Progressive Savage

An Ephemeral World, released in 2004, is so far Patrick Rondat’s last studio album in his solo career. The main theme is rebellion against the fashion and the arrogant and violent society portrayed by the media. As Patrick wrote:

The music that I offer you doesn’t seem to be rebellious when compared to that traditionally considered to be ‘rebel music’, nevertheless it is a form of resistance to the current musical environment, and the further development of this ephemeral culture.(…) I have a relentless passion both for my instrument and to find a form of complexity–this creates a yearning within me to extend my creative boundaries–simplicity does not have the monopoly on emotion and sincerity.

My love for Patrick Rondat’s work begun with his third solo album On the Edge. Although it took me some time (over half a year constantly searching) to get my hands on the CD itself, I love this album ever since I downloaded it from the ‘net in the first place. Come to think about it, if I wouldn’t listen to the mp3 version at first I probably wouldn’t be the proud owner of any of his albums, so maybe mp3s ain’t so bad after all?

Amphibia is Patrick Rondat’s third solo album. Released in 1996, presented Patrick’s famous frog that’s associated with all his solo work ever since.

Rape of the Earth is Patrick Rondat’s second solo album. Compared to his most recent work this is not a marvelous recording. Still, it’s pretty decent and quite interesting from a historical perspective as it shows a transition from heavy to prog metal, introducing Patrick’s individual style that will remain on his successive albums while his riffs will undergo a major evolution.

Yeah, I known I’ve been too quiet for the past week. To make it up to you here’s a series of reviews of one of my favorite guitarists Patrick Rondat. Patrick is one of those few guitar players whose solo albums are really interesting for a rhythm section guy like me. The solo work of most guitarists I otherwise appreciate is, frankly, quite boring and can be summarized as a continuous trip up and down the fretboard at the highest speed possible with occasional melodic interlude. It proves nothing except that the person is capable of playing solos. Then there is a sparse group of really interesting guitarists composing complete albums not an album-length solo arrangements. That’s the group Patrick Rondat falls into.

What the hell is wrong with prog-metal lately? It should be progressive as in moving forward, changing and evolving but instead it just became same ol’ stagnant music genre. Many new–at least to me–progressive metal bands sound pretty much the same, no matter whether it’s French Spheric Universe Experience, Australian Vanishing Point, Italian Somniae Status or Hungarian Dying Wish.

The albums I’ve heard lately, that isAnima, The Fourth Season, Echoes and D.Y.I.N.G. W.I.S.H. respectively, are pretty decent at most. There’s nothing that would make want to come back to them every now and again and to me they all sound alike. It resembles me of Andromeda: pretty cool band but unable to keep my attention for too long. OK, last Andromeda’s album I’ve thoroughly listen to was II=I so I’m not up-to-date with their music. On the other hand, it just proves that they weren’t able to keep me interested.

My words may seem a little bit bitter but–really–what’s wrong with prog-metal?