s.

In some ways, Rational Diet's story now resembles the various peaces of fellow Chamber Rock project Once Upon a Time in Belgium. For those not familiar, Once Upon a Time in Belgium was an ensemble consisting of three chamber rock bands: Aranis (soft / mostly classical), Univers Zero (a blend of classical and rock) and Present (a very rock approach to chamber rock). Rational Diet was seated comfortably in the middle with Univers Zero, but after the split, Five Storey Ensemble has taken the role of Aranis in being more classical / soft, while The Archestra has taken more of the rock sound.

It is interesting to hear The Archestra stating their heritage proudly, perhaps even staking a claim to it, with many of their tracks directly quoting themes and melodies from Rational Diet albums. But there is a harder edge on it now, and while they may not do subtlety quite as well as their parent band, they don't really try either so it doesn't necessarily hurt the music. Instead Archestra concentrate on what they do best - a blistering, dark take on chamber music. One wishes they had developed a few more of their own themes, but on the other hand hearing these more intense versions of old compositions is definitely a pleasant experience.

Excellent album that sparks great hope in the future of this band.

In order to talk about THE ARCHESTRA and their album "Arches" I need to first talk about their parent band RATIONAL DIET. They were a seven piece band out of Belarus and their "At Work" album from 2008 simply blew me away. I was not expecting such a powerful record where the strings cause mayhem. A five star recording in my opinion. Olga Podgaiskaya had just joined the band for that album and I can't say enough about this classically trained keyboardist who has an amazing voice. She brought a lot to the table on "At Work".

Their next album "Phenomena And Existences" saw Olga take a greater role in composing, and she is more into chamber music, and it caused a rift in the band. And so artistic differences caused the band to split with Olga forming THE FIVE STORY ENSEMBLE a chamber band like ARANIS, while Kiryll Krystsia the violinist formed THE ARCHESTRA. There is some crossover with some members on both albums. Kiryll brought in Nadia to sing as well as add violin and cello, and while she is not as talented a vocalist as Olga in my opinion, she is very good. "Arches" combines that chamber style along with plenty of powerful electric sounds. Kind of like RATIONAL DIET's final record "Phenomena And Existences" but a little better. Both are solid 4 star albums in my world.

My top five includes "Window" where the vocals and strings really impress. Bassoon by the way is all over this album giving it a dark vibe overall. Another standout track is "Train" which is so intense early on. The bass shakes the soundscape. There is this calm that is full of suspense 2 minutes in. More contrasts then a jazzy section around 5 minutes in. The three songs in a row that include the two "Triptych" songs and "Toscin" round out my top five. So a strong finish and that short closer is also excellent with those pleasant piano melodies mixed with creepy sounds. I really like when Nadia sings in that lower register a couple of times on "Toscin".

A solid 4 stars but that "At Work" album is the one to get in my opinion when talking about the music of these three bands.