b r a n d o n

Through three solid albums, Kopecky's style has remained more or less the same: this band of brothers plays progressive rock that is dark, heavy, meandering, influenced equally by King Crimson and Eastern melodies. The two studio albums before this one were flawed but enjoyable (Serpentine Kaleidoscope in particular had some stellar moments on it), and Sunset Gun follows in their footsteps. This latest offering is more developed and consistent, but still falls just short of being completely satisfying. Sunset Gun is more grandiose - many of the songs here make use of sweeping keyboard statements (yes, yes, a prog reviewing cliché, but it fits, and that says something about the music and its proximity to "traditional" symphonic rock in places) such as those found in "Bartholomew's Kite" on Serpentine Kaleidoscope - and more mature than either of the former efforts. The major difference, though, is in Joe Kopecky's guitar work: this is his album, and he plays a fine lead. His tone is less heavy and metallic than in Serpentine, and his lines are more intricate and complex. The best moments on the album are when bassist William plays melodically in counterpoint to Joe's guitar lead, or when the two trade off on a melodic line. While in past it's William's fantastic fretless bass playing that has stolen the show (he really makes the most of his instrument's fat, liquid tone), this time around it's Joe that gives the album its character. My favorite piece by a long shot is "Temptation's Screaming-Ground", which is also found on the live Orion album. This is a menacing beast of a track, yet also one of the album's most open and spacy pieces. Guitar and bass trade off very effectively, and the composition builds tension better than any other on the disc. The rest of the songs are a step below this one, but pretty much on par with each other - this is easily Kopecky's most consistent effort to date. Only "The Divine Art of Flying" will cause listeners to reach for the fast forward button - it's a cool little sitar piece, but compositionally it's not nearly as interesting as the rest of the album, being much more repetitive and lacking the dynamics that the other pieces have. Sunset Gun is an easy recommendation to anyone who has heard and enjoyed any of Kopecky's earlier albums, as it continues along similar lines, breaking no new ground but improving noticeably upon what has come before. While only "Temptation's Screaming-Ground" strikes me as truly excellent, with the rest of the tracks being enjoyable but not transcendent, Sunset Gun will still go down as Kopecky's best release to date. Here's hoping they keep getting better. review by Brandon Wu — 2-23-04 —