PRAVDA

This is my first experience of Pravda, although this is their fourth full-length album and was released in 2012. At the time they were just a trio, and all three of them supply vocals with harmonies being an important part of their style. In fact, there are times when they remind me of classic Gentle Giant, although the music itself is not nearly as complex as that of the classic Seventies act. The more I worked my way through the album I felt that they have possibly been inspired more by Spock's Beard, who of course were inspired by GG, as there is quite a lot within their music that could sit within the more melodic, and less overtly progressive, of that band's music. As I started listening to this I was trying to decide in my mind of that was a five star album or a four star, so I was somewhat surprised to discover that the more I played it the less I actually liked it. There are loads of great sections on this album, and the vocals are really good, while musically they are all on the top of their game, but there is something about this that just really doesn't do it for me and for the life of me I can't work out why. Each time I play it I find myself doubting my own views as I really enjoy it but the more I get through the more I feel that I really want to be playing something else. That's just not the normal reaction for me on any album.

Melodic, symphonic, very American but with some British influences, this is a prog band that sometimes veers into the prog metal territory without fully being a prog metal act. They have some wonderful songs, some great vocals, but to my ears they might have been better off using an external producer as some songs such as "Second Hand" could have done with some judicious editing. They are worth hearing, but this album just doesn't really do it for me, although I feel that it should.

US band PRAVDA was formed sometime around year 2000, and started releasing their music in 2003. With minor line-up alterations as something of a key band issue throughout they have still managed to continue recording material, and have four full length studio efforts to date. "The Clarity of Chaos" is the most recent of these, issued in late December 2012.

To some extent I can repeat some of the comments I made about Pravda's previous album: Pravda is an adventurous band seeking out many different musical territories, and while they may not create the most groundbreaking, challenging music, their eclectic blend of different styles does cross borders many other acts leave well alone. I'll add in that the current version of the band has opted to explore a somewhat more inviting variety of this kind of music on their latest album, with a highly enticing, smooth sound and compositions featuring vocal passages as well. Before partially repeating my final statement from a few years back: those who find it satisfying to experience bands that like to take chances, and who usually enjoy a CD that can't be described as belonging to any particular genre, should consider themselves a key audience for this band.

Pravda's is an American band formed in the early 2000's. Their new album was released last December 21st and it is called The Clarity Of Chaos (2012), the album is a thematic concept work about our short time here on the planet Earth.

Pravda's music follows the Progressive Metal pathway but with a lighter tone. The band was a trio when they recorded the album with KC Thomsen (keyboards), Dave Thomas (drums) and John Redfield (guitars, bass and vocals). Now the band also has Tom Svanoe (bass) in the line-up. The Clarity Of Chaos (2012) was recorded at Sonus West and Sonus East Studios and produced by the band itself. This is the band's 4th album.

'Second Hand' starts the CD with quite a good work. The longest track on the album has many moods, rapid passages, Dream Theater kind of keyboards from time to time and a good vocal line. The second track 'Color Of The Moon' starts as an Indian piece of music and soon a very frantic and weird electronic part follows. Then the track keeps a calm, contemplative pace. But very often the electronic Indian music returns.

'Fall Across The Sky' has a syncopated rhythm, almost a jam kind of track. Nice bass line tough. 'Chaos & Clarity' is a bit Prog Metal clich', symphonic keyboards in the background, heavy riff on the guitar and bass and a straight forward drum track. The interesting move on the track are the vocals full of effects in the intro and the change for the acoustic guitar soon after that and a wave of vocals, the best bit of the album really. 'A Hint Of Grey' and 'A Brief Awakening' close the album.

The Clarity Of Chaos (2012) is a good album with many interesting moments, but not a breakthrough. Also the length of the tracks makes the album a bit tiresome. 72 minutes in 6 tracks is a bit too much. But it's the first time the band recorded an album of this kind so I guess they're finding their way. When it comes to the production the band is ok, but in the song crafting I found some of the arrangements a bit raw, especially in the instrumental solos field. Pravda's music will be enjoyed by Prog Metal fans who also like the lighter side of the subgenre.

(Originally posted on progshine.net)

4.5.

I've listened to this album countless times. Any prog rock fan can tell you that good songs need to be heard countless times before they even begin to flower - after all, we're not listening to empty music that is fully digested after a few seconds.

"Edge of Fire" is a heavy, uptempo piece, drawing more from easily identifiable straightforward influences (Rush, Dream Theater), than in many of their other songs. The slow synthesizer intro quickly tumbles into a fast, accented pattern to be mirrored for the rest of the song. The heavy drum patterns and loud synth chords give way to slots for solos for all five musicians. The solos are individually creative and add quite a bit of flavor to the song by introducing licks that, too say the least, are not exactly screaming "metal". For example, one of the slots by the guitar solo is simply occupied by powerful silence.

The song dissolves after the main section into a synthesizer breakdown. With a few cymbal clicks, this section contrasts the tough drive of the main song. Suddenly present is a noteworthy use of dynamics, an element overall lacking in the rest of the song - it's apparent here in the low background chord, the buildup of a sort of synth pulse, and a low roll. A drum fill flows quaintly into the guitar solo. I, being no guitar guy, have only to say that this solo wanes with an emotion lacking in most progressive rock. The rhythm section pulls you in, pointing to this steaming six-string who has something to say. As the delicate solo moves forward, the tempo increases with the band's crescendo, and the guitar building with a dramatic change in tone. The periodic drum fills become increasingly aggressive until the solo climaxes, the sudden transition following very heavy on synthesizer. The band flows back into the main pattern, building up with a double bass drum pattern until finally hitting the closing notes.

"After The Deluge" possesses an interesting contrast of styles. Those of you who find funny the idea of a drummer treated as a musician will find this track hysterical, for the percussionist plays every instrument. It opens up with rather heavy, fast, full sixteenth note riffs spaced by evocative rests. The drum set part flows into a more delicate ride cymbal pattern, contrasting the rest of the instrumentation with wise use of dynamics. The pattern collapses as the guitar sustains a chord while the drums lay down the main beat. Suddenly, against any sensible expectation, a wonderfully upbeat rhythm section, heavy on synthesizer, enters with cleverly eventful rhythms. The guitar plays a similarly happy melody with a heavy tone, not quite reminiscent of surf rock but certainly evocative of... tropical metal. The drum part is busy, with offbeat hi-hat accents providing further dynamics.

The next section of the song features a decrescendo and a variation of the melody's motif with each phrase on the drums being split between a straightforward rock beat and a tom fill-beat. The last phrase has a bit of a rest until the band comes in with a heavier contrast, in which the drums imitate the guitar's melody, the synthesizer again happy in the background. The main pattern is repeated until the the double bass drum pattern climaxes and a tambourine shakes with the final guitar ring.

"Giving Chase" is an upbeat acoustic tune in which every instrument is played by the guitarist. This includes all kinds of percussion from shakers to what I can only infer is a Flamenco "cajón" (or it might just be a plain old box...). The melody crescendos and decrescendos, evoking feelings of upbeat, laid back placidity. The few instruments (other than the diverse percussion) come together to move a rather simplistic melody through a few dynamics before the bass and percussion drop off and the guitar is barely a whisper. It then comes back in, carelessly joyful to toy with the main motifs a few more times before the closing chords.

"Excursion" is a heavier piece messing around with a few time signatures and genres, very natural to Pravda's style. It starts off with an easily swallowed triplet part. (3/8, 6/8, or 12/8? It depends on how you phrase it.) The heavy guitar backs up a pretty cosmic, yet angry, synthesizer melody. This melody flows into straight eighth notes for a 7/4 pattern with an almost Latin pattern for the guitar in the background. A suddenly dramatic synthesizer buildup follows in threes again, with more of a build and release feel, the entire band creating a heavy feel for a pattern with swing undertones. The pattern falls apart, allowing a dramatic guitar part with a softer tone to come in. Cymbal clicks announce the drums's entrance before the bass melody enters. Yes, a bass melody. This exists. The soft mood it evokes is curiously mirrored by the drummer, who often imitates the bass rhythms. The melody builds and falls, providing interesting dynamic for a song that started to heavily, and indeed juxtaposed by double bass drum fills. The song builds before repeating the main pattern. The song ends in an even heavier pattern with the synthesizer providing a dramatic backdrop until the main lick leads into closing notes.

"Lhapasodic" features puppies. I'd like my review of this song consist only of that one sentence, but there's too much to say about this piece. After the intro sound affects, the guitar and drums play with a bit of call and answer, the main drum accents summoning and banishing the heavy chords. The bass hits the harder notes until an interesting synthesizer takes the other instruments under its wings and snuffs it all. The timbale repeats a cascara rhythm a few times, the last phrase introducing a heavy guitar and a hilariously placed vibraslap. The entire band comes in with an extremely heavy motif in extremely Latin rhythms. The song goes on with similar motifs, smiling that it dares smother your ears with the heavy and the groovy at once. The offbeat organ sound is particularly of note.

The next section of the song features an overlaid Latin percussion part with the drum set, accompanying the piano and guitar parts. The guitar quickly flows into another heated solo, building up with that emotion, at the risk of repeating myself, not seen enough in progressive rock. The drum fills are placed in such a way that they support the solo without directly imitating it. As the guitar solo climaxes furiously, it drops off the track and the organ comes in with heavy sustained notes, very passionately done without the Santana influence being too over-the-top. Its easily identifiably rhythms are given new life with unusual melodies, and the space it occupied moments ago in the rhythm section allows the bass to breathe a bit more. The synth tone changes mid-solo from organ to a spacier sound. It climaxes, giving the drum set and percussion duet the main floor over piano, bass and guitar. An almost classical sounding piano fill in threes leads to heavier riffs, allowing for further dynamic. The piano motif builds again until an angrier melody breaks through, flowing into a rhythmic exchange alternating between 6/8 and a 'beat addition' from 1/4 to 8/4, that final measure climaxing until breaking into a sound affect of rushing water.

"Yatazza" is a moderate-tempo tune played entirely by the keyboardist. A simple guitar melody is accompanied by quiet cymbal rolls until the band comes in for a straightforward piece led by a dramatic, beautiful keyboard melody. The rhythm section falls out, allowing the guitar and synthesizer to build until a crescendoing drum roll allows a more dramatic and upbeat drum melody to come in, accompanied by a wonderfully ironic heavy metal guitar sound. This song, like "Sonia" and possibly "Giving Chase", is simple enough to be dissapointing to some more hardcore prog rockers, yet it provides a pleasant contrast to the longer, heavier pieces.

"Walking Through Walls" is led by a twisting synthesizer melody with a curious electronica tone accompanied by an extremely heavy guitar sound over the rhythm section. The melody marches about until coming to a new melody, similar in dynamic and feel. It features a notably comfortable measure in 3/4 for no reason other than perhaps that Pravda can skip a beat on purpose and sound just fine. The pattern decrescendos before melting into a synth breakdown that's smooth enough a whisper to make any pop star cringe in confusion as to how this is metal band. The drummer gracefully murders it with a smirk and a huge contrast in dynamic, allowing the rhythm section to play the the breakdown's funky melody under the keyboardist's raging solo on the high ranges, full of emotion. The solo climaxes, bringing the rest of the band with it. There's a pattern featuring a bit of common time 'beat subtraction' in the sense of mixed parts, often with every musician resting but one or two refusing to pull out. They come together to sound comedic without sacrificing the fullness of the melody, to sound calculated but not contrived.

This album has only one slow song, and "Sonia" is done right. Hot licks at the expense of emotion is not the name of the game here. An upbeat guitar solo croons as the the rest of the band calmly pushes it forward. I would definitely critique the rhythm section's overt simplicity but for the fact that the bassist, who plays every instrument, comes out with a beautiful result. Technique is a means to an end and not a goal. Thus the background synthesizer chords and drum beat pleasantly accompany a beautiful display between the two string instruments. After listening to this I often ask myself, "Why is this band considered a metal band?"

"At The Zoo"'s intro reminds you that this is a metal band. The guitar-led melodies build up, evoking the kind of burbling excitement seen in in-door dogs about to get a chance to go outside. After the guitar and keyboard mash their chords, the drummer plays a short double-bass fill before the bass and drum lay down a maturely, deliberately, oddly phrased 3/4 groove. The guitar and synthesizer backgrounds come in, leading to more guitar-heavy melody. Clever ideas are shown in the particularly - dare I say it? - 'melodic' drum solo. A varied sequence of motifs follow, reflecting originality and contrast in sound. The guitar solo is particularly angry, building its angry glare until a very passionate climax. An evocative synthesizer solo follows, dirty in tone and overwhelming in feeling. Further motifs follow until another drum solo with light gong hits on the important accents. The common motif is repeated, with the drummer only hitting the snare on the count of one and staring away angrily during the rest of the beats. The hi-hat accents follow a crescendo of the rest of the band, until a jazzy guitar solo. This solo has a spectacular accompaniment on part of the drums and bass, because they're phrased by three measures of quick beat and one measure of rest, the synth sustaining chords in the background while the solo, unphased, does the kind of things guitar players only speak of in hushed voices outside of jazz (yep, he uses rests). The solo is truly a tale, and with its uptempo but quiet ravings truly has something something gorgeous to tell. After that solo's climax, the band stops for a synthesizer's mystical transition. Dramatic guitar chords are sustained next to an uptempo rhythm section accompanying a joyous piano solo. The solo melts into a melody pushing into accents interrupted by the sound effects of, yes, farm animals. The animal sequences finish with a series of 10/8 rhythms until a final delay, and the final two notes.

"Ethereal" is self-explanatory. The introductory guitar melody is classically influenced, before collapsing into a furiously heavy electric guitar sound. The entire band toys with the guitar's previous motif while the guitarist himself burns angry licks over the rest of the band. The musicians mesh throughout the album, but here they truly accent with power the guitarist's next melody, consisting of slow, accented triplets. The drummer throws out furious fills before underlaying an aggressive double bass drum sixteenth note roll under the main beat. The song then changes entirely, the synthesizer raising an upbeat and truly dramatic melody over the rage of the rest of the band. This becomes a call and answer between the guitar-led anger and the synthesizer-led elegance. The melodies die off, the song pushed forward by a hazy synthesizer chord. The rest of the band plays sparse accented triplet accents, well placed to incite a kind of in-your-face quasi-subtlety to its build in tension. The dirty synth is replaced by choir sound, contrasting the guitar's build-up. The gracefully band employs the release at the end of every four accented triplets (the twos in 3+3+3+3+2+2) without sacrificing the overall feel of a buildup. the drummer starts to accent sparsely under the synthesizer chords and the guitar's roar, and soon the rest of the band follows head, punching and kicking through the raging melody for a few seconds and resting half a measure in between. This continues until there's a release to the song's tension, a heavenly collapse of the entire band's fury. All of the band falls off the planet but for the pianist, who repeats the introductory melody in a more classical, dramatic, style.

At the risk of repeating myself, these men mesh well as musicians. The variety of style and influences make them unlike the majority of prog rock or metal bands, yet the complexity and liberty of musicianship is of the like you rarely see elsewhere. More to the point, this isn't a project in showing off technique; these songs are stories, told with emotion and free of the rules of contemporary music. That's the truth.

Monophobic is the third effort by US proggers Pravda, and like their previos effort a bonafide instrumental affair.

This production offers an eclectic take on progressive rock, covering a wide range of stylistic expressions within these 9 compositions. Riff patterns with synth and keyboard textures fleshing out the sonic tapestry is something of a calling card for this band, and neat, slick evolvements of themes from one variation to the next as well as from one theme to the other a key feature of this album.

First and foremost it's an eclectic blend of multiple expressions though, ranging from metal-tinged energetic passages to slick, vintage jazz inspired sequences on the other side of the spectrum.

And an interesting experience for those with a wide, liberal taste in instrumental progressive rock.

US-based group Pravda consists of established musicians, cooperating in a band structure to give the world their own special mix of what instrumental music should sound like.

Mixing art rock, prog metal and fusion together in a blender, and spicing it all with some weirdness here and there seems to be the basic idea of the band.

Add to that songs where sounds and melodies are deemed just as important - if not more important - than soloing and instrumental showoffs, and you get an instrumental album that is an enjoyable listen - also for listeners that aren't already afficiniados of instrumental music.

Well worth checking out.