Short Reviews [Iako Bei - 2018 - "Pursuits in 1ife. Cortex Labyrinthus"]

One of the benefits of reviewing music for so long is that there are times when I am contacted by a band wondering if I might possibly be interested in writing about their music. Such is the case with Slovakian band Iako Bei, where bassist/singer Roman Jakobej got in touch. I was immediately intrigued to find out more as here we have a progressive rock band where one of the key instruments of the genre, the guitar, is totally absent. Also, the main melodies are often carried by a saxophone with keyboards providing more of a backdrop and the bass being far more dynamic and in your face that usual, something which immediately took me back 30 years to Mr. So & So and the playing of Shaun McGowan. As well as Roman, the line-up on their 2018 debut is Stevie Heart (keyboards), Nikola Bankov (alto saxophone), Tibor Rusnk (drums) and Karmen Pal-Balaz (backing vocals), and there is no doubt that here is something fresh and interesting, yet somehow not too far from other crossover progressive rock acts – I can almost guarantee that if this is listened to without knowing there is no guitar, one will not even notice its absence. As I alluded to, the bass is incredibly important here, and although it is normally played without too many effects, there are times when we get a fretless and some effects. The bass is the centre of the arrangements, much more than just holding down a bottom end, although there are times when it does just that, as it is obviously where the songs start their life. Roman also has a nice vocal range, moving seamlessly into falsetto, and there are times when he is somewhat reminiscent of Serj Tankian. From the core the rest of the band find their place, with Tibor (who is now a member of famous Slovakian outfit Sexit – interestingly their singer and bassist Stefan Hundza was at the release of their second album) keeping it together with some nice fills but never over playing. Stevie moves between piano and keyboards, sometimes taking on more of a lead role but often letting Nikola ride over the top, showing yet again that a saxophone very much has a role in progressive rock. Listening to the album I found myself thinking of a quote from Joe Elliot after the return of Rick Allen, who said people would firstly stare at Rick thinking how strange it was to have a one-armed drummer and soon forget that as he was such a great player. That is somewhat the same here, as one starts listening to this album realising there is no guitar and wondering why they would make that decision, before soon getting to the realisation that the reason there is no guitar is there is no place for it whatsoever, and it is not missed. Without that sound, the arrangements also have a great deal of space, and with Roman singing in English the result is a highly accessible and totally enjoyable release which seems to have passed many of us by.