Terigi Simone - Rock Meditations

'Rock Meditations' is the sprirtual journey of guitarist Terigi Simone of the band Lucid Dream. While Lucid Dream is a bit on the heavier, more Heavy Metal oriented side, Terigi's solo album is much slower, jazz oriented, and lives up to the title perfectly. Rather than follow the footsteps of artists like John 5 or Jeff Loomis who perfrom high energy, intense songs that are incredibly technical and also show some of the best licks of Hard Rock, Terigi opts for a much more ambient effect. Throughout the album listeners will heard almost two fronts melding together: one side is the soft, repetitive acoustic guitar that keeps the song grounded and the other the much louder, sharper and technical electric guitar that is recognizable on Lucid Dream's solos and interludes. While these two elements can tend to clash due to the contrast in sound such as on the opening "Sea Notes," there is a very odd harmony between them that makes the elements work, and even though the electric guitar is much louder, it is still performed very slowly- almost sorrowfully- so it doesn't feel like it is outpacing the acoustic guitar. Other tracks like "The Bells Of Awakening" let the acoustic guitar parts have more control and are less repetitve; there even seems to be a bit of Spanish influence in the music with the faster pickings. Listeners will also hear some cello work which helps with the ambiance a lot Nicola Paoli, the only other instrumentalist here aside from Terigi himself who performs all the guitars.

Despite there being a lack of drums or bass on this album for the most part (save for maybe on the track "The Heart's Home") the music is still highly enjoyable while remaining simple. Terigi often uses nature samples from crashing waves on "Sea Notes" and bits of a thunderstorm on "Lardee" to keep the whole spiritual/ nature experience of the music up, and even on "Lardee" uses the guitars and cello for a very dreamy, almost keyboard droning experience despite that no keyboards were used. "The Heart's Home" is probably the most enjoyable track since it does feature drums and from the thumping percussive sound that complements the acoustic guitar much better gives a strong Folk element that brings a whole new level to Terigi's work that isn't seen in Lucid Dream, while not feeling out of place or like a whole new sub genre that shouldn't be there. Overall this entire album is a bit more humanistic and softer than what most Prog. fans might expect, but the more meditative tone really brings life to the music and makes it something that is very easy to read to, study, or just sleep to without being bored at all. 'Rock Meditations' isn't anything that one will feel getting amped up at a concert anytime soon, but it is certainly worth checking out for those who feel they want a breather in life and just need something to mellow out to.

  1. Sea Notes
  2. The Bells Of Awakening
  3. Lardee
  4. Astral Memories
  5. The Heart's Home
  6. Into The Future
  7. Destiny