Mariusz Duda – Lunatic Soul (2008)

I’m having a hard time finding a starting point for this review, so I think I’ll just begin with some facts:

1. Mariusz Duda is the frontman of polish progressive band Riverside.
2. Lunatic Soul is the name he’s been using to release his solo albums.
3. This record is more experimental than progressive and yet more progressive than other bands that claim to be this way.
4. I’ll only be telling you about the first album from the bulk of three because, well, I’m writing this review so I can do whatever I damn please haha (XD_insert_crazy _scientist_emoticon_here)

Allright, so, you’ll do well to excuse that little outburst there, but it seems that too much sleep may cause a man to do unlikely things and act in unlikely ways, so I’m really not the one to blame. Which reminds me that I forgot to state one fact (actually, more of an omission) that elevates this album above any other bunch of albums you could think of in terms of progressive/experimental, which is:

     5. This record is devoid of ANY AND ALL electric guitars.

So I guess I’ll just skim through the tracks in a few words so that it’ll justify my ‘standing in awe for this album’:

If we disregard the first track, ‘Prebirth’, which is supposed to be an intro but it’s really just a random noise collection thrown in for a bit of acting pretentious, ‘The New Beginning’ is really the album opener. It’s mostly instrumental, short for a few vocal chants and effects that help in the progressive/experimental department. It’s a really cool track that holds a lot of sounds coming from instruments I don’t really know anything about, only that they sound awesome.

Next up is ‘Out on a Limb’, a track that’s best stands out as “Holy shit this part is really made for headbanging so I’m gonna do just that!” kind of track. BUT WAIT, you might remember from fact number 5 that this record is devoid of ANY AND ALL electric guitars, so how is that even possible? I don’t really know either, but here’s the track and you can hear for yourself this wonder.

 

The next track, ‘Summer Land’, stands as example of carefully executed percussion, as it drives the song very well, along with perfectly embedded vocal melodies and piano lines. And if you thought it can’t get any better, what comes next is really the highlight of the album, ‘Lunatic Soul’ being THE TRACK to listen to from this album. It holds probably the best transitions and buildups you can ask for and as a bonus, one of the sickest bass lines you’ll hear this side of RHCP and back.

I don’t really know why I posted that, but here’s the track. BE mindblown, I say.

 

The next one serves to calm things down a bit, seeing as it’s comprised of only four minutes of soundscape layers that keep piling up and down until they fade into ‘Near Life Experience’, a piece that works well being categorized as the jam session of the album; again many build-ups, cool transitions, this type of things.

Next we have two songs that showcase the best of Mariusz’s singing voice, the first one, ‘Adrift’, acting like a mini ballad and the second one, The Final Truth, yet again an exercise into cohesive songwriting, proof of what can be done with less (and with more, in the second half of the song).

The album ends with a dreamy outro, ‘Waiting for the Dawn’, which stands as a counter-part to ‘The New Beginning’, only it’s way cooler. Here it is, I think it does well to also stand as an ending for the review (actually I'm fresh out of funneh jokes so I'm looking for a way to escape :D).

Pros: it’s experimental, really.

Cons :  rather short; could do without the first track.

Highlights:  Out on a Limb, Lunatic Soul, The Final Truth

Rating: 9.5 

Track List

         1. Prebirth
         2. The New Beginning
         3. Out On A Limb
         4. Summerland
         5. Lunatic soul
         6. Where The Darkness Is Deepest
         7. Near Life Experience
         8. Adrift
         9. The Final Truth
        10. Waiting For The Dawn

P.S: You might argue that a bass guitar is also electric, but you know what I was really talking about. Uh-uh. You do. Yeees. You do. 

So don't.

Argue, that is.

Zulu out.