Aeronaut can be described as Progressive Rock, Post-Rock, Indie, or simply Alternative Rock, but that doesn’t really matter. All I know is that this project delivers very interesting, fresh, and well-rounded music. Aeronaut has a huge dynamic range, from extremely fast and heavy with smooth, powerful vocals to very relaxing and atmospheric. The music is very melodic, clear and well-produced, the song “Skara” flows and changes to new and exciting ideas. The guitars are very lush and full sounding, during both heavier and mellow parts, while the bass and drums thump and bang in all the right places.
Aeronaut is the progressive rock project of songwriter and producer Ricky Patel, started in 2015 to accommodate the upcoming release of the full LP ‘Netherspheres’, set for a 2017 release. Apart from the album, Ricky has put together a live band to perform who have already played a number of gigs including Westenhanger Castle in support of Lemar and Beverley Knight. Ricky currently works alongside Big Jam Studios and DeeVu Records, collaborating with a number of promising artists on the songwriting, recording and production of their music.
Aeronaut may be slightly more slightly more mainstream and catchy sounding than the average progressive rock band; however I don’t see that as a bad thing whatsoever. Ricky is still quite adventurous and artistic in his writing style.
Songs like “Skara” for example, would be extremely radio-friendly and accessible to almost any music fan regardless of its technicalities and arranging intricacies. The song contains a few excellent progressive buildups and rhythmic backflips, and in places really rocks hard.
The guitars sound dense and tight, and the drums sound strong and powerful, while the bass is punchy and moody.
A versatile vocalist who goes from whispers to screams, Ricky carves out a song that ranges from progressively epic instrumentation to complex time-signature. Whether Aeronaut use intricate bass and clean guitar lines or pounding, distorted chords, this track remains excellent.
The lyrics are a point where I’m not really in the know, until get hold of a lyric sheet that is. They definitely have a feeling like they want to tell you something, but I just can’t say what it is. I have some assumptions, but I won’t share them – I guess it’s up to every listener to interpret them on his own. But one thing is certain, they are wonderfully written and they genuinely mirror the tone the song conveys.
All in all, “Skara” is a glorious effort, from what sounds like an extremely competent and focused artist. This though, is music that begs for an album to support it, at which point we’ll know exactly where Ricky Patel and his Aeronaut project will be leading us.
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