Detailed Reviews [ Robert Kropop - 2015 - "Underwater"]

Prolusion. Polish composer and musician Robert KROPOP is something of an unknown entity to me. Besides the fact that he is from Poland and has two albums to his name, there's just not all that much information to be found on this musician online. "Underwater" is his first solo album, at least to my knowledge, and was self released in 2015.

Analysis. As far as progressive rock and metal albums go, this initial solo album by Kropop isn't one that quite fits the bill of these genres. It's an instrumental affair, residing on the borders between hard rock and metal, but the typical progressive aspects aren't dominating traits in this case. Present, but more as additional flavoring I'd say. It is very much a guitar based production too, although I do get the impression that the bass guitar rather than the electric guitar is Kropop's main instrument. Either that, or he has purposefully made the bass guitar much more prominent than what is often the case for guitar dominated productions. We are not, however, being taken to a visit in guitar hero landscapes. The compositions revolve around riff constructions of various kinds to a much greater extent than guitar soloing, and many of the guitar solo excursions are both distant, dampened and atmospheric laden in nature at that. Driving guitar riff cascades and tight textures is the order of the day here, with varying degrees of fuzz and distortion, with the guitar solo more often than not as a delicate and subtle presence on top. The bass lines tend to be rather expressive, at least when there's a natural space that this can be implemented, and at best these elements create quite the hypnotic and engaging arrangements on top of a steady drum foundation. Many of the compositions develop quite nicely along the way, either by adding and subtracting to the arrangements or to visit several different themes and arrangements along the way either by direct changes or by way of transitional phases. Calmer interludes are used here and there, which adds a bit to the progressive rock contents of this production, and on some of the cuts we are treated with piano and various forms of keyboards; and even a few instances of cinematic sound effects. Some of these more expanded compositions will also be the ones that will appeal most for a progressive rock interested audience, with 'Nocturne' a good example of that. A couple of details does come across as somewhat detrimental throughout: The drums sound a bit too mechanical for my taste, the mix and production isn't quite up to expected standards, especially in some of the more intense passages, and the cutoff for some of the songs is a bit too sudden. None of these are major issues, but they are aspects of this album that could have been pulled off a little bit better in my opinion.

Conclusion. Instrumental, guitar driven material on the borderline between hard rock and metal is what Robert Kropop explores on his initial solo album "Underwater", complete with some nods towards progressive rock and progressive metal along the way. While I wouldn't categorize this album under any of these genres personally, this is a production that should have some appeal also in these environments. But this is mainly an album for fans of guitar driven instrumental cuts. I suspect that quite a few who tend to enjoy such ventures, and appreciate a production focusing a bit more on guitar riffs and the bass guitar and a bit less on guitar soloing and extravagant technical details, should find this album to be a pleasing experience.

Progmessor: Nowember 2020
The Rating Room