Decadent Light

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Product Description Evolve IV was founded by two seasoned progressive musicians from either side of the Atlantic, Peter Matuchniak from the UK and Michael Eager from the USA. They formed a strong song-writing partnership that provides a fresh take on the modern progressive scene, whilst leaning on their combined experiences with past bands on either side of the pond. Lead guitarist Peter was part of the UK neo-progressive rock scene from the 1980's with bands Mach One and Janysium, that attracted attention from press agent Keith Goodwin (Marillion, Yes, etc.), with reviews featuring in top British music papers for their tour of London clubs and English Universities. Singer and rhythm guitarist Michael toured extensively across the United States throughout the 1990's with Vitamin Funk, Mind Expansion and HED, bands that he had formed while living in Boston and Seattle respectively. The pair was joined by drummer Paul Sheriff and bassist Jim DeBaun, all of whom met while answering internet ads, with a common goal to record music that evolved naturally out of their influences, past (Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes, Grateful Dead, Beatles) and present (Coldplay, Killers, Radiohead). In 2008 Evolve IV released their debut CD Decadent Light and the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. Joining them were various guest musicians, such as David Gilman on sax, flute and violin, and Tali Azerad providing female backing vocals. David features in a number of bands in the Los Angeles area, while Tali is known for her outstanding rendition of A Great Gig In The Sky when touring with Which One s Pink, a tribute to Pink Floyd. Evolve IV s debut CD was mastered to John Vestman, a veteran of the L.A. scene who had recently mastered George Duke s Grammy nominated CD. Evolve IV s serious approach belies the light-hearted nature that bonds these musicians together, sparking a lot of creativity and output. In fact, recording for a follow up CD is already well under way with a release date due for later in 2009, which will showcase the intricate instrumental passages and sharp compositions that underscore the progressive nature of their debut CD Decadent Light . Intense, inventive and melodic...a triple-threat tour-de-force of solid musicianship, strong song-craft and remarkable production quality. Highly recommended, writes Nick Tate (Progression Magazine) in his review of Evolve IV s debut album Decadent Light. Jerry Lucky (Progressive Rock Files), describes their music as ...the essence of a classic progressive rock sound...tunes that ebb and flow between fast and slow, intense and atmospheric, vocals and instrumental soloing...will appeal to wide cross section of music lovers. Review Neon tubes are both simple and dated, but they're very cool. The same can be said for Decadent Light's gleaming material. Ironically, the name implies they're futuristic. To call them contemporary would be stretch. That's not to say they're bad. The organic instrumentation and nonchalant singing is quite relaxing insomuch as Art Rock is concerned. At times, Evolve IV hints to The Beatles when they were in their psychedelic phase, and as an isolated side-note; The Grateful Dead is alive and well in "Baby Come Back." [Not a Player cover then? ed.]Rather than draw comparisons to other bands who ran through Strawberry Fields or strolled down Abbey Road, they're generally representative of the seventies era. Only in this case, their production qualities are up-to-date. John Vestman ensured that this will not require a digital remaster. Likewise, there are ambient elements in their tone that demonstrate currency with the modern day. In the end, this album will appeal to nostalgic youngsters or middle-aged fogies who forgot to dust their vinyl. --Progressive WorldFormed by two prog rock muso s from either side of the Atlantic, Evolve IV delve deeply into a more modern progressive source of inspiration, and mesh it together with a wide range of diverse influences. There are some prog moments for sure and the band builds on such a background but there is more, a whole lot more. Sure they list classic bands such as Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis but they place them alongside the diverse likes of The Grateful Dead, The Beatles, Radiohead, Killers, and even Coldplay. Evolve IV consist of founder members guitarist and keyboard player Peter Matuchniak (Mach One) from the UK and American Michael Eager (Vitamin Funk, Mind Expansion) on vocals and guitar. Bass is added by Jim DeBaun, and drummer Paul Sheriff completes the line-up. Decadent Light touches upon all of the above influences whilst creating some highly satisfying freshness along the way. Inventive, imaginative, and intriguing, Evolve IV have done what the band name says and developed a style brimming with chemistry. The melodic opener Number 16 is instantly engaging; constantly shifting, it succeeds in locking you in. War sits nicely behind this impressive opener. It has a familiar acoustic opening blending smooth vocals, and an Argus era Wishbone Ash guitar styling. Listen Up sees the band go a little deeper into their influences, oddly Van Der Graaf sax amid shades of some elements of classic jazz prog, it blends together to form a fascinating track. There is a vague nod to the Grateful Dead, American Beauty era, on Judgement Day . Rolling Along is a mesh of it all, Floyd, Wishbone Ash, amid Evolve IV s own character lead to another engaging listen. Saturday s Gone takes it a step further with a nicely paced track, leading to a standalone Must Have Been The Future . The Dead re-appear this time in Workingman s Dead guise on Baby Come Back . Voyager takes us in an entirely different direction with some impressively controlled guitar in an interlude of an instrumental. Write opens out with a confidence that summarises the album, and a jazzy sax soaked Goodbye appropriately closes it. It s an interesting mix of mixes, that works by keeping you locked in whilst never really establishing a distinctive style of its own. Well worth exploring if any of the above appeals to your curiosity. You won t be disappointed by the musicianship and some of the originality. If however you are looking for sprawling grandiose prog epics this won t hit the button for you. Personally, I liked the album and loved the occasional Deadhead nodding. --BlogcriticsPeter Matuchniak (lead guitar and keyboards), Michael Eager (rhythm guitar and vocals), Paul Sheriff (drums) and Jim DeBaun (bass) began by exchanging emails after answering online ads designed to bring together like-minded musicians who had the desire to make contemporary music with a classic feel. Matuchniak may be a familiar name to devotees of the early 1980s prog scene as he was a member of Janysium and Mach One, whose CD re-issue we reviewed some five years ago. Eager had previously been a member of a variety of bands such as Vitamin Funk, Mind Expansion and HED. Peter had kindly sent me a copy of the album before the recent news that the group had signed with ProgRock Records, so I have had a while to get into the album before penning this review! Despite that I found the album quite difficult to categorise or come up with any similarities. Oh sure, there are influences a plenty amongst the tracks but the quartet have managed to come out not sounding quite like anyone else. Very much guitar led, there are impressive lead breaks which transition from the raucous to the almost ambient, often within the space of the same song (for example in War). But on the other hand, there are Beatlesque melodies highlighted with flute and sax (courtesy of guest musician David Gilman), songs that contain elements of Radiohead (of any era) and enough variety throughout the fifty minutes of playing time to keep even the ears of the most inattentive listener twitching. True to the band's name, the group have taken the core of a collection of good songs and pushed them through numerous iterations, taking elements of various musical styles, keeping the best bits and forgetting the stuff that didn't survive. All done subconsciously and through inbuilt filters of aural neuronal circuitry. The instrumental Rolling Along is a personal favourite with Tali Azerad providing some fine vocalisations (visit her website - to hear her remarkable performance of The Great Gig In The Sky with Floyd tribute band Which One's Pink, but she also blends well backing Eager on Saturday's Gone. Another strong song is Must Have Been The Future which is a joyous ditty that gets the feet tapping and the fingers snapping. Whereas ...The Future may be considered to have a distinct Englishness about it, Baby Come Back has its basis in American music, Gilman guests again, but this time on violin, handy to have such talented friends! Voyager is another instrumental that starts with some hard riffing moves into a more spacey section and then reverts back to the big riff for the close. Final track, Goodbye is the longest on the album with some nice sax work, this time by Stephen Bell. This song took the longest to get into as at first I thought it was a bit too disjointed and the vocals were a bit too 'casual'. However, I was forced to change my mind after spending an infuriating day with parts of the guitar and vocal melodies running through my head and not being able to place the song! Decadent Light is an example of the positive benefits of the internet, four previously unconnected individuals meet through the ether, form a band, record an album and then sign to an established label. Okay, so it's not The Beatles story, but I never did believe in fairy stories. In reality Evolve IV have made a very promising debut album that is a fine mixture of progressive-edged tunes and that's a tale I'll not get tired of hearing. --Dutch Progressive Rock Pages