What an intriguing EP this is. It focuses essentially on modern progressive rock sounds, but runs the gamut between space rock, hard-edged metallic prog and other sounds throughout. The instrumentation, arrangements and vocals all work exceptionally well, making this an awesome disc.




Track by Track Review

Dust of You
Catchy and compelling, there are intriguing layers of sound bringing the prog into play. Noisy guitar plays in melodic ways. It works out to slow moving, melodic modern progressive rock. It turns out to nearly metallic motifs later in a killer jam. It becomes more melodic again down the road, but there is some seriously killer guitar soloing before that change. The return of the mellower is simply for the outro.


Little Bit
There’s a hard edge to this, but the overall musical concept is melodic. It’s like a dark and somewhat heavy modern melodic progressive rock cut. It works through a number of sections, but all the changes seem organic and natural.

Just Because
Now, this cut focuses on the literal meaning of progressive rock. It’s quite progressive and original. There’s a stripped down, almost soulful groove at times. Other sections are louder and more lush with a real textural approach. The vocal arrangement is unique and cool. This is a dynamic cut with a lot of different musical concepts at play. Yet, it never fails to entertain. A section later is closer to something from modern King Crimson. Later we hear a cool keyboard solo.

Stargazer
A cool vocal arrangement opens this and the track turns exploratory from there. It’s got a really intriguing atmospheric sound. There’s almost a reggae beat later. This is very much a space rock tune, both in musical concepts and lyrical elements. After a time it turns out into sounds that seem to be reaching upwards. It gets considerably complex and intricate later and layers of vocals work across in a killer arrangement. There’s a real mysterious, cosmic texture to the music, too.

Sparkle and Shine
There’s a Latin air to this and a real soaring progressive rock sound. It calls to mind Yes at times, but the Latin guitar and cool keyboards bring a world music turned space rock element to the table. This is a great piece of music that is another that seems to be reaching upward. Then later it becomes more hard rocking. Perhaps Spock’s Beard is an appropriate reference to that section.
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Title of Review:  Don’t Feel Evil, Feel Peace

Review Summary:  Ian Narcisi’s latest EP is a wonderful journey into progressive rock. The songs will captivate you and challenge your mind, leaving you a better person for having listened.

Listening to Ian Narcisi’s EP Feel No Evil is almost like listening to 80s Pink Floyd.  Its progressive rock as it should be, with eclectic lyrics and haunting melodies, something that’s just off the norm of regular rock n’ roll. 

Feel No Evil is Ian’s 4th release and in five songs it will hook you and pull you in. The title “Feel No Evil” seems a bit out of place when you first listen.  The title implies something dark and brooding and not so nice, but the music is anything but that. 

The EP opens with Dust Of You which has a very big Floyd vibe going on. The wailing guitars play a suitable tribute to David Gilmore in such a way that you expect to be transported to an arena with an elaborate laser light show! All things aside, this song reminds us that we all share something in common and that’s dust. It’s a particularly pretty image when you think of it as stardust and that’s one that’s easy to conjure up when you hear Ian sing “Crescent moon above the shore. Bound within a living law. In the dust of you.”

Of the five songs, Little Bit is one of the most intriguing. From the strangely deep and echoing chorus to the lyrics, there’s something compelling as well as different about this track. Yet the message of the song is one that we’ve heard many times over, which is the need for people to stop focusing on themselves and look at the bigger picture. The lyrics “All this wasted time focusing on ourselves. Take a little bit more.” speak volumes if you open your mind to them.

Just Because reminds us of the need to get back to the basics if we expect to continue on. The guitar really builds to a fantastic climax as the song nears the end and then calms down, perhaps the music shows that everything including our planet which is being wasted at astronomical speeds can be brought under control if we all work together for the common good.

With Stargazer you get a lesson in astronomy if you listen to the lyrics reference Jupiter and its many moons as well as a fascinating astrological event that occurred in 1994 when the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet struck the planet. Its far from the usual subject matter for a song, but I dare you not to Google all the names of the moons and the story on the comet. This may be the first time I’ve learned something from a song.

The EP ends with Sparkle and Shine another song that reminds us of our own capabilities to do rise above the things that challenge us most.

Ian has created something special and beautiful with Feel No Evil. I can safely assure you that after several listens I don’t feel at all evil. In fact I feel rather peaceful for having spent time listening to his music. Oh and I know a little more about Jupiter.
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