Reviews

The great tunes keep coming from the irresistibly catchy progressive pop of "Black Hole" featuring the unique vocals of Alan Smith to the jazzy prog of "Cognitive Dissonance" with its strong fusion element especially in Matuchniak's guitar work. In the dreamier sections the keys seem to float on air giving the music a light and airy sheen. "London Vibe" continues on that jazzier path recalling Weather Report with a hint of Steely Dan flavoured keyboards. In "Avatar Jones" each musician shines creating a tantalizing piece of music reminding me of The Tangent's more recent endeavors and Matchuniak's guitar work varies from a melodic slow burn to a more scorching style. A heavy dose of retro returns with "Erdinger", another progressive fusion delight featuring cool synth breaks and Rick Meadow's rich bass lines.
www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=13289

Well, I'm including this in the prog section because Gekko Projekt are signed to ProgRock Records, but the Southern California band, whose debut album this, are really operating in the world of jazz fusion, in the same way that the Jan Hammer Group and the Mahavishnu Orchestra did back in the day. Which means it's right up my street, but folks looking for out and out prog, had best move along. It's largely instrumental, as befits their chosen genre, and it's also very melodic, something that a lot of fusion bands seem to treat as anathema. Me, I like it when there is a tune to admire, as well as the musical chops. Based around the guitar work of Peter Matuchniak (whose solo album we reviewed recently) and the keyboards of Vance Gloster, it's well performed and very enjoyable. When they do tug their forelocks in the direction of prog, it's more late seventies Camel, than it is elongated concepts about the meaning of life, and they do sometimes reach into the world of the rawk. Which is nice. If you're looking for some seventies fusion, but are tired of listening to all your old records, then give this a shot.
www.the-rocker.co.uk

Seven of the 10 tracks are instrumenta with ample melodic hooks. "Black Hole" is a bit trippy and possesses a catchy vocal chorus. "Avatar Jones" spins a tale of a skateboard messiah. "London Vibe" is an excellent instrumental that veers from keyboard-heavy prog to soaring guitar to jazz flourishes in under three minutes. "October Skies" is yet another standout cut exhibiting the group's diversity. A very strong introduction.
www.progression.com

If you have a fairly liberal taste in music, enjoy compositions of an accessible nature and like bands like Allman Brothers just as much as Camel and Pendragon, Gekko Projekt's "Electric Forest" should come across as a fairly interesting production – how interesting a matter of taste, as performance and production are of good quality. A promising debut album by an experienced quartet.
progressor.net/review/gekko_projekt_2012.html

The album starts and finishes with the instrumentals Particle Dance and Particle Coda, the former an interesting guitar-based piece that gets things moving with some nice work from Matuchniak, the latter a refrain of the main guitar line but played in a more sedate and relaxed manner. The guitarist's other contributions are London Vibe and Martian Sunrise which, like Particle Dance, was co-written with Gloster. The shorter of the two pieces has a more jazzy feel to it whereas the aubade is a gentler number relying heavily of synth derived washes and some lovely, melodic, flowing guitar work, providing an eloquent mixture with a story-like quality. There is very little to compare the music on this album with, no doubt at least in part due to the maturity of the musicians who have got past wearing their influences on their sleeves. Gloster's other two pieces on the album, Cognitive Dissonance and State Of Siege are remarkably distinct from each other, showing the breadth of ideas that the composer has at his disposal - it is rare enough to create something original that is distinct from any other bands but to create instrumental tracks on the same album that sound distinct from each other is quite an achievement! Only the guitarist's signature style really forms a link between pieces. The final track, Erdinger, was co-composed by the rhythm section. And it is far from being a sop to appease Meadows and Smith and stop them from being sidelined by the lead instrument chaps. With a more prominent and adventurous bass line and somewhat more quirky nature in general, I suspect that many will find a greater affinity with this number than any of the others. On the whole Electric Forest is an accomplished and finely rendered debut album by four musicians who are at the top of their instrumental game. If they can sort out the vocal issues, either by bringing a guest vocalist on board or restricting themselves entirely to instrumentals, the next album will be something to await with anticipation. Well worth checking out.
www.dprp.net/reviews/201214.php#gekko

Electric Forest contains ten tracks which are all of a very high level. Most of the songs are instrumentals containing many strong solos played on the guitars and keyboards. It was a wise decision of the band to include three tracks that have some vocals. This way the songs have enough variety and prevent them from getting dull. People who enjoy the music of Camel on the above-mentioned albums should give this debut album of Gekko Project at least a try. However, I think that all devotees of neo-progressive rock will find some interesting music on Electric Forest.
www.backgroundmagazine.nl/CDReviews/GekkoProjectElectricForest.html

All players get their respective parts, yet keyboardist Gloster and guitarist Peter Matuchniak appear to retain the lion's share of the focus. Nevertheless, the depth of Meadows and Smith is remarkable and easily the constant that propels the band. (Smith built his own drum kit.) In the end, Electric Forest is simply a well-developed, superbly played, and entertaining album of classic melodic prog rock. Quite recommended.
www.dangerdog.com/2012-music-reviews/gekko-projekt-electric-forest.php