Album: The Echoing Sounds (2003)
Genre: Prog Rock (Heavy/Prog Metal) / USA
The Echoing Sounds is their debut album and takes as it's central concept a tale of the futility of war. However, in a departure from the usual 'big picture' generalisation of 'war is a bad idea', Pravda have adopted a more individualistic approach focusing primarily on three main characters, a young girl orphaned by the war whose effect on an injured soldier and a priest force them to contemplate and re-evaluate their own lives and ideals. A fictional tale based on events in Kosovo, the film Schindler's List and personal reflections, this more novel approach is a change from a lot of anti-war songs. The story is not presented as a linear chronology, but takes the listener back into the histories of the characters which provides the opportunity to vary the musical tempo, with tracks such as I Believe?, The Echoing Sounds Of Life [reprise] and Peacemind being more reflective instrumental pieces (although the latter track does break out mid song into a soaring electric guitar solo). As would be expected, the tracks depicting the fighting are somewhat heavier. Saving Your Soul and Revolution at points verge on crossing over into metal territory while Omnipotent Struggle is a more 'traditional' progressive number featuring both guitar and synth breaks. Considerable thought has been put into the arrangements, with some nice effects, such as the pipe organ at the beginning of The Echoing Sounds Of Life (the standout track on the album for me), the clock chimes echoed by the drum pattern and keyboard riff in For I Am and the introductory Prelude with radio broadcasts setting the scene against a gathering storm and overlaid synths. Final track As One features a very in-your-face guitar solo (sounds like the faders were turned right up on that one during the mix!) and some harmony vocals, although I feel that the vocals are rather understated and, in fact, are the biggest disappointment of the album. That is not to say that Steve Brown is not a good singer, he is (as the testaments to his vocal prowess with his main band, Border Crossing prove) it is just that they seem to lack a certain amount of warmth in places. The final result is an interesting and varied album with some nice flourishes. However, I personally found that it lacked the killer touch and that the running time of over an hour was a trifle too long. Still it is a promising debut and the follow-up (currently being written with all four band members having more involvement in the writing as opposed to the majority of The Echoing Sounds being written by Thomsen and Thomas) could be one to watch out for. Review by "Mark Hughes" (www.dprp.net).
RATING: 7.25 / 10
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Genre: Prog Rock (Heavy/Prog Metal) / USA
The Echoing Sounds is their debut album and takes as it's central concept a tale of the futility of war. However, in a departure from the usual 'big picture' generalisation of 'war is a bad idea', Pravda have adopted a more individualistic approach focusing primarily on three main characters, a young girl orphaned by the war whose effect on an injured soldier and a priest force them to contemplate and re-evaluate their own lives and ideals. A fictional tale based on events in Kosovo, the film Schindler's List and personal reflections, this more novel approach is a change from a lot of anti-war songs. The story is not presented as a linear chronology, but takes the listener back into the histories of the characters which provides the opportunity to vary the musical tempo, with tracks such as I Believe?, The Echoing Sounds Of Life [reprise] and Peacemind being more reflective instrumental pieces (although the latter track does break out mid song into a soaring electric guitar solo). As would be expected, the tracks depicting the fighting are somewhat heavier. Saving Your Soul and Revolution at points verge on crossing over into metal territory while Omnipotent Struggle is a more 'traditional' progressive number featuring both guitar and synth breaks. Considerable thought has been put into the arrangements, with some nice effects, such as the pipe organ at the beginning of The Echoing Sounds Of Life (the standout track on the album for me), the clock chimes echoed by the drum pattern and keyboard riff in For I Am and the introductory Prelude with radio broadcasts setting the scene against a gathering storm and overlaid synths. Final track As One features a very in-your-face guitar solo (sounds like the faders were turned right up on that one during the mix!) and some harmony vocals, although I feel that the vocals are rather understated and, in fact, are the biggest disappointment of the album. That is not to say that Steve Brown is not a good singer, he is (as the testaments to his vocal prowess with his main band, Border Crossing prove) it is just that they seem to lack a certain amount of warmth in places. The final result is an interesting and varied album with some nice flourishes. However, I personally found that it lacked the killer touch and that the running time of over an hour was a trifle too long. Still it is a promising debut and the follow-up (currently being written with all four band members having more involvement in the writing as opposed to the majority of The Echoing Sounds being written by Thomsen and Thomas) could be one to watch out for. Review by "Mark Hughes" (www.dprp.net).
RATING: 7.25 / 10
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