Simply referred to as a "progressive rock band," No Brain Cell opens their bio with the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" claim to fame of having been the opening act for Porcupine Tree in 2010. Not a bad opening I must admit...and knowing how warm and fuzzy Steven Wilson is, I believe Greece will be my "Port o' Call" for the next seven days...
I open the buffet this week with a cut called "Man of Silence." An eerie sense of the macabre floats through the headphones at first, carrying with it a dark foreboding that bursts through about two minutes in. The darkness coats the song like so much oil from the Exxon Valdez. What the drums fail to hit the guitars catch on the follow through. This song slaps you hard, with top notes of Dream Theater and Tool. Wading through the dark outer edges of the prog garden, I sense a cross/hybrid in the make up of the music, which stirs a strong desire to dig deeper...
Going back to the buffet in search of a different varietal, I find a more absorbing piece called "Intermission." An almost hypnotic opening takes you through a dark alley filled with haunting vocals, thick guitars, and keyboards that batter your head just enough to keep you on alert. The music seeps right through your pores, getting under the skin much like poison ivy--but instead of leaving you scratching like mad, it soaks through to your bloodstream and gets pumped to the outer reaches of your consciousness. Strong aromas of Opeth with hints of Liquid Tension Experiment and Pandora run rampant across the disc.
Liner Notes...Hailing from Thessaloniki, Greece, No Brain Cell was founded by Thomas Petrou, who wears several hats; composer, arranger, programmer, lead vocalist, and keyboard player. Thomas is joined by Elias Papadopoulos and J. Demian on acoustic and electric guitars, Lazaros Pliambas on percussion, Trainanos Papadopoulos on french horn, Michalis Piperkos on clarinet, Kostas Vavalas on bassoon, and Katerina Vavalas on oboe. The credit list for the band's latest album also includes several other musicians for lead and backing vocals, guitars, synthesizers, and lyrics. No Brain Cell jams a recording studio like beatniks stuffed in a phone booth circa 1968 and has no problem filling a stage when performing live...
No Brain Cell has two albums on their resume; a self-titled debut released in 2013 and the follow up "Monuments" released in 2014. While No Brain Cell certainly has a dark side, I do sense other colors on the canvas. There is a deliberateness about the way the music is arranged...almost genteel with a smoothness similar to strawberry sauce sliding down the sides of a cheesecake.
My third take from the buffet this week is a song from that eponymous first release called "Illusions." The opening is an expected shade of dark...a mood and tone one would expect Illusionist Criss Angel to thrust on his audience while playing with their minds. No Brain Cell has the honors here though; toying with you the way a python might tease his next meal...slowly moving in for the kill while the unbeknownst prey naively enjoys the ritual...
For your listening pleasure, I chose a song that embodies the heart and soul of the band, " Don't Cry." The piece opens with an innocence that seems to embody who No Brain Cell is ...light rays slowly poking through a dark veil. The mood surrounding this cut is almost akin to that smoke filled night club where the house band continues to play one last song and you hope the evening never ends. No Brain Cell stretches their own boundaries here, channeling emotions of Porcupine Tree and Tool, mixed with hints of Opeth, Dream Theater, and a dash of Focus. Learn more about No Brain Cell at http://www.nobraincell.com/. Of course feel free to follow them on Twitter @NoBrainCell and the ever popular Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobraincellband. Just be sure to prepare yourself for a "not so ordinary" journey through the dark cavernous world that is prog...
No Brain Cell may flourish in the dark corners of the prog garden, but there are many layers to this onion. Roots furrow deep into the soil and stretch across much acreage, drawing from and giving to several sections of the prog garden; metal, ambient, intellectual, art, experimental, and new age among them. The search for all things prog continues to unearth fresh and stimulating sounds...exposing new and previously undiscovered bands just waiting to be heard. The Concert Closet continues to push this journey across the planet...and I thank all of my fellow progheads for staying the course. Time to find other gems lurking under the soil...until next week...
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