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Thonk, Earth Vision Impact (Galileo Records)
Thonk are a three-piece keyboard trio who apparently hail from Germany
and play instrumental progressive rock. Thankfully, despite the traditional
keys/bass/drums set up, the band has very few other similarities to ELP, and
would be better compared to King Crimson, UK, or even Metamorfosi. Another
thing that gives Thonk a leg up on ELP in my mind is that keyboardist Marc
Grassi carefully utilizes a wide palette of keyboard textures. He actually
spends the much of his time on the piano, but spices things up with hammond
organ, harpsichord, and old and new synthesizers (including Mellotron!). The
emphasis on piano serves the music very well, Grassi plays it excellently and
saves many of his most gorgeous themes for it. But this is not merely the
keyboardist's show, in fact, the drums and bass are more integrated in the
sound than most bands of this kind. Fredy Schnyder's bass is subdued when it
needs to be and prominent when the music calls for it, and his contributions
on guitar (particularly some excellent acoustic guitar and some powerful
electric leads) should not go unmentioned. Drummer Falvio Mezzodi keeps the
music driving and navigates time signature changes intelligently without
calling attention to them.
The compositions are very good throughout. They generally mix King
Crimson-like build-ups ("Sulm" and "Thonkland"), majestic classical-tinged
fanfares (the end of "Thonkland" and "Pomme," which sounds like a lost
Shylock opus!), vaguely Eastern-tinged fusion ("Garden"), and traditional
keyboard-heavy prog ("Ela," "Rak"). There are a few missteps, such as "Square
Root," which has sections that feel a tad repetitive, but in general little
fault to find with these guys.
Earth Vision Impact is an excellent specimen of modern
keyboard-driven prog rock. Highly recommended for those who enjoy the genre
or think they might. ~Jon Murphree~
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