THE GABRIEL CONSTRUCT — Interior City (review)

THE GABRIEL CONSTRUCT — Interior City album cover

Album · 2013 · Progressive Metal

4.5/5 · 2013-11-22
progshine

The Gabriel Construct is in fact the project of Gabriel Lucas Riccio. Gabriel is a vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist from Salisbury (USA). On his debut album Interior City (2013) he has a fixed band to help him create his chaotic sound: Travis Orbin (Darkest Hour, ex-Periphery, Of Legends) on drums, Thomas Murphy (ex-Periphery) on bass, David Stivelman (ex-Debbie Does Dallas) on guitar, Soren Larson on saxophone, and Sophia Uddin on violin. Interior City (2013) is a dark and chaotic album that works under a concept. According to Gabriel himself: "Interior City attempts to overcome mental programming which holds each of us back. It is a story about paranoia and escapism, based on a simple idea: in a society which respects nothing, every individual learns that they are not worthy of respect. The album follows one person's tumultuous journey to regain their self-respect and their ability to fully engage with the world around them, in the process revealing the darkest thoughts that drive society as a whole." A weird and complex concept? You bet! And his music reflects that.

But before going into the album, I have to mention the great package which Interior City (2013) is wrapped in. A high quality artwork with a mini LP kind of layout.

Now, if you're waiting for anything 'usual'? you may want to try other albums, cause you'll not find it here! Interior City (2013), as the name suggests, is a world itself. The Gabriel Construct sound is weird and chaotic. It is intentionally weird to a point where they'll make you feel uneasy. Right on track one 'Arrival In A Distant Land' you'll see that. Not just on track one. Mainly led by the piano 'Ranting Prophet' shows a weird sequence of chords that soon grows to have an Orphaned Land kind of sound. Unnatural tempos and great vocals included. The Gabriel Construct's sound sometimes edges the chaos, like in the final part of this track. Unbelievable fast drums followed by 'untuned' violins. Just great! Attached follows 'Fear Of Humanity'. And the initial verse says everything you need to know about the mood of the track: "I'm afraid of humans / I wonder if they're afraid of me / They grow here like tumors / I wonder if that's how they see me".

The songs keep being attached to each other, which just makes the impression of unity within the album stronger. 'My Alien Father' talks about alien abduction. It reminded me instantaneously of X-Files, the series (which is a great one). 'Retreat Underground' is the follow up with a big confusion of sounds and one thing that is the album's trade mark already, many vocals. This track is a bit cyberpunk and talks about getting hidden in the underground, where is 'safer'. As a continuation of the underground story we have 'Subway Dwellers' with its saxophones and great cymbals work by Travis Orbin.

'Defense Highway' continues with The Gabriel Construct unusual collage of sounds and ideas and after a quick piano intro the song shows us a frantic sound, chaotic, disoriented in some way. And layers and layers of vocals. Almost 11 minutes of superb music! 'Inner Sanctum' follows. A great upbeat track with tons of weird vocals and clever saxophones. Sometimes it is even as if the vocals sang to a different track.

To conclude, Interior City (2013) we have two more tracks. On the CD there's a mistake and the instrumental 'Languishing In Lower Chakras' is not mentioned anywhere in the booklet or back cover. I was just able to figure out the name after taking a look on their Bandcamp page. This instrumental once again relies on the piano to a somber intro and then presents us with some unusual and dark sounds. In fact, they're calm sounds most of the time, but even in peace we can find chaos. And then we have 'Curing Somatization'. A piece full of disoriented guitars, screams, and of course, many vocals, their trade mark throughout the album.

Interior City (2013) is possibly the closest you'll get to being in a completely different world. In this case, Gabriel Lucas Riccio's world. A miles away world that is worthy to go!

(Originally posted on progshine.net)