This standout heavy chamber prog band is slowly been gathering accolades since the release of Rationalis Impetus eight months ago. The lineup is classic in a sense with a vast array of keyboards (piano, synth, organ, mellotron), sax, flute, violin, and viola in addition to bass and drums. Despite the notable lack of guitars, the music resembles symphonic metal in terms of intricate structure and propulsive style.
Comparisons to Scandinavian heavyweights Anglagard and Nightwish are not out of order, not to mention the short-lived American band Avant Garden. But Arkitekture hails from South Korea, one of the few outfits of this ilk surfacing in that country.
Musically, the five tracks (of which four hover around the 10-minute mark) are powerful yet delicate. They trade off dense complexities with more melodic passages. Leads are shared by keys, sax / flute, and the strings, and each piece is centered around a few motifs or themes that are playfully repeated in different contexts. The shortest piece, Abnormal Reversible Reaction, is ironically the most outside with ample borderline RIO stylings in its mere three-minute length.
If 70s symphonic prog and its more modern heirs are the main points of reference for Arkitekture, the band livens things up with energy, a more modern sound, and a few left turns. My only complaint – and a minor one at that – is that the mix of the MP3 download I received is a bit flat. But don’t let that stop you. This is a very, very good release.
Avant Music News 