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The RIO duo cHoclat FRoG (their capitalisation) was founded by Rainer Ludwig (vocals, keyboards, drums) and his son-in- law Tim Ludwig (bass, guitars) in 2017, and this is their debut release where they have been joined by a few additional musicians here and there. As with the best RIO releases this is challenging yet also has a sense of melody within it which allows the listener to easily and quickly get inside the music and understand. There are times when it feels massively improvised, and others completely arranged and composed beforehand, yet it all comes together seamlessly. It has been designed so it can be listened to as a single piece of music, or as individual songs, which is why it is broken into eleven parts.

King Crimson have been an obvious influence here, yet there are also times when Can, Present and even Zappa may be heard in what they are doing. It certainly does not seem like a duo, even though the rhythm section is the most part of this release as it provides the structure for the vocals, guitars and keyboards to hang on. It is always complex, yet there are also times when the music is sparse with silence and space being an important part of what they are doing. They have resisted the urge to compensate only being a duo by putting in too many layers, and the music definitely benefits from that. It is a compelling piece of work which comes across best when the listener has time to sit down with the headphones on and play it from beginning to end. Fans of Rock In Opposition style progressive rock really need to seek this out asap.

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