Detailed Reviews [William Gray - 2012 - "Silentio"]

Prolusion. The Argentinian band WILLIAM GRAY was formed in 2006, originally as a solo project with guest musicians helping out with the recording for the album "Living Fossils" from 2006 that developed into a band-based venture. "Silentio" is their second album, self-released in 2012.

Analysis. There are many fine artists from South America that have chosen their very own way to explore progressive rock, and William Gray is a fine addition to that collection of bands. Not that this is a phenomenon limited to South American bands, but what this group of musicians and multiple guest musicians accomplish on this CD is to explore progressive rock in a more broad context, not limiting themselves to a particular subset of the genre. Which is always a good thing in my book. Following an atmospheric opening sequence, we're taken straight into a powerful, hard-edged variety of progressive rock with guitars and organ as key components, of the kind that brings Deep Purple to mind just as much, if not even more, than the likes of, for instance, ELP and with a few pointers to vintage King Crimson tucked in there for good measure as well. And while that territory is revisited on occasion throughout, the following compositions mainly stick to a more ballad and folk oriented expression, with acoustic guitars, accordion, strings and some occasional brass details added in for good measure on occasion. A bit of tango is thrown in for good measure here too. Some of these songs perhaps a tad too much on the smooth and mainstream oriented side of things for ardent progressive rock fans, but well made and well accomplished creations all of them. Around the halfway point of this production, the track Type Machinae shifts the focus firmly to a quite different style of music, with intense plucked acoustic guitars, tight majestic dark toned guitar riffs and effects-laced vocals, this track might have come straight off a Porcupine Tree album from a few years back. And while the following Auditorium is more of a classic progressive rock creation, and next track Dumb is more of a ballad oriented affair that concludes on a distinct folk and psychedelic note, Cursed returns us back to musical landscapes that should be familiar to fans of Steven Wilson and his main band. Much the same can be said about concluding piece The Search, although here, these tendencies are to some extent paired off with the sounds and styles explored earlier on as well.

Conclusion. Apart from the lead vocals, which are more of a functional but not all that impressive feature, this is a quality album that successfully blends the traditions of vintage progressive rock with the more contemporary vibes that Porcupine Tree and similar bands have explored since the mid ‘90s. Those fond of bands that add retro details to contemporary-sounding modern progressive rock, or the other way around, should be a key audience for this CD. If you have bands like King Crimson and Porcupine Tree side by side in your music collection, this is a CD that you probably should investigate at some point.

OMB=Olav M Bjornsen: April 5, 2015
The Rating Room