Detailed Reviews [Rule 29 - 2004 - "Rule 29"]

Prolusion. The "Rule 29" album is the debut of Dave Harrington and his one-man:-) project of the same name.

Synopsis. Here we have a highly progressive and complex music, which, however, has nothing to do with Progressive Rock as such. In short, this is a chamber classical music and is a very interesting thing. I don't call in question that there are the parts of electric guitar on "Rule 29", but they are hardly recognizable (if recognizable at all) in the overall musical context of the recording. With the exception of Awaken (1), where the cello sets the mood, piano, flute and clarinet are usually at the helm of the arrangements and are, in fact, the main soloing instruments on the album. The impression that I hear a small chamber ensemble was strong and did never leave me while I listened to the material. Thanks to the presence of violoncello and the large number of varied wind and brass instruments on the first two compositions, they're richer in sound than the others, and not only. Rather dark and filled with a mysterious atmosphere, Awaken and Android Dream contain highly eclectic, ever-changing arrangements with some distinct atonalities and dissonant solos, and these are considered to be the features of Avant-garde Academic Music. In other words, if The Thirteenth Hour, Empire, and Carnival Son (3, 4, & 5) are the pieces of pure Classical Music, the two preceding, and also the last track, Ancient Race (6), combine within themselves both kinds of Academic Music: Classical and Avant-garde, which, consequently, gives also some RIO feel to them.

Conclusion. One may find influences of Univers Zero and Art Zoyd on some compositions, but not I. The music is exceptionally original and is beyond any comparisons, though the connoisseurs of the latter band (its early creation, to be precise), and also Wapassou and the like chamber ensembles, should be satisfied with "Rule 29", to say the least. The album is available from CDBaby.

VM: March 23, 2004