Style: Progressive Metal, Pop Metal, AOR (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Voyager, Ghost, The Night Flight Orchestra, Devin Townsend
Country: Russia
Release date: 16 August 2024
Here at the Subway, many of the underground artists we cover are solo projects, in which a single scrappy visionary crafts a work entirely of their own making. Impressive as this is, there are a few pitfalls that can befall such albums. Paradoxically, the lack of additional musical perspectives can often make the music more scattershot and eclectic; without any other musicians or writers in the mix, there’s nobody to offer pushback or compromise to any sonic tangents their mind may go down. This can work well depending on the level of execution, but even the most talented solo musicians have the occasional ill-advised misfire. Upon looking at the promo sheet for the latest offering from St. Petersburg’s own Egor Lappo and seeing everything from “90s industrial” to Britney Spears namechecked as influences, I was intrigued, yet worried that it may collapse under the weight of its own eclecticism. Its very title presents the line it has to thread: can it pull all of this Nonsense together in a way that is even close to Reasonable?
Fortunately, the writing on display here offers a pretty good case for a “yes,” thanks largely to a surprisingly strong commitment to a clear core musical identity. Said identity is a gleaming, pop-metal alloy with just enough nods to the sonic tropes of prog to have the less-elitist fans of the genre nodding along; one that fans of bands like Voyager will find comfortingly familiar. From the very first in medias res chorus hit of opener “Recurring Dreams”, it’s obvious that Lappo has polished everything here to a smooth, glittery sheen. A clean, effervescent layer of ’80s-inspired synths floats on top, while guitars provide tastefully soaring leads and sufficiently meaty rhythm work alike to keep things pushing forward. The programmed drums fit neatly into the mix without sounding unduly fake, and there’s even a pleasant amount of bass presence that pops out during the verses. It’s a well-executed thesis statement that lays the foundation for the more diverse tracks that follow.
And follow they do, branching out in a myriad of directions while never straying too far from that clean-cut core. There are a couple of heavier cuts to be found, such as “Where Nothing Exists”, a Devin Townsend-esque combo of widescreen, synth-fueled grandiosity with crunchy guitars and blast beats, or “Shy-Hearted,” whose speedy riffs cross the line into straight-up thrash. Conversely, some other tracks lean harder towards the pop side of things. “Break the Spell” is where the Britney influence comes in, a shockingly catchy tune whose chorus almost resembles “Oops! … I Did It Again,” but with heavier guitar; meanwhile closer “Bloodline” is a straightforward, lighters-in-the-air power ballad that exudes raw hope and optimism. Add in a couple more stylish swerves in sound, such as the absolute ’80s AOR banger that is “Light Pollution” and the brief but solidly made prog instrumental of the title track, and you’ve got a strong balance between diversity and consistency. At any given moment, whether Lappo is taking his cues from headbangers or teenyboppers, the guitars are muscular, the synths are twinkly, and the melody is front and center.
Still, though the production may be polished and pristine, not every aspect of Reasonable Nonsense is quite as clean. An album this hook-centric lives and dies by its melodic lines, and while for the most part they’re lively and bright, a few come uncomfortably close to a flatline. The weakest of them comes in “Falling,” which repeats the opener’s starting-with-the-chorus trick with severely diminishing returns, along with a number of more minor moments where the melody feels like it should move, but doesn’t, and it makes the sound come off as a bit bland. This leads me to the other major issue here, one that many solo projects share: that while Mr. Lappo is a talented instrumentalist and producer, his vocal work isn’t quite as impressive. To be fair, he’s not a bad singer by any stretch; he hits the notes and hits them cleanly. But while his nasal tone and relatively flat affectation may work fine in some dull, Porcupine Tree-aping, prog/post-rock group, it lacks the charisma and verve necessary for a sound this steeped in pop, metal, and AOR. As it turns out, a downside to making “Light Pollution” sound like an unreleased Night Flight Orchestra single is that I’m constantly thinking of how much better it would sound if Björn Strid were singing it. There’s clearly effort here– you can hear Lappo straining to put more bite into his voice in “Shy Hearted”– but the overall impression there is that the punchy thrash riffs are writing checks that his vocals just can’t cash. It’s not as if he lacks the ability, either; the end of “Recurring Dreams” and the midpoint of “Light Pollution” have some genuinely impressive wails that I wish he would explore more. But until he can truly unleash his inner Devy, the vocal work will remain a bit of a sore spot.
Reasonable Nonsense is, in many ways, a very impressive album. It’s a scrappy, independent solo record that manages to sound as lavish as any major-label offering. It folds in wildly disparate influences in a way that makes them feel like fresh, distinct locales on the same overarching journey. And the tunes on display are, for the most part, fun, vibrant, and engaging. Yet it doesn’t quite reach the dizzying heights of the sounds it aims for. Many of the stylistic shifts here, while very entertaining and seamlessly integrated, can’t quite reach beyond the realms of well-executed pastiche. And when said execution begins to stall somewhat in the songwriting or vocal departments, there isn’t much other than shiny instrumental production to fall back on. Lappo is a prolific guy, though, having released four albums in as many years, and seems dedicated to improving his craft. I’m sure, sooner rather than later, he’ll be back with a stronger effort at putting all his musical nonsense into a reasonable whole.
Recommended tracks: Recurring Dreams, Break the Spell, Where Nothing Exists, Light Pollution
You may also like: Toehider, Kyros, Mothman and the Thunderbirds
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook
Egor Lappo is:
– Egor Lappo (all instruments, vocals, and production)
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