Review Summary: For fans of progressive and eclectic music, and also fans of good music in general, do not fail to check out this release from Brazil.
The 80 Minutos website was born with a simple proposal: talk about quality music. Directly or indirectly, this work ends up helping many talented musicians who are searching for space in this difficult market. Lucas Ray is one of them. We talked recently and I heard that I was about to release his first EP. Lucas is a guitarist, composer and was willing to show me his work for release. Right from the first audition, I was quite impressed with the content.
The training that accompanied Lucas did a great job. The most interesting thing was to hear drummer Bruno Valverde (Angra) venturing into other musical styles farther away from power metal. He's a really good musician. With him, the bassist Alexandre Panta (Channel Fala Baixista), keyboardist Neemias Teixeira, and Alex Fogaça complete the percussion of the tracks "Run Rabbit, Run", "Xibalba" and "Sphinx".
The first working song of the EP was the instrumental single "Reveries". A full plate for fans of Eric Johnson and Steve Vai. Slow and melodic passages, in a track that grows at the end, in an extremely exciting way. When diving in the other songs, many and many surprises. Lucas' talent, coupled with his many influences, together allowed the creation of an extremely eclectic album, with passages that refer to Brazilian styles, as well as reggae, folk and progressive.
The opening track "Iceland" starts acoustically and grows with progressive and folk. Here, it is possible to know a little more about the vocalist side of Lucas.
"Run Rabbit, Run" is an amazing mix of styles, presenting several variations. It starts in Neal Morse style, gets melodic and even samba. One surprise after another.
Another track that caught my attention was "Xibalba". Great rhythm driven by Lucas' guitar.
"Sphinx" is divided into two parts, which are my favorite. The first one features a metal prog with strong melody and great riffs, in addition to the already mentioned variations of style characteristics of all the material. The second part begins slow, with a ballad of beautiful melody, until it grows again and receives weight in the measure, by the guitar of Lucas. The lyrical concept addresses the mysteries of the sphinx.
The EP "Sphinx" also shows what needs to be stoned for the first full Lucas album and forthcoming compositions. First, I think the vocals need more appreciation from the production, inserting more voices doubled in impact passages, to give more prominence to the lines composed by Lucas. The instrumental part is excellent, but the melody, whether instrumental or vocal, should always be in the foreground. This is how it is possible to captivate the listener.
As a conclusion, he is pleased to note that Brazil has such high-quality musicians as Lucas Ray, just waiting for an opportunity to showcase his talent. For fans of progressive and eclectic music, and also fans of good music in general, do not fail to check out this release of Lucas Ray Exp.
Attribution: https://80minutos.com.br/review.php?review=805
