Coming out of the Boston area in the North-East of the U.S., The Surrealist is a progressive band consisting of Roopam Garg on guitars and drummer John-Marc Degaard. Their debut release “Naked Awareness” is a wonderful take on the progressive genre with twists, moods and sounds that push into ambient psychedelic music.
Info on the band reveal a strong element of the prog stuff but with elements of metal fusion jazz and ambient sounds but never mention psychedelic which I feel is a big part of their sound. It’s certainly progressive, with only 4 tracks on this debut EP, it really feels more epic and bigger like a full-length album so you really get your moneys worth here. The openness of what comes through from the atmospheric, ambient sounds that emanate from the guitars is great, a layered work together with bass and drums that groove right in the pocket. The guitars are tight but melodic and they give off a kind of splashy feel that only adds to the vibe of the music.
Opening track “Canvas Sky” is as the title suggests, a sweeping song that ebbs and flows beautifully, with high energies and mellow parts that dips and weaves through the traffic of different sounds coming through. “Flowering Of Consciousness” is a jazzy number with a harp like guitar tone which only electrifies as the song progresses. “Become Whales” is short but sweet, merely an interlude between the two courses on offer, shortly before announcing the arrival of closer “Waves Of Naked Awareness”. Spotty guitar parts like rain drops on a tin roof, melodic and atmospheric in nature, it’s very much like Joe Satriani’s “Engines Of Creation” with it’s almost electronic like component created out of fantastic guitar sounds. The playing picks up at the end but it’s a fairly chilled out vibe overall and essentially a theme that runs through all 4 tracks.
Sure this is at it’s core an instrumental progressive rock album but there is much more going on here that lends itself to the impressionable ear very well. The psychedelic and ambient nature of the music will certainly draw interest from those that like their music chilled and more on the electronic side but for those guitar hero fans out there, there’s plenty to check out and really tune into without a doubt.
TRACKLIST
Canvas Sky
Flowering Of Consciousness
Become Whales
Waves Of Naked Awareness
