Hi everybody!

I think it's about time that I opened a thread about the Austrian newcomer band phi. I hope that a lot of people here get to listen to them, as I think it's one of the very best new bands out there.

Maybe the main thing that I like about their music is the perfect fusion of complex and catchy. Here's a band that writes complex songs with lots of syncopation and odd-meters, as well as unusual harmonic structures without forgetting their rock'n'roll roots. It never sounds "attempted", never too "out there", it's not complexity for the sake of being complex, but because it fits the song. Here's a band that switches between hard/loud and soft/quiet without losing power. A band with parts that sound emotive and fragile without ever getting kitschy.
Where many other young prog bands have problems to go out and find an audience except for the few people normally interested in that kind of music, Phi play concerts regularly in Austria's two biggest cities Graz and Vienna, as well as everywhere in between, for large and enthusiastic audiences (winning multiple band contests while doing so). They have played around 40 gigs in 2011 alone, four of them finales of band contests. It's hard to point out the highlights with all three of them being highly accomplished instrumentalists, whatever instrument you focus on plays interesting and witty parts. What captivates most people (especially non-musicians) live, however, seems to be the outstanding voice of Markus Bratusa. I think it's also important to point out that they're not only good, but that they're constantly getting better. I've followed them for a few years now, and nearly every new song they come up with seems to be better than what they have done before.

But enough of the words, listen for yourself

From their 2012 EP "The Deflowering Of Reality":




A HQ live clip from 2011, opening at the Stadtfest in Graz


From their 2011 album "For The Love Of Ghosts" (the only song from that album that I found on youtube.


Their singer and guitarist performing Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, doing a guest appearance with Hallucination Company, a well-known Viennese Rock music theater/band founded in 1977


You can listen to all of their music on bandcamp and their website, and you can also find them on facebook and myspace. Both courrent CD's are available as hardcopies, the first release is courrently out of press but can still be listened to here, along with some nice live versions of their music. If you like what you hear you can buy their new EP for 6€ there, which seems to be quite a nice deal 

Have fun and let me know you what you think of them!

you can follow the process here

yam yam wrote: Great stuff!! - No problem adding these guys, I wouldn't think.

glad you like them

Just depends now on whether they are considered as Prog Metal or Heavy Prog by the guys who carry out the evaluations, since there are elements of both sub genres in their music. I would have thought Heavy Prog, on balance, since the Metal aspects are not all that prominent when you consider the music as a whole.

Yeah, I was thinking that too. I mean it has quite some metal elements in it, but it doesn't really sound like metal. Also, seing a live trio whith a guitarist who plays a telecaster doesn't really leave the impression of a metal concert

Whoops! Didn't know they were already being evaluated!

I got that link too when I wrote an admin about it. I decided to open this thread anyway because the admin wrote that doing that would be the normal process. Also, I think (and hope ;) ) that this way some more people will notice the band than if they would be just evaluated by a team and then added. In addition to that, I don't really know how to interpret that list, like whether it's a good sign that some things happened quite fast and than nothing anymore for a longer time.

can't really see how they can not be added there to be honest. Excellent music indeed!!

100% agree

We'll be getting to you guys in the near future. 

Well then, I just saw that I didn't enter their facebook page and thought that it might be a good idea to do so, since it's not that easy to find.

Also, while I'm at it, phi is featured on Prog Sphere Promotions' new Progstravaganza Compilation Of Awesomeness. What a great name for a sampler 


Edited by Desert_Storm - April 09 2012 at 07:38

You can check how the evaluation is going yourself at any time you like by following the progfreak link that Rivertree gave us 7 posts back: http://progfreak.com/Phi-152559.html?path=pa/recent.

Edited by yam yam - April 17 2012 at 03:15

Just so you know, Phi has been cleared, and we're just waiting on a bio. 

Their album is on ProgStreaming now :)