BROTHER APE: Shangri-La

Cover	Release	Style
	2006-07-21	progressive rock
	Label
	Progress Records
	Website
	www.brotherape.com
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	57:57	PRCD020
	Review by	Rating
	Claude	9/10
nederlands	Review
The Swedish guys of Brother Ape have done it again, after their promising debut ‘On the other side’ they have continued on the same track. In the meantime Peter Dahlström has left the band, this has slightly reduced the Styx effect. Guitar player Stefan Damicolas now stands in for the lead vocals, he was already singing on several tracks on the previous album. His voice leans more towards a mix of fusion and progressive rock, a style representative for the band. It is clear that the new songs are much more prog oriented than before and the jazz influences are less present. This does not mean that you will get long tracks, strong compositions with vocals in close harmony and refined acoustic and electric guitar solos are dominant. References to Saga, It Bites and A.C.T. seem to be obvious, but little by little the band gets his own sound. Progress Records becomes a very important record label in progressive rock thanks to the excellent productions of Hansi Cross. After a short acoustic introduction on classical guitar in New Shangri-La the guys are producing the perfect illustration of the sound of Brother Ape, dynamic and melodic no nonsense neo progressive rock. Typical are the flashy duels between the guitars and the beautiful vocals in harmony, as well as the virtuosic and ingenious drum patterns. As In Lunatic Kingdom, where the band sounds a bit like the legendary 10cc, but in the 21st century. It is notable that the guys are not making songs that are way too long, the longest is just over 7 minutes, the proof that good progressive rock can be brought in short energetic songs. ‘Umbrellas’ could have been a song from ‘Déjà vu’ of that other legend CSN&Y, excellent ‘close harmony’, in contrast with the melodic ‘hard’ rock of ‘Inside you’. An ‘ambient’ start in Beams builds up very slowly and contains some impressive guitar solos, Stefan Damicolas proves he can compete with the greatest guitar players, the 3 Steves (Howe, Hackett and Vai) are certainly amongst his influences. ‘Monasteries of Meteora’ is a rest point on the album, this could have been a score of a movie. In ‘I'll Be Going’ saxophone samples are being used, in that way this album is much more diversified, there is plenty of room for experiments. Fusion is less present here, the short Tweakhead is an exception, pure jazz rock with excellent ‘shredding’ of Damicolas. ‘Reason to wake’ and ‘Timeless For The Time Being’ are very quiet songs, although the latter has a more aggressive approach in the second part. Everybody knows the köttbullar (Swedish Meatballs) of Ikea, I’ve never thought that this could be the subject of a song. Probably this kind of music can best be described as ‘melodic fusion’, if this music does not really exist, then Brother Ape has invented it.The albums ends with a ‘reprise’ of the starting track, but in a pure acoustic version. ‘Shangri-La’ is clearly a new and important step in the evolution of this Swedish band, perhaps a threat for their fellow countrymen ‘The Flower Kings’. This is progressive rock, played by a young dynamic trio, maybe the mainstream press could discover these guys, or is this ‘wishful thinking’? In my previous review I hoped to see them live in our country, with this album my envy has only increased!
Musicians
Max Bergman : drums, percussion Stefan Damicolas : electric and acoustic guitars, lead & harmony vocals Gunnar Maxén : keyboards, harmony vocals, bass
Tracklist
New Shangri-La (6:03) Lunatic Kingdom (6:01) Umbrellas (2:13) Inside You (5:11) Beams (6:38) Monasteries Of Meteora (4:32) I'll Be Going (5:48) Tweakhead (2:05) A Reason To Wake (3:11) Meatball Tour (5:43) Timeless For The Time Being (7:45) Shangri-La (2:35) Downloads: http://www.myspace.com/brotherape
Discography
Brother Ape: On The Other Side (2005) Shangri-La (2006)


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