Detailed Reviews [Symbolon Obscura - 2018 - "Esoterica"]

Prolusion. US project Symbolon Obscura is the creative vehicle of composer and musician Michael DeMichele, and has been a going concern for at least a decade at this point and possibly even longer: As the artist doesn't have a website and this venture remains an obscure one, information is hard to get by in this case. The album "Esoterica" dates back to 2018. and was self released by the band.

Analysis. Michael is a big progressive rock fan, and a very nice person to boot: I have met him on a few occasions at progressive rock festivals stateside. And I received this CD from him personally. And this CD is one that quite clearly is the result of an enthusiast at work, albeit one that has managed to gain some skills as far as the art of creating music is concerned. I note that the mix and production is at an acceptable level on this occasion, and in the harder edged variety of progressive rock explored here there are quite a few fine moments to be enjoyed. The music itself strikes me as fairly similar to late 70's and early 80's Rush in many ways, with tight and hard riffs driving some parts while a more gentle approach is taken on others, many of the songs establishing a nice ebb and flow between these to counterpoints. Keyboards are used to establish and add atmospheric laden elements to the proceedings in both of these settings, but as a bit more of an occasional presence. Quite a few of the moods and atmospheres explored here have an intriguing core element to them. That Michael opts for a slightly more dirty and blues-oriented sound here, with some Robin Trower vibes added to the proceedings, is a charming addition to these specific types of landscapes. What is lacking is the needed skill in the songwriting and performance department however. Some of the compositions here are clearly more ambitious than what Michael and his friends manage to pull off, and while the Canadian greats references strikes me as a clear inspiration, the material here doesn't come with the same finesse and technical abilities needed to manage to create something more wholesome either. The drums are a bit on the simplistic side at times too, but the main weakness here are the vocals. They are too thin, which admittedly is a matter of subjective taste, but there's also challenges present in terms of holding a tone as well as staying in harmony with the music. It will obviously be a subjective matter in terms of how much this will impact the listener experience, but for me this latter aspect was strikingly detrimental, and the total sum of detrimental features overshadow the good points about the music here in a bit too great a manner throughout for me. As such this will be a distinctly niche production I surmise, an album to be treasured by a smaller crowd with a very specialized taste in music.

Conclusion. "Esoterica" isn't an album that will ever gain a more widespread appeal, as the weak sides of this production outnumber the good ones on way too many levels as well as issues. The core foundation of this production is an appealing one, with compositions that explore both the gentler and the more harder edged landscapes in a manner that comes across as very much inspired by Rush. Those with a more keen interest in music exploring such landscapes might want to inspect this album at some point. This is very much a case of try before you buy though, as I suspect many will find the weak points of this album to be rather severe in magnitude.

Progmessor: January 2023
The Rating Room