CONTRADICTION

Gecko's Tear were already marked as outstanding after they won the Italian contest organized by "Movimenti Prog", dedicated to Demetrio Stratos, the former singer of Area; and for their support act of the Swedish band Isildurs Bane and Arti e Mestieri. Gecko's Tear's music is definitely far from average schemes and our time's standards... while listening to it, mind goes to "vintage" heores such as Yes, King Crimson, Rush, Genesis, ELP & Zappa but, and this is not blasphemous, the Geckos can incline towards a more modern prog, flirting with jazz-rock and "keeping a foot" into rock in opposition, influences that are anyway present in their compositions, so rich in unusual diversions and embellishments of various kinds. The vocals of our Claudio Mirone, carismatic leader of the band and its main compositive source, melts away nicely in the instrumental dimension; the lirycs are English but, as curious and witty as it may seem, when they play Italy, in order to communicate more easily the songs' contents, Geckos use to sing in Italian! Gecko's Tear's first album is a real, fascinating universe of influences and quotes, in which prog metal is surely a component, but not the most evindent not the most charming. There is often occasion for dilated moments that taste like space rock, besides the patent reminescenses of classic prog as in "On the wings", eveni RIO quotes in "SPQA", plus pleasant fusion digressions, as in "Mental hygiene", reminding of Frank Zappa. A suprising record, patently progressive, in the most vast meaning of the word.