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SYRIAK

Neo-Prog • Venezuela


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Syriak biography
Syriak were formed in 1981 in Maracaibo, Venezuela, by brothers Gustavo Vilchez on guitar and Carlos Vilchez on keyboards. This original formation comprised also of drummer Carlos Nieto , guitarist Eleri Morales and bassist Carlos Bermudez on bass and lead vocals.They started doing cover versions of several American and British bands, which allowed defining their progressive rock, later to develop into their own compositions within this musical style. By the end of 1981, after structuring musical material with lyrics written by Roberto Tarzieris and Eleri Morales and arrangements by Carlos Vilchez, they recorded an album, which was never published or placed on sale, because record companies of the country were not easy accepting their different musical productions.

Later the band has several member changes, mainly in the drummer's spot. Nieto was replaced by Enrique Rincon, Ricardo Chacin and then by drummer Alfredo Carrillo, which gave significant musical contributions in the area with his rhythmic influences from John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and Bill Brufford of King Crimson and Yes. Carrillo played with Syriak for two years, from early 1982 until the end of 1983, being replaced by Jairo Molero, which brought another range of rhythmic contributions and lyrics by participating in the band until 1987. Reputedly this formation recorded a second work in early 86', released the following year, as they entered a long period of hiatus due to family and work commitments.

After several attempts to revive the band, in January 2010 the Vilchez brothers invited the old members to resurrect Syriak's legend. Carlos Bermudez accepted the invitation and they found a new drummer in Edgar Calderon. Bermudez though was not willing to take over the lead vocals, after some auditions they recruited Aristoteles Albornoz, singer of the Pop Rock act KIO. From 2011 and on the new Syriak focused on writing material for a triumphant return after almost 20 years. Finally in early 2015 they released ''Dentro de los Cuentos del Dia", showcasing a group with strong Neo and symphonic influences.

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3.00 | 5 ratings
Dentro De Los Cuentos Del Dia
2015

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 Dentro De Los Cuentos Del Dia by SYRIAK album cover Studio Album, 2015
3.00 | 5 ratings

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Dentro De Los Cuentos Del Dia
Syriak Neo-Prog

Review by siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic

3 stars Neo-prog is probably the most English sounding styles of all of progressive rock with most bands engaging in this emotional churning style of music emerging out of the UK and those that don't trying to emulate their favorite pioneers like Marillion, Genesis, IQ or Pendragon however every once in a while one of these bands came from a non-English speaking nation and actually chose to use their own native tongue. While this is fairly uncommon in neo-prog such a band emerged all the way back in 1981 in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

In a place like 1980s Venezuela it's not difficult to understand why such a band tried to score a record deal for several years but failed to do so. By 1987 the band decided to take a break which turned into a 25 year period after the members all went their own way but in 2010 three of the original team that consisted of Gustavo V'lchez (lead guitarist), Carlos V'lchez (keyboardist), and Carlos Berm'dez (bass and chorus) decided to reform SYRIAK and to complete the group, Aristotle Alborn'z (guitarist / vocalist) and Edgar Calder'n (drums) were recruited to make the band complete.

The newly reformed band spent a few years to work out a repertoire and finally crafted its first album DENTRO DE LOS CUENTOS DEL DIA ( Inside The Tales Of The Day ) in 2015. Using the Spanish language exclusively SYRIAK immediately sounds different for a neo-prog band and while the musical flow resembles bands like Marillion, Pendragon and the other usual suspects, this band is from Latin America and it utilizes a little extra energetic oomf to its flow with faster tempos, choppy bass / drum rhythmic grooves and stealthy fast flowing keyboard runs with a few more time signature deviations than your typical neo-prog standards. In fact this is much more of a symphonic prog album at many points because of the soloing and fast tempos.

The band prides itself on creating atypical compositions that eschew the typical verse, chorus, bridge sort of thing but they still engage in creating strong melodic developments. Because Spanish is closely related to Italian, SYRIAK actually sounds like many of the Italian prog bands that engage in heavy symphonic elements only at a faster speed. While not as technically proficient as PFM or Banco, the band and all its keyboard antics do remind me of bands like Locanda delle Fate. The piano runs are heavily steeped in classical whereas the synthesizers sound more like a typical 90s neo-prog band such as Arena. All in all the band sounds a bit eclectic as i even hear a Mr Bungle influence or two from the 'California' album particularly in the heavy guitar stomps.

SYRIAK seems to have released their one album and then disappeared since there's not a lot of info to be had about them but nonetheless their sole album DENTRO DE LOS CUENTOS DEL DIA is a decent slice of neo-prog tinged symphonic prog that delivers a passionate delivery of eight tracks that each retain their own distinct personality. Aristoteles Albronoz' operatic singing style adds extra weight to this one as well as the choppy off-kilter time signatures that punctuate a rather commercial sounding style of symphonic rock. Not a bad album at all but seems to lack that extra magic that makes it worthy of more than just a curiosity of a part of the world where this style of music isn't exactly common. Worth a listen or two but not anything that will go down as a long lost classic for sure.

Thanks to apps79 for the artist addition.

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