by Daniel V. Garcia
Daily Lobo
Progressive rock was given its initial push by King Crimson and Miles Davis' Bitches Brew back in the golden year of creativity, 1969.
Since then, bands with a head for the mathematics of theory and composition and the souls of America's bluesmen have tried their hand at this difficult yet rewarding genre.
One of the newest installments is Apeyga, a prog rock band that just released its self-titled album.
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Apeyga's compositions have orchestral aspirations. The album is marked by symmetry, within sections and the number of changes per song that don't repeat but come and go like tidbits of a geometric proof. Think of what Euclid would be doing if he had access to a guitar.
Theirs is riff-based songwriting at its extreme, as these songs probably took awhile to learn and to memorize. Maybe that's why there are only three guys in the band.
Justin Peloian, the guitarist, is the mastermind behind the project. He's obviously had some training in composition and the effective use of chromatic patterns, which he employs quite sensibly, not allowing them to dominate the album.
Regrettably, I got the feeling Peloian was dropping all the tools out of his bag for everyone to see on each and every song, without keeping something up his sleeve for later. This had the effect of numbing me to his fantastic but repetitive compositions.
I suppose this is part of the problem with completely instrumental bands - they miss out on the ability of a human voice to give listeners the lyrical ground to which they can relate.
Instrumental bands constantly strive to engage listeners who are forced to appreciate the music in a more abstract way. Perhaps that's why jazz and other instrumental sales never match their voice-laden counterparts.
In addition, it seems like they are playing to the limit of their skill levels. Granted, there is probably little improvisation here, as it appears every note of every melody was prearranged, and so we may not see what it would be like if Peloian opened up the carburetor and really let the jams fall from his fingers. However, I somehow don't think so. He's not a shredder, and this music isn't formulated for that sort of thing to begin with. It appears these guys are doing everything they can within the limits of the construct they've pigeonholed themselves into.
Next time around, they would do well to explore the timing of their phrases a bit more, as it becomes clear that not a lot of thought was put into how much the individual phrases, while spread out on the record, are timed too closely for comfort.
