Symbolon Obscura: Monument Valley

Symbolon Obscura is the American duo of Michael Demichele (lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, bass) and Simon Janis (drums).

The music is guitar based hard rock with nice melodies sprinkled throughout. Demichele is a pretty good guitarist and provides decent riffs and solos throughout these ten tracks. That said, his tone remains the same so I did find myself fatigued a few songs in. Another major issue are the lead vocals. Demichele's vocals come across rather flat and lifeless with little energy to give the music that extra spark it so sorely needs.

The album was recorded in Michael's home studio which is another problem with this disc. The recording quality is just okay for me as it sounds too one dimensional to these ears. I presume this was made on a limited budget so the musicians likely did the best they could with the resources they had.

Only time will tell whether this band can make an album worthy of the '70s hard rock they are trying to emulate. They clearly have a lot of work ahead of them and I wish them the best of luck. If you are still curious you can listen to samples and purchase the album at CD Baby, just click on the link below.

Track Listing:
1. The Keyhole
2. Running on a Feeling
3. Joining The Dead
4. Desert Rose
5. Voodoo Mambo
6. Common Man
7. Monument Valley
8. Road Of Sorrow
9. Too Far Gone
10. Clover

Added: January 12th 2016
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: CD Baby Website
Hits: 1969
Language: english

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