The Closet Concert Arena
Being a fan of Liquid Tension Experiment, Trans Siberian Orchestra, and Yngwie Malmsteen, I was intrigued when first presented with an opportunity to listen to Bob Katsionis. His instrumental explorations of the mind and its subconscious are relatively new to me; perhaps that is why I am upset–I wish to hell I had heard his stuff a long time ago! Bob comes right at you with the new age sound and explodes all over the lining of your skull like a madman with a paintball gun. Vangelis, Jean Michel Jarre, Jordan Rudess, and Keith Emerson have also walked this crazy path, so hold on as I take you on a different trajectory for this ride. Bob Katsionis’ latest release is called Prognosis and Synopsis; brace yourself…
Opening with Prognosis, I am immediately struck by lightning as the needle shoots right toward the red; not so much as to shatter your nerves, but you won’t be nodding off anytime soon. As the curtain is drawn back you can almost feel yourself needing to hold on to terra firma; the headphones are filling your auditory canals with a cacophony of sound your mind needs a minute to digest. There is so much here; top notes of Liquid Tension Experiment and Yngwie Malmsteen are whizzing past my olfactory sensors at a record pace. Bob Katsionis certainly knows how to make a grand entrance…
Next up is Asymmetric Parallels. If, for some unexplained reason, you needed a shot of Red Bull after that first cut–this is it. I sense a Trans Siberian Orchestra vibe wafting through this song. The guitar work would make John Petrucci drop a gauntlet, and the drum work sets a healthy foundation on which the entire production sits. Bob Katsionis seems like an adrenaline junkie and the prog garden is where he finds his fix–nothing wrong with that. Let this one crash over you like a Rocky Mountain avalanche…
Bob started with keyboards at the age of ten and then dabbled with the guitar as a teenager, becoming involved with no less than sixteen previous bands and projects…prodigy comes to mind…
The final cut this week is Synopsis. Here Mr. Katsionis pulls out all the stops, exploring the prog garden from an entirely different vantage point. If this piece truly is a synopsis of Bob’s career thus far, he has had one helluva joyride across the prog garden. Close your eyes and you can feel the wind on your face as the dry ice fumes waft in the air, the intensity level hitting its stride and cruising the outer edges of that place where tranquility meets insanity. The top notes are reflective of a Jordan Rudess/John Petrucci duel, with Keith Emerson throwing lighter fluid on the entire thing; the flame is controlled and burning ever so brightly…
Thus concludes another “private showing” in the Closet Concert Arena and it’s been a while since the heat reached these levels; Bob Katsionis can definitely work up a lather. This is a section of the prog garden I have always enjoyed but never seem to write enough about–time to broaden the scope and vision. This section of the prog garden is always in full bloom and filled with vibrant color, the canvas exploding with vivid emotions that rain down like a summer hail storm. All you have to do is sit back and melt into the cacophony…
[author_infos title=]
[like][tweets][googleplus size=]
No Comments