PTF - Genesis Of The Stars CD
SKU
PTF 004
The latest from this Japanese symphonic rock quartet with strong violin and keyboard work.
“Like a lot of bands in J-prog, this Japanese four piece’s skills become notable fast. Violinist Takashima is the most obvious as the lead role, creating wide-spanning tapestries of highly evocative melodies that can easily stand tall alongside more traditional guitar histrionics. At times flowing and smooth and others busybodied and clustered, he’s highly versatile in his ability to create these highly scenic and sweeping film score style motions that capture all the grandeur that sympho-prog usually would have to use a lot more keyboard-oriented garish to achieve. Speaking of that, keyboard player Takeya Kito is no slouch either. Playing a dual role of a second lead instrument and background harmony, he helps flesh out the tonal space behind Takashima’s highly evocative technique but there are a number of moment where he matches him with separate melody lines of his own, going for a very flowing and articulate approach focusing on sharply defined keyboard tones with his spider-handed tap dance creating shimmering trails of melody. While he’s clearly very talented he has a more calculated role than what we normally think of for prog keyboardist with even his flashiest moments utilizing careful restraint in the service of carefully articulated themes.
There’s much to enjoy on a front of raw musicianship but this impressive skill is used in the service of creating these vivid, dreamlike experiences that anyone who doesn’t mind lengthy vocal-free compositions with a varied and dreamlike character can enjoy. I described ptf to my friends years ago as resembling the soundtrack to the best movies you’ve never seen and it doesn’t hold up any better than it does here. Highly recommended to all fans of progressive rock, especially those who prefer the more symphonic side of the style.”-rym