PHANTOM STIMULANCE

It's my duty to write this review in order to invite you to listen one of the most attractive and innovative RIO projects of the last decade.

With four studio albums, this project born from the twisted mind of Jon Andreas Håtun gives us the chance to enjoy of long instrumental sequences that mix some Zappa and The Muffins inffluences with different genres, from some very heavy sections to prog rock sequences and some atmospheric and delightful sequences. Everything is crossed by Jono's guitar solos that sometimes looks extremely long breaking the original sense of the songs, but generally they contribute to gives more power to the music helping to reach constant climax and epical moments.

It's very sad to see that not much people here on PA enjoy this project, but here's a chance to met some awsome "classical" RIO album with some inspired songs such as Utopian Semi Waltz (dark and hard RIO), La Dolce Vidda (complex melodies entwined with proggy harmonies), Phantom Stimulance (full of "classic" RIO impros), Pongery In Evention (maybe the most "Zappa" song of the album), the jazzy Beggar To Beggar and at last, the dark and atmospherical Negation / Penetration in which we can also find some surprising zeuhl elements...

If you add the references to the legendary Scandinavian RIO bands, you have in your hand (and into your ears) and amazing example of waht id RIO nowadays...