Robert Svilpa & Paraesthesia

Robert Svilpa is a US based musician and composer who first made himself known to the world at large with the release of his first solo effort "The Sound of Thoughts" back in 2005. Four years later he returns with his sophomore effort, the concept album "A Fine Line Between...". This time around with several guest musicians involved, with Nick D'Virgilio arguably the most well known of these. He's also enlisted the aid of Russian graphics artist Ed Unitsky, who has done a wonderful job (as he always does) in creating cover and booklet art for this endeavour.
Svilpa states a number of influences on his webpages, ranging from acts like Opeth and Tool to artists like Mike Oldfield and Marillion. And this latest effort of his is pretty diversiefied in stylistic expressions as well, although the overall feel and mood ultimately places it in the more accessible part of the art rock universe.

On the first half of the album in particular the guitarwork often takes on qualities similar to Rush, backed by keyboards from the Neo-prog school and more vintage sounding organ themes. At times leaning towards progressive metal in expression, while other passages comes closer to art pop territories in sound.

As the album evolves the compositions tends to become more mellow in nature though, gentler escapades where clear cut melodies courtesy of clean or acoustic guitars backed by relatively lush keyboards, synths and the aforementioned organ is the name of the game. Some darker sequences appears from time to time, a few but distinct eerie moods are created, but by and large the second half of this venture is a pretty gentle affair.

Svilpa is a talented composer, able to cover several different styles of music. But the subtle details that will allow his productions to make a really grand impression are still lacking at this point in time. While most of the tracks, in particular in the second half of this affair, will appeal to those fond of the gentler, melodic aspect of the art rock universe, I don't see this album appealing to many beyond that circle. A vocal delivery that tends to be on the weak side and compositions slightly too predictable and not quite managing to create the strong moods needed to overcome that slight weakness is the main reason for me not quite warming to this affair. Many good tracks by all means, but not many good enough to really stand out as strong tracks of the ilk that makes me want to push the repeat button immediately.

All in all a promising second effort, and a concept album to be sought out by those looking for melodic art rock who don't mind a few excursions into somewhat harder territories. - ProgArchives.com

Multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Robert Svilpa returns in 2009, after almost four years with a brand new album called release A Fine Line Between… It’s also the first to feature an addition of ‘Paraesthesia’ to the name. I’m figuring that it refers to three other “core” musicians, Paul Harrington (keyboards) and Mark Parris (bass). Special guests are Nick D'Virgilio, Andy Edwards and Zsolt Galantai (drums) and Alan Morse (guitar on “Mesmerize”).

I feel Robert has a unique sound that infuses many elements of the progressive genre including Neo, symphonic along with elements of metal and modern progressive rock. The end result is an amazing album that according to Robert’s website, is a concept album about a person named Ben who’s a sleepwalker who goes through life doing unusual stuff both as a participant and an observer.

Highlights for me are the opening hard-edged prog track "The First Piece In The Puzzle", which is a great way to open an album with a bang. The next track, “Mirror Mirror” is possible one of the more “commercial” sounding of the album. In a perfect world, it could be the lead single of the album. For those fans of epics, there’s "Temple Of Lost Souls". While I enjoyed it, I found myself drawn to the shorter songs. The last track, “Drawing The Short Straw” is another favorite track of mine.

In closing, I feel that Robert Svilpa and his band have created some great memorable music on A Fine Line Between… I just hope he doesn’t wait another 4 years for follow-up. I’d rate this a very recommendable to fans of the more melodic side of progressive rock gene. This is also an album that could, in my opinion, sit side by side new releases by Porcupine Tree, IQ and many others.

Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on October 24th, 2009 - ProgNaut.come

Robert Svilpa's new release a fine line between… is an excellent new album and one that caught this reviewer totally by surprise. Other than Svilpa who plays guitars, keyboards and vocals, band members include Paul Harrington (keyboards) and Mark Parris (bass). Nick D'Virgilio, Andy Edwards and Zsolt Galantai were guest musicians on drums and Alan Morse adds his guitar on one track. This is the first I have heard of this talented band and I have to say the music drew me in almost immediately. This is progressive rock with elements of neo, symphonic rock, and pop that comes together remarkably well. Bands like IQ, Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd came to mind while listening but this is by no means a derivative recording. The album is very listenable and full of melodies but at no time did I find it boring or uninteresting.

This is a concept album about a person named Ben who goes through life in a dreamlike state and finds himself in the middle of some unusual circumstances. Its an original concept although it was hard to follow as my promo copy did not include lyrics. Now on to the music…
Beginning with the hard edged prog of "The First Piece In The Puzzle" with its prog metal riffage and great rhythm section propelling the song, before turning into a lovely piano melody followed by more crunchy riffs and synth solos, the album is off to a great start. The epic "Temple Of Lost Souls" is a real treat. Melodic guitar and scrumptious bass along with tasteful orchestration help to make this one of the album's best songs. The darkly melodic "Frantic" has a moody Porcupine Tree feel with soaring lead guitar and a nice bass line before ending with starkly somber piano. Svilpa's slow vocal delivery is downright menacing at times effectively conveying the mood of the piece.
Another favourite is the proggy pop of "In The Shadows" where Svilpa gives one of his best vocal performances as he sings:
"In the shadows, underneath the stair.
Inside the closet, another ghost inside your head.
Bathed in spectral light, I'm washed in my confusion.
Little concern about where imagination might lead.

chorus
I'm watching you, watching everything that you do.
I'm inhaling you, intoxicating scent of you."
I love the imagery Svilpa conveys through these lyrics.
The spacey "Mesmerize", featuring Morse on guitar, reminds me of Division Bell era Floyd complete with voice samples of Stephen Hawking before the keyboards transport the listener to the days of Dark Side of the Moon. These are just a few of the highlights found on this album.
Robert Svilpa and his band have put out a fantastic sophomore effort with a fine line between… Do yourself a favour and check it out. You will not be disappointed.
(originally reviewed for progressiveears.com)

Track Listing:
1. The First Piece In The Puzzle
2. Mirror Mirror
3. Temple Of Lost Souls
4. Frantic
5. In The Shadows
6. The Only One
7. Mesmerize
8. Adagio In A Minor
9. Atonement
10. As Time Goes By
11. Drawing The Short Straw
Added: December 22nd 2009
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score: 4.5 out of 5 - Sea of Tranquility

US composer and multi-instrumentalist Robert SVILPA issued his first solo album back in 2005, and following three years of labor he has now issued his sophomore effort "A Fine Line Between". This time around it's a concept album, and with the aid of Russian artist Ed Unitsky the theme is given a stunning visual presentation in the booklet, while the musical part of this effort is strengthened by several guest musicians, most notably Nick D'Virgilio of Spock's Beard fame. The influence from acts like Rush is notable in the first half of the recording; the guitar riffs in particular will sound familiar to fans of that act. Melodic and often lush keyboards are added to the escapades though and while subtle early on, they dominate more and more in the second half of this effort, while the guitars' role in the proceedings becomes more and more subdued. The end result is an album containing much diversity, dominated by a gentle and melodic variety of art rock with rich keyboard, synth and organ textures. Good songs for the most part, but predictable and not what one might describe as challenging. A promising effort that will most likely appeal to an audience fond of melodic, relatively mellow art rock with a few select harder aspects as well as musical ties towards neo-progressive rock. - Progressor.Net

Tracklist: The First Piece In The Puzzle (4:57), Mirror Mirror (4:33), Temple Of Lost Souls (16:54), Frantic (6:19), In The Shadows (6:53), The Only One (4:16), Mesmerize (9:48), Adagio In A Minor (5:22), Atonement (5:13), As Time Goes By (6:35), Drawing The Short Straw (8:00)

First thing I have to say is that circumstances for this review were not ideal. I received a burned CD-rom with the artwork printed very small. When trying to find information on the internet I found that his website does not contain information about Robert Svilpa and that the Record Label can not be found using Google. So all background information is from other progressive rock internet sites and his MySpace site, which is not very informative, but does contain almost fifty bands named as being an influence. What I can read on the prints is that Robert Svilpa is joined by Paraesthesia which consists of Paul Harrington (keyboards) and Mark Parris (bass). Robert himself plays guitar and keyboards and does the vocals and there are three different drummers on this album: Andy Edwards, Zsolt Galanti and, last but not the least of the three, Nick D'Virgilio. On Mesmerize he is joined by his Spock's Beard colleague Alan Morse.

The music of Robert Svilpa is classified as neo-prog and I can fully agree with that. Fifty bands is a huge number of influences but the best thing I could come up with is a cross between Pendragon and Saga. The 'new' Pendragon that is, A Fine Line Between ... is neo prog but the sound is contemporary, not old fashion. Also elements of Marillion, BJH and Transatlantic. The link with Spock's Beard is mainly the participation of the two members mentioned above, musically I do not hear that much resemblance.

The album starts very predictably with an instrumental opener, The First Piece In The Puzzle, immediately followed by an 'easy' rock song, Mirror Mirror. Temple Of Lost Souls is the major piece on this album, which features pieces of the legendary speech from Barack Obama, the "Yes we can" speech is perfectly mixed into the song, but I can say that for all the elements in Robert Svilpa's music. All tunes are very accessible and the songs are very well constructed and Robert Svilpa is a good song writer. This album also has parts of speeches from Steve Jobs and professor Stephen Hawking mixed into the music. The balance on this album is good.

An epic song like Temple Of Lost Souls is followed by a couple of shorter songs that are not that complicated but when needed some more complicated stuff is delivered. Frantic, In The Shadows and The Only One are all great songs that are catchy without becoming too predictable. After which it is time for some more challenging stuff with Mesmerize, almost ten minutes long and features the Spock's Beard duo. This instrumental song starts with keyboard music like that of Jean Michel Jarre and jumps back to that on many occasions. Alan Morse's loose way of playing the guitar is distinct, but I would not classify this as a Spock's Beard song. Though more challenging than the easier rock songs on A Fine Line Between ... you will not find music that will blow your mind, all is held well within the limits of that.

This album does however go from one recognizable sound to an other and next featured band as a recognizable influence is Arena. Another symphonic song, Adagio In A Minor also reminds me a bit of of the Nolan/Wakeman albums. Up until now all music is instantly likable for a symphonic fan like me but Atonement is a song that I skip. I really do not like electronic drum beats and it is used during some parts of this song, why oh why? It is also the only song on which the vocals do not sound very clear.

As Time Goes By is another instrumental song that again is all over the place without really stepping out of line. A guitar riff that reminds me of A.C.T is followed by a Pendragon part and like that the song changes to something else without becoming incoherent. The first part of Drawing The Short Straw is mellow but in the second part there is a lot of room for symphonic instrumental soloing, stretched guitars and atmospheric keyboards all over the place. Neo-prog all the way.

I started reviewing this album blank because not much information can be found on this release, but in the end it is all about the music and that is well taken care of. It is neo progressive rock with many old fashion aspects without sounding old fashion. Robert Svilpa does not push any musical boundaries but he very nicely combines elements from well known symphonic bands and the songs are constructed in a way that they sound accessible without becoming too predictable. If you like the bands named in this review then this album will be a good addition to your collection, not renewing but very enjoyable.

Conclusion: 8 out of 10

EDWIN ROOSJEN - dprp.net