The Gabriel Construct: Interior City

Gabriel Riccio may have only graduated from college two years ago, but his compositional prowess—which is in full-force on his debut LP, Interior City—is of the strength that one would expect from a musician of a much better age pedigree. As Interior City makes clear, however, Riccio is far from what one would expect of a young musician. Whereas it's all the rage for a young songwriter to get a group of friends together and riff on the banal, chilled-out indie rock formula, Riccio has taken his years as a compositions student and embellished them to a full degree, producing a progressive rock opus that's a sign of remarkable things to come. Riccio's voice, which fluctuates from metal screams to a Serj Tankian warble, is near operatic in its declaratory power, and the bevy of musicians he recruited for this project back him up with a compelling cacophony of both contemporary and vintage prog theatrics. Like anyone looking to impress right from the get-go, Riccio went ahead and made this a concept album, the theme of which is tautologically described as thus: "in a society which respects nothing, every individual learns that they are not worthy of respect." As is the case with many concept records—The Decemberists' The Hazards of Love, for example—one doesn't really need to dive into the story to get behind the music, which is the real star here, but the lyric sheet does allow for the listener to get drawn a little more in to the brimming-to-the-cap mind of Riccio.

The sole major mistake made on Interior City is the backloading of the songs; the longest pieces come at the end, which can make getting to the conclusion of the story a bit of a slog, even for the ardent prog fan. But for those enamored with Riccio's brand of progressive rock, best described as early Pain of Salvation with an added penchant for classical composition, Interior City will prove a rewarding experience. An uncompromising debut from an artist who appears to have enough ideas to last him a lifetime of songwriting.

Track Listing

1. Arrival in a Distant Land
2. Ranting Prophet
3. Fear of Humanity
4. My Alien Father
5. Retreat Underground
6. Subway Dwellers
7. Defense Highway
8. Inner Sanctum
9. Languishing in Lower Chakras
10. Curing Somatization

Added: September 19th 2013
Reviewer: Brice Ezell
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 3082
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]