MENNO VON BRUCKEN FOCK

THE DAWN OF TIME (NL+E)

Artiest / Band: 
BELLAS, GEORGE (2010)
GEORGE BELLAS - The Dawn Of Time

The Dawn Of Time, de 289ste uitgave van Lion Music, is een bijna tachtig minuten durende instrumentale plaat van de Amerikaanse gitaar- en toetsenvirtuoos George Bellas. De man is inmiddels een begrip in de neoklassieke muziekwereld. Hij speelde met Jason Becker, Vitalij Kuprij, John West en maakte onder meer deel uit van UFO, Artension en Palace Terrace. Voeg daarbij dat hij ook bas speelt en de drumpartijen aan Marco Minnemann overlaat, dan weten insiders dat de plaat niet slecht kán zijn. De muziek is geïnspireerd op het ontstaan van de kosmos; een van Bellas' interesses is namelijk (natuur)wetenschappen. De lichtvoetige, vaak dubbel ingespeelde zwiepende gitaarpartijen zijn Bellas' handelsmerk geworden, maar ook zijn gitaar- en toetsenloopjes, al dienen de orgelgeluiden meestal ter ondersteuning van zijn weergaloze solo's. The Dawn Of Time bevat veel klassieke invloeden, maar toch ook wel orkestraal progressieve stukjes zoals Seeding The Universe. De dreigende klanken in het titelstuk worden mijns inziens wat verstoord door de stuwende, maar vrij monotone baspartij. Medicine Man bevat basale rockmuziek met een oosters vleugje; het wordt gevolgd door het langzame en statige Voyage To Triangulum en door Mysterious Light dat wat meer uptempo is: neoklassiek ontmoet jazzrock. Een track als Mystical Dream is erg klassiek georiënteerd, maar tsjonge, wat kan deze man spelen! De melodieën liggen prettig in het gehoor en de akkoordenschema's zijn vaak niet te gecompliceerd of ze zijn duidelijk afgekeken van de klassieke meesters, al zijn de wendingen in een track als Genesis Of Life wel weer heel inventief. Doordat Bellas niet zo veel varieert in het geluid van met name gitaar en bas, bestaat echter voor de argeloze luisteraar toch het gevaar van enige verveling die er na verloop van tijd insluipt. Resten op dit album nog Metropolis, met een meer prominente rol voor de bas, de gevoelige ballad Always At My Side en tot slot het melodieuze en tevens majestueuze The Angels Are Calling, waarin George geen noot op zijn gitaarhals onbespeeld laat. Voor gitaarfreaks is The Dawn Of Time een absolute aanrader, voor de doorsnee progressieve rockfan is het even slikken, maar George Bellas is absoluut een kanjer!

ENGLISH:

The American guitar virtuoso George Bellas, renowned from bands like Ring Of Fire and Palace Terrace, delivers his sixth solo album with The Dawn Of Time. Bellas has been a recording artist from 1997 with his debut for Shrapnel Records called Turn Of The Millennium with among others Deen Castronovo (drums) and Kevin Chown (bass). He's currently playing in the live band of Tarja Turunen. Bellas did everything himself on this album, including production and artwork with the exception of the drum parts. Those were recorded by Marco Minnemann (UKZ), one of the top drummers of the next generation. Being a fan of classical composers like Liszt, Chopin, Paganini and Bach, just to name a few, Bellas has always played a neo-classical style of music. With a keen interest in all existing theories on composition and musical forms like counterpoint and odd meters, he has developed his own unique style of playing the guitar, but he has also proven that he's a well-established keyboard and bass player. The Dawn Of Time is an instrumental album. The arrangements are short and accessible and the songs are euphonious and tonal, especially when compared to his previous album Step Into The Futur, which was a single 75-min song and atonal for the most part. Some of the songs utilize compositional techniques and elements from the baroque, classical and romantic eras, others have more elements of progressive rock in them. As could be suspected from the title of the album, the music was  inspired by the creation of the universe. The opening song Cyclone could be described as neo-classical progressive metal. Minnemann's pounding double bass drums and a hammering bass are the foundation of the track, while the keyboards are the orchestral background for the melodies and solos played by Bellas' sweeping guitars. Seeding The Universe is a combination of a slow romantic song within a more powerful context, using several odd meters. Heavily inspired by some of the classical masters and a feel of being in a merry-go-round is Let There Be Light, a very catchy up-tempo song, with a rather straight rhythm and a beautiful classical counterpoint piece of guitars, and harpsichord sounding keyboards. The title track is a rather straightforward simple melody, but the bass and drums are pushing really hard and more or less based on the same melodic theme guitars and keyboards are playing a dazzling amount of notes per bar. Strangely enough the bass is used solely and simply as a driving rhythmic force in contrast to the other instruments, that are played with a fabulous technique. One would have expected the bass would have been played in the same fashion: many notes per bar and counterpointing for instance the guitar. Machine Man start off with a nice rock-based riff played by the bass, than the organ is added and melodies from the Orient and Middle East, combined with a pop-rock tune. In the last part the bass riff is played in a higher tempo and some very tasteful solos by Bellas' guitar. Slower seventies progressive rock can be heard in Voyage To Triangilum, with most of the melodies played by two guitars and of course impressive soloing again. Mysterious Light has a haunting atmosphere and some hi-tech performances from all instruments. Classical themes returns in Mystical Dream and Bellas shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is one of the guitar heroes of this millennium. Glimmering Stardust is a combination of classically inspired music combined with a more straightforward rock tune, with that same driving bass as mentioned before. There's a very tranquil and tasteful second part with just electric guitar and keyboards. Electromagnetic contains some pieces of classically influenced music in combination with a delightful rock piece. Minnemann and Bellas rendering over the top performances again. Odd meters and blues rhythms patterns, while the music changes in tempo constantly in Genesis Of Life with some nice orchestrations. A slow rock rhythm, lush orchestrations and some classical music can be enjoyed in Carbon Creatures, with major contributions from piano, bass, drums and guitars. Although the second half is richly orchestrated, in essence Suns Of Andromeda is a very gentle ballad. Personally I would have preferred another type and playing of the bass guitar here. A romantic theme is put in a rock context in We Are Not Alone in which Bellas plays his guitar almost like a violin. The last part has that same hammering bass but this is followed by a nice piece of piano accompanied by orchestral sounds. Rock from the Middle East is back in Nightmare Awoken and most of melodies are played by 'twin guitars', while there's a beautiful oasis of keyboard driven music in the middle section. Piano and guitar play alongside at a tremendous speed in the classically oriented Primordial Atom, in the vein of some of the music of Rhapsody (On Fire). Twin guitars in the 'choruses' and a delightful up-tempo riff by the bass can be heard in Metropolis, a tune with some progressive, but even more rock elements. The only real ballad would be Always At My Side based on the E and A chords and this time not only shredding but subtle and gentle soloing too. The grand finale is called The Angels Are Calling, a complex composition with a few different 'faces', varying from almost ambient to heavy, orchestrated rock. In a section with a different odd meter rhythm Minnemann shows his impressive talents and Bellas picks every single note on the neck of his guitar.

No vocals, no lyrics, thus no irritating singers but yes, also the danger of getting bored by 'only guitars'. As pointed out in the review my personal preference would have been a different sound and role for the bass guitar and I would have loved a bit more variety in the guitar sounds. The overall sound might have been a little more powerful and bombastic, but yet again: a matter of taste. This is the absolute summit of shredding and beyond dispute that Bellas' name should be added on the list with teh likes of Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. This man is an allround multi-instrumentalist and a refined composer. A must for all fans of guitar heroes, fans of neo-classical rock but I'd invite all fans of any kind of rock music with an affinity for guitars to listen to this album.