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Like all forms of music, progressive rock has changed
over the years. New sounds, new styles, and new influences
are constantly being incorporated into the musical panoply.
However no style seems more prevalent than the guitar heavy
prog-metal feel. To my ears how this aggressive style is incorporated
into a wider musical pallet is the true test of a band’s compositional
and arranging skills. And on that score the new Polish band
Sandstone score top marks with their first full CD entitled
Looking for Myself. This is so much more than just heavy guitar
and double kick drum pyrotechnic. ***
Sandstone formed in 2001 as a four piece playing originally
what would be described as progmetal. The members included
Marcin Zmorzynski (vocals), Arkadiusz Magner (drums), Jarek
Niecikowski (guitars), and Marcin Mathiak (bass). All was
well but they soon realized that in order to convey the sound
they heard in their heads they needed the added depth of a
keyboard player so they added Grzegorz Marecik (keyboards).
Their original demo received positive response which prompted
them to produce Looking for Myself a CD of compositions all
dealing with the journey of a young man’s search for love.
***
The six compositions are mostly longer, two are over seven
minutes, two over nine and one is a little over fifteen minutes.
The shortest piece clocks in at just over five minutes. Having
mentioned the sub-genre term prog metal a couple of times
so far I think it’s important to point out this is not an
overly heavy sounding record. There are brief moments where
the guitar displays a serious crunch and the bass and drums
drive the rhythm but over-all the music of Sandstone displays
a much wider pallet. Some have pointed out a Dream Theatre
influence, but Sandstone are nowhere near that heavy and tend
to infuse their music with much more keyboard work. And while
the music is not overly complex, there are plenty of times
where it changes tempo or mood to fit the lyrics, or the arrangement
takes a song in a different direction. There will be bursts
of aggressive musicianship that create tension which ultimately
find release in more spacious elements of each composition.
It’s an interesting combination that seems to work well. ***
Poland has an established history when it comes to progressive
rock. That not only includes bands like SBB in the seventies
or Riverside in more recent years. You can now add Sandstone
into the mix. They have a sound that is uniquely their own
and it’s a good one. As a debut disc Looking for Myself has
a lot to offer progressive rock fans. ***
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