The Apparatus - A Palace In Persia

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A Palace In Persia - Metaphenomena Featured

Monday, 14 January 2008

Editor's rating

8.3

out of 10

Reviewed by:
Chad Coup
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Monday, 14 January 2008
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Music Information

Track Listing:
01. Fervor And Frailty
02. Money Culture: Vendetta
03. Money Culture: Progress Parade
04. Notoriety

Artist: A Palace In Persia
Title: Metaphenomena
Genre: Alternative • Progressive Rock
Release Date: 20 April 2007
Format: Full-length
Country: United States of America
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Editor review

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful


Overall rating (weighted)		8.3
Musicianship		8.0
Composition		8.0
Experimentation		9.0
Production		7.0
Value		10.0

Prog is dead.

The 70s came and went, leaving many amazing relics of this neglected genre in its wake. Countless artists, most schooled in classical music, dug themselves in a hole and created some of the most wonderfully whacked-out, psychedelic, progressive music ever created. The world loved it. Prog was so popular that countless artists in the genre made the Billboard Top 100, some even making it into the top 20 and even to the number one spot. That was over thirty years ago. Some acts picked up the torch in recent memory, but many took the weighty lead from King Crimson, Yes, Pink Floyd, and Genesis and borrowed what they needed to, in one way or another.

That's all fine and good. Prog is welcome. However, the aspect that connects all 1976-onward bands is this: they borrowed from their musical grandfathers. What does this have to do with A Palace In Persia? Everything. A Palace In Persia is a new band from Orlando, FL. The record was released on 04/20 of 2007. They play progressive psychedelic rock.

The band's history speaks volumes of the success behind this record's content: The three main songwriters used to play in a pop-punk band called YTeL when they were in high school. After their album called 'Sing Balloon' needed a follow-up, writing went underway. The band wasn't happy with their old material at all, and another entity came into their music. The song was one 40-minute opus, called "Continuum, Continuum," and had no parts repeated or any set song structure. Excited with their new direction, the band scrapped the song entirely and began writing a whole other 40 minutes of music. The creativity and energy, as well as composition and overall message, ceased to be YTeL. The old band dissolved and the new band became A Palace In Persia. Excepting passive exposure to The Mars Volta and a couple radio tracks from Pink Floyd, they had virtually nonexistent knowledge of psychedelic or progressive rock prior to the writing and recording of this album.

The record is one of the most unique-sounding concoctions of the genre in recent years. Songs like "Money Culture: Progress Parade" have some catchy pop-punk vocal lines. The chords and vocal harmonies are not only memorable and effective, but serve the band as their surprise live performance hit. There is also some Blood Brothers-esque vocal work in the first track called "Fervor And Frailty," which starts off with a very moody keyboard tone. Saxophone is makes its appearance in this song as well as performing some Zorn-inspired squawking in the powerful "Notoriety." If anything, APIP is an experimental rock band that happens to love playing complicated, layered and moody music.

For example, "Money Culture: Vendetta" is strikingly minimalist, with only one layer of percussion, careful vocals, a few scant acoustic guitar notes and a playful bass line. Most of the song is like this until rampant, organic percussion builds and closes out the song almost as fast as it began. "Notoriety" begins with a very eerie choral number until it turns into some kind of 1940s big-band monstrosity with lots of creative time signature changes. Latin rhythms come in after a very dense, primitive, trapped-in-a-cave segment. The 15-minute song ends with a snare fade-out. Almost as quietly as it began, the album ends. It's amazing that so much texture and moods were crammed into such a running time.

The actual playing of the instruments is exciting. Vocalist/bassist Nasrulah Paul Rahbari II has a really expressive voice, and his bass playing is springy and energetic. In fact, his performance can be likened to Peter Gabriel's early Genesis days, as his voice changes pitch, accents and diction according to who is speaking in the story. Kyle Haust's drum playing has a decidedly tribal feel, but the art rock undertones of tom fills and cymbal placement lend well to the ear. Guitarist Matt Demea isn't afraid to let his guitar explore different textures of feedback and even challenges time signatures; the effect is ethereal and balanced. APIP never gets ahead of itself while adhering to its own sound.

The band is definitely ambitious. Rahbari sent me this snippet along with the album in hopes of explaining the journey I was in for. "'Metaphenomena' is the first album to be released in a four-CD story, and is the second album out of the four. This album is the sole meeting of the lead character and the three-headed man Khayyam. Each track represents the conversation that the lead character has with each head. So, after the lead character's little prayer at the beginning of track 1, the first head speaks out to him. It breaks down the constructs of man/society's impact on the earth, along with the constricts of religion, to help clear the lead character's mind for what he is going to be told/shown. Tracks 2 & 3 represent the second head, and it shows the lead character, through different conversations, a greater point. Track 2 is a longer, in-depth conversation which leads to a whole side story - also spanning over more than one album - while track 3 is much more sporadic and jumps between many different conversations that the lead character is listening to rather than being actively engaged. Finally, track 4 is the center head and it shows the lead character his death and what is to come from it. This song is THE only song to foreshadow the story in the final album, and also gives good insight towards the next."

There is another important, group-defining aspect that makes APIP unique: this is a split album. The other 40 minutes are reserved for indie hip-hop artist Sir.Time. APIP appears on a good amount of that album as well, so anyone with a passing fancy should check it out, as it comes with the package. The current album, 'Metaphenomena' is offered by the band for $5. You get 80 minutes of music for just that much. APIP and Sir.Time are clearly trying to make their music accessible to everyone while keeping their integrity intact.

For a band that unwittingly put forth one of the most exciting progressive rock records of 2007, it is pretty unknown outside of Orlando, where it formed. With any luck, others will take note of this tiny group of people that are dedicated to their art and happen to make pretty good music all at once. There is hope for progressive music. A Palace In Persia will undeniably find its place among music fans; the music and talent are there.

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