Swaylex
- Raging Rapids
No
more record companies, no more self-appointed gatekeepers. Musicians like
Swaylex have become the norm in recent years, rather than odd standouts, thanks
to the increasingly willingness of performers to upload their wares to
platforms like YouTube in an effort to reach their audience directly. Despite
the video presentation, in this case quite unfettered and direct, the music
still has to connect. There’s no danger of that with Swaylex’s tunes and this
one in particular, “Raging Rapids”, has straight ahead rock muscle that
announces itself from the first and never relents. It has excellent
construction, however, and never lacks for musicality. Instead, there’s an
equal mix of melody and heavy riffing in this track that has the right balance
without ever veering too far in either direction. He brings the sensibility of
a seasoned musician to this work and it makes it an even more enjoyable musical
experience.
You
will be forgiven if you don’t think there’s going to be melody based on the
song’s first few seconds. Instead, it seems like he’s intent on crafting a bit
of music for some movie soundtrack, but just as you grow accustomed to that
idea, Swaylex’s music takes a turn into one of its consistent strengths. He can
hammer home a riff, driving it deep into listener’s memory, but “Raging Rapids”
proves he’s equally adept at marrying that approach to a talent for really
putting over some understated melodic virtues. The lead and rhythm guitar
sounds have a deep warmth that will lure listeners in and even the intensity of
the song never attacks listeners in such a way that they may feel compelled to
turn away. There’s certainly a claustrophobic air about the progression and how
he plays it, but we are inside an imaginative experience here and his total
confidence in how it should unfold wins us over as well.
The
bass is rather rudimentary, but it provides great ballast for the drums, rhythm
guitar, and lead work to play against. The lead and rhythm tracks are ideally
matched and Swaylex creates enough space in the music that allows it to breathe
without ever sacrificing any of its intensity and energy. He deserves plaudits
for that alone. Moreover, his decision here, like elsewhere, to refrain
belaboring his musical points with the audience assures us that he will never
risking boring us in an effort to prove his chops. Those are apparent from the
beginning. Nor will you ever listen to this performance and wish for a singer.
There’s a dramatic edge to the song that will keep you figuratively on the edge
of your seat from the beginning and he plays that aspect just right. This is the sort of series of solid artistic
decision making that we associate with experienced musical hands and it’s clear
that this young man is something of a prodigy in that regard. “Raging Rapids”
will entertain and grab you physically.
Scott
Wigley
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