IN HUMANITY

ANYONE is the brainchild of multi-talented US artist Riz Story basically. He already has formed this music project way back in the last century, while starting with a more heavy alternative, grunge and metal music mix. The previous 2020 album 'On The Ending Earth ...' though has been the initial point for a major shift towards progressive rock, including reminiscences of Rush, Tool, Led Zeppelin, to name a few. And now, concerning the overall flow, the compositional aspect, this album production comes matured again. Hence, for some reason, one can consider it his masterpiece. So far of course, only he himself bears the clues what will follow. I am definitely delighted with the revealed inspiration and especially the technical finesse. Yep, challenging arrangements and such a tricky execution during the course of round about 100 minutes, accompanied by a crystal clear sound.

This nearly has no equal currently. I only could name a very few artists respectively bands which are sounding somewhat similar, let's say Coevality or Ontologics. At first glance let's consider that there is a Sci-Fi concept behind this, dealing with the dystopian vision '... when mankind has made the earth uninhabitable and venture into the cosmos to find a planet that is even more beautiful than earth, which they immediately begin to destroy ...' Holy [&*!#]! But quite a possible view. Music-wise there's a strong powerful heavy rock expression to note. Where the guitars are dominant, both electric and acoustic, compared to piano, synths, and electronics. Concerning the sound mix the vocals are rather prominent. This applies to the drums in the same way. But as often nowadays it's nearly impossible to say if they were acoustically or electronically generated. I tend to the latter.

Man! Occasionally I had problems to cope this in its entirety, which is running over such a long course. Thus for a certain time I would not have complained if the album was presented in a bit more compressed format. You know, less is more in some cases. But this has vanished in the meanwhile, I learned to reserve enough space instead for this incredible production. Lively drums are opening The Disappearing Everything, some well-appointed piano keystrokes, psychedelic soarings as well as agressive metal affin guitar riffs, the complex flow, I really adore this. Don't Swallow Tomorrow bears a little Black Sabbath feel. Misanthropist is the sole track with external support, speaking of Jon Davison who contributes the vocals. I'm very impressed, it's an overwhelming experience, very ambitious. Happy listening. 4.5 stars on the PA scale.

For someone who has just learned the drums, the man behind the band Riz Story makes sure you can hear his drums in the mix. on this album. He uses all his toms with some complex patterns. The bass also is up in the mix with plenty of keys/piano throughout the album. The melody is brought on another level with some excellent singing including the voice of Jon Davison on one track. The music relies more on building an intense atmosphere with a slow tempo, some dreamy and spacey passages along with short heavier outbursts and some post-rock elements. The singing tone reminds me a lot of Bono from U2 which is not a bad thing. The guitars are low profile but still present and have impressed me in the first track "Elations' which has some groovy parts. In the shorter song "The Pale Blue Dot", you can hear a Crimsonesque style of guitar with that huge bass sound. "Don't Swallow Tomorrow" has some Black Sabbath influences for the most part, but in the end the music here is unique and I am glad to have discovered this band or this Riz Story who has made a lot of music and has filled many roles not only on the world of music but also in the movies and poetry department.

ANYONE is Rice's baby, here his 4th album, but what a double album in the process of giving birth for a good decade, "A Winter Rose" already alerted us in 2016 with an anachronistic film. Progressive rock after having flirted with rap metal or punk metal for a long time; here we are witnessing an explosive and remarkable turn with end-to-end instrumental virtuosity and the contribution of a new sound, an album conceived as a conceptual film soundtrack. An idea put in a ball to lay this opus. Bon Riz quickly learned to play all the instruments he could get his hands on. He composed his first symphony at the age of 13. Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters, Alanis Morrisette) and Jon Davison (Yes) accompanied him on this timeless trip called ANYONE. On "In Humanity" we have the story of the discovery of a new earth, yes ours is [%*!#]ed up, polluted, and Man starts again the same thing as a backdrop. So let's get started with my column of the year.

"Elations" and it goes directly to a sweet hint of the original ANYONE for the voice, for the instrumental in support and then as a bonus; airy synths, SAGA Crichton-style guitar, electronic, dancing, rhythmic sound that intensifies with a soaring tune; that's it we fit into the sound of tomorrow; beware you may also hear Bono throughout the title; colorful final that goes up even more in a dantesque way. "The Disappearing Everything" with this piano note as the basic rhythm, this jerky on drums and guitar; it's a synthetic hovering monolithic track that sets off beyond conventional sounds; it's beautiful, symphonic, airy and again that divine voice. "Apocalypse" with its languid acoustic intro and voice that emphasizes Bono's soaring inspiration; an electronic pad to a melancholy tune wakes you up for a while, the voice seems to come from the ether, the rhythm goes wild, you can no longer sit still; a solo from far away reaches us then it's instrumental delirium for a while; a religious piano in pomp makes you prick up your ears even more, the musical overloop makes the title majestic, go "The Show Must Go On", immense and first slap. "The Pale Blue Dot" for a stratospheric interlude surely coming from space time, a fresh and airy electronic variation, extraterrestrial perhaps, an oriental break coming from Mars, we are fine. "Emergence" sets off again at a singular tempo between a jazzy and Andalusian Latin wandering; the air is more pompous, the sound seems to come from up there, some sounds bring back to passages of YES just before a new rhythmic rock punk jazzy that Devin TOWNSEND could have composed; the finale with this piano arpeggio breaks the mood a bit and gives it an even more emphatic character. "Don't Swallow Tomorrow" and a rocky intro reminding me of the original sound of ANYONE, nervous, desaturated and austere, the borderline plaintive voice of Rice; if you know the guy a little, you won't be surprised by the insane break that suddenly happens: notes at 380 volts, it spins everywhere, it's very energetic, a little languid also leading to a trance. "Whole World's on Fire" for applause, classical music and the sounds of machine guns; Bono uh Riz with a deep voice accompanied by a minimalist acoustic guitar on a progressive orchestration and atmosphere; is it the end of the world with these screams and shots ?, is this the wake of our good old Earth ?; in short, an overwhelming road title to listen to at the fireside.

"Transfiguration" sort of follows with that phrasing and howl, those horror sounds of film music; 2'30 '' to launch this repetitive track which takes its air from that of ANYONE 20 years ago, a condensed version of the 2 tangled space spaces of brutal rock tunes; needless to say that the moment to remember is at its peak because you have here an osmosis of the best remodeled; it's dreamlike, symphonic, the reminiscences fall in jerks, the guitar fruity, ethereal, enjoyable for a time. The choirs add to the bombastic atmosphere, the final organ still comes out of the best YES and gives in the exceptional; memories sparkle with every note and ANYONE's beauty reaches its climax here, the 2nd slap. "On the ending earth ..." Bono come off this record we know it's you, what about the best tribute to this divine voice, it looks like "The Joshua Tree" with this languid tone. Well, we arrive at the end of the Earth here, melodic air between the ballad and the melancholy rhyme. "Misanthropist" for the eclectic track with synths here and there, jerky, more rock and nervous, which starts with a scattering rhythm until the arrival of the scintillating guitar, a bit repetitive title to be taken as the second interlude and do not forget here the angelic voice of Jon as a guest. "The Madness" returns to a film atmosphere that leaves slowly, it is burst, airy, melancholy and austere at the same time; there is emotion in this rhyme amplified by the voice; it's also meditative. "In Humanity" for THE title of 15 minutes now; listen, finally read me in the meantime: a fusion of what he did best yesterday and today, a musical melting pot with certain musical themes discussed; It's beautiful, languid, solemn, it sends back to the soundtracks of films about the end of the world a tad spleen and melancholy, that's good. "Curtain Call" for the end of this hearty double album; the synth is much more present, more melodious to return smoothly from this musical journey; Riz stretches this title like the end of a movie, the one where you don't know if you want to stay until the end and sit down. Looped piano sheets bring you out of this trance.

Riz with ANYONE therefore released the album of the year, just that; juggling long energetic tracks and melancholy breaks, all associated with old synthetic structures see Yessian and other recent psyche rock metal. An intense album, strong to listen to, religiously re-listen, an album also magnified by its sensual, warm, warm voice, both in intense and relaxed moments. In the genre of the all-round madness of the great MOTORPSYCHO at times. In short, it will be him for this beauty that sweats.