Reka-I

Moment of Collapse Records

2013

As of late, and on my own dime, I've been on a bit of a quest to explore new bands (new to me) and boldly go where no man has gone before ( Sorry, but I've also been watching way too much Star Trek as of late as well!!!!). Therefore, with an iTunes gift card in hand, which was actually discovered while I was cleaning out my work desk over the weekend (When I bought it  and how it ended up stuffed way in the back of my desk remains a mystery?), I decided to check out the new rock and metal releases. Moscow's Reka, which was strangely listed under "rock" first with a "Death Metal/Black Metal" tag following the "rock" label, peaked my interest so I decided to download "I" and see what's what. For the sake of clarity it appears as if this 5-track EP was actually self-released back in April of 2010. I'd only find that out later when I went looking for information to post with this review. But, that's no biggie I figured. The group, which was formed in summer of 2007, is made up of musicians who spent time in the screamo bands Optimus Prime and Forutnae Verbera. Who plays what though on this EP isn't exactly clear. The group's Facebook page does list numerous musicians, but whether that is the line-up here or not is not exactly clear. I've provided a link for the group's Facebook page below though for the curious. If anyone does know the actually line-up here then please drop me a line. Otherwise we'll just say that Reka is made up of screamo musicians. That of course does bring up another important piece of information that should be clarified. Moscow's Reka are not exactly a "Screamo" band nor are they a "Death Metal/Black Metal" band. At first the samples I heard of iTunes made me think that Reka might be a black and roll type band, but they were not exactly that either. When I finally got a chance to listen to the whole EP after it was done downloading I discovered something way more interesting then even black and roll (and I find black and roll really interesting!). The best way to describe this Russian band's sound would be "atmospheric post-metal/post-rock". That said, there are a few flash-back moments when it's clear that the band members of Reka do come from other screamo acts and there are also tiny fragments of dark metal and sludge as well. For the most part though this is easily- accessible post-rock/post-metal with really subtle passages of (cool) rock. The EP swings from peaceful to intense of course, but the way in which the songs are arranged is suggests a band that knows their way around the virtues of traditional rock. If this is at all indicative of the group's other recordings (as other recordings did follow this EP) then I just might have to download more music from this Moscow act!

 https://www.facebook.com/rekaband

http://reka.bandcamp.com/album/i