REYA OF TITAN

De Todo Como en Botica

Started this review of the latest GEKKO PROJECT album (courtesy of my good friend Peter Matuchniak) with a Peruvian saying in Spanish that means "Everything as in a pharmacy", because this phrase describes perfectly what Reya of Titan is. This solid album has a bit of everything, from soft oneiric Prog to lush and aggressive keyboard passages in the vein of 70's Symphonic (with a hint of Steve Hackett later albums), all blended with extreme care, but if this wasn't enough they give us a concept that includes Sci Fi, violence, nostalgia and everything a Prog geek as me loves.

The album starts with Elegy, a short introduction with atmospheric guitar by the talented Peter Matuchniak and a digital narration that introduces the listener to Reya's adventures, an asteroid miner who is left abandoned in Titan.

Snow White is opened by a keyboard intro that morphs rapidly into one of the best exhibits of Crossover Prog with mainstream elements that fuse with strong keyboard passages enhanced by the hypnotic voice of Jojo Razor'All followed by a short Radio Earth Interlude created to give coherence to the concept.

Grains of Sand is another oneiric track that presents us Reya's dreams about life and death, with a nice keyboard performance by Vance Gloster and guitar by Peter that provides the necessary atmosphere, for a song about dreams, that is complemented by Jovian Belt and North of Titan in the same vein but this time with the addition of some mysterious elements and some frantic passages in the last song.

The jazzy Frienda marks a turning point in Reya of Titan, from this point the songs gain in strength and intensity, leaving the dreamy tunes behind, more my kind of music with excellent guitar solos that really blew my pre- conceptions about the band.

This is our Home Now is a short epic that starts almost as a VANGELIS track with his characteristic keyboard, but soon turns into a soft rock song but with nice guitar and keyboard sections that go in crescendo until the 3:20 mark, when the whole band explodes with an intensity I didn't expected, in a fusion of different genres that include Psychedelic fugues with frenetic guitar solos by Peter Matuchniak, all supported with an impeccable rhythm section by Rick Meadows (Bass) and Alan Smith in the drums. The best track of the album with 10:30 minutes of pure Prog Rock.

24 Years of Solitude starts with a nice keyboard intro with distinctive oriental influences but then you can expect everything, but specially pleasant when Peter gives us some sort of electric guitar flamenco followed by psychedelic keyboard solos. Another song that every proghead will love.

After 25 years abandoned Reya and her crew receive a visit from an earth vessel in Queen of Titan, so she has a decision to make and again the band offers us an eclectic song with elements of different genres that will be delightful for any Prog Rock listener.

The album ends with the elaborate Escape from the Mines of Titan and the nostalgic Sing for Me, a great closer for a great album.

Now comes the hard part'How should I rate this album? Well, it's evident for me that anything below 4 star would be unfair, because not only the music itself, but also the skills of the musicians, the perfect balance between songs and the overall concept, make of this album a great addition for any musical collection.

At some point I felt tempted to give them five stars, but that would be placing Reya of Titan as the magnum opus of GEKKO PROJECT, but I'm sure that this guys have much more to offer us and I'm convinced that they will release a perfect album in a short time, so will go with 4 stars that would be 4.5 if the system allowed it.

US outfit GEKKO PROJEKT was formed a few years ago, initially as a quartet of experienced hands in the music business. They released their debut album "Electric Forest" back in 2012. Since then the band has been expanded with the talents of vocalist Jojo Razor, and signed to the US label Melodic Revolution Records for the release of their second album "Reya of Titan" in 2015.

Gekko Projekt's second album "Reya of Titan" appears as a well-developed conceptual creation, and documents that the band is well aware of the past of progressive rock, utilizing elements from that past in a somewhat more contemporary and accessible manner. Those who have a strong affection for vintage-like neo-progressive rock should spend some time checking out this album, and then in particular those who treasure music of this kind that feature obvious nods back to bands such as Genesis and Camel.

"Reya of Titan" is the second album by Gekko Projekt and, like their debut album "Electric Forest", their style remains rooted in the late 1970's. This is accomplished so well that it come across as totally natural and in no way sounds forced or contrived. However, there is at least one noticeable step up from the debut and that is that the music has grown in complexity. While much of the music on "Electric Forest" seemed to be based on an interesting but repeated rhythm (bass line and drums) allowing for the showcasing of Peter Matuchniak's Hackett/Howe inspired lead guitar work and Vance Gloster's vintage keyboard sounds, "Reya of Titan" sees the band stretching out into more challenging time signatures and longer compositions with rhythm changes.

The band is comprised of the same four members, including Rick Meadows on bass and Alan Smith on drums as well as the aforementioned Peter and Vance, but this time they are joined by JoJo Razor providing the female vocals for the character Reya in this concept narrative. The album tells the story of Reya Jones who, in the year 2084, heads to Lunar City to pick up a ship to do asteroid mining and then subsequently barely escapes death after a meteor punctures a hole in her vessel. She is rescued out by Saturn's largest moon Titan, and then everyone becomes marooned on the giant satellite. Rescue does not come and everyone must rebuild the ship and turn it into a habitat for all to live in until help comes. After 24 years a ship arrives from Mars. It seems there has been a war between Earth and Mars which caused the great delay. With so much time having passed and everyone on Titan now comfortable in their new world, Reya says they should vote about returning to Earth or remaining on Titan. They vote to stay and the Martian ship leaves. Reya is pronounced Queen of Titan.

I very much enjoyed the music of "Electric Forest" and it's great to hear the band reaching further on their sophomore release. The sound is warmer than on the debut but at times I feel JoJo's vocals are not easy to hear clearly. Aside from that though, there is a lot of interesting music: some instrumentals and great instrumental sections in the songs. One that stands out for me is the in-your-face odd time signature of "Frienda". The music is simple regarding the mix (as in not heavily layered) but it's nothing you can easily dance to. Another touch I like was how Reya's favourite song "Sing for Me" the final track, can be heard as the radio signal shifts before completely cutting out in "Radio Earth Interlude". We can imagine Reya catching that final Earth signal and hearing her favourite song for a few moments before all contact is lost.

I do find the lyrics are a little cheesy at times but mostly I think it's all part of the late seventies sound. Taken in that context, I have no complaints. I quite enjoy both Gekko Projekt albums but perhaps I like this one a little more. It will be interesting to hear what they do on a third album, hoping that they will record one at some future time.