Frontal Cortex - Passage

It’s great to have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of great music. I confess I’m not so fond of the so called rock aesthetic anymore. In my oppinion we’ve had enough from it. Rock aesthetic has changed a lot throughout the years to the point of having merged into its subgenres as our Heavy Metal and Art Rock, which are still alive and kicking. When you talk about rock nowadays, a kid first think of Heavy Metal imagery: black T-shirts and leather, skulls and bones, spikes and others. Most probably the kid will say a Heavy Metal band when asked about today’s rock scene. The same happens, in a smaller proportion, to Art Rock bands – progressive rock to old folks as me.

In those two years of writing reviews here at Metal Addicts, we’ve received more art rock bands than actually rock. That proves our point. There is a big scene out there of art bands. Neverthless, Art Rock has also changed a lot through the years from their rise, about the end of the 1960s to the very middle of the 1970s, until present days. Bands took various paths, but one thing is certain; they left behind the excess. I mean, extremely long songs with too much of classical or experimental music. Remember that punk rose against Art Rock excess, not rock in general. But Art Rock set itself as a too valuable genre into rock. Its contribution couldn’t be lost. So, bands had to change. Some approached to Heavy Metal creating what is called Prog Metal; others approached to a less experimental an classical path. That’s the case of Frontal Cortex.

Frontal Cortex wiped away many of the excess I’m talking, but it doesn’t mean that their music got too simple. No, it doesn’t. It’s got a bit more accessible – oh, I dislike this word. Guitar solos, sound effects, and even some experimentalism are present in their music. But the right amount of them. Not too much, not little. The right dose so Frontal Cortex are able to reach a wider audience. But the thing that most calls the eye to Frontal Cortex music is their link to the 1990s sonance. Frontal Cortex sound as if they were the Art Rock brothers of bands of the 1990s. Listen to “Blurred Line” and “Breath” and you’ll get the idea. There’s some Marillion on them also – by the way guys, do you Marillion? Frontal Cortex are a band that merge those influences very well. They are intimist, but not boring. Their music is at times strong, but not that strong to keep away Art Rock fans, on the other hand it’s strong enough to attract Metal fans.

From Metal, Frontal Cortex learned to be riff driven and that works nicely to them. Though, there are delicate songs as “Before the Storm” with a beautiful main vocal line with the embellishment of beautiful guitar lines. Art rock bands really know how to work with delicate structures.

Frontal Cortex “Passage” was self-released on October 26th.

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