Gratto is one of the new releases on Chris Rodler's Progressive Music Management (PMM) label. As the name implies PMM features complex, technically challenging progressive rock music from a variety of local artists. Most of the PMM bands are based around Chris on guitars/keyboards and his brother Brett on drums.

Upon receiving the Gratto CD from Chris I flipped it over and found only three tracks on the disc, the shortest being 9:03. As any fan of prog knows, this is a very good sign. In my younger days I discovered many great bands based only on their album cover and length of songs.

The Gratto CD package itself is first class, with intriguing graphics on the shrink wrapped cardboard sleeve as well as on the CD itself. Information is minimal, instead there is a link to the PMM website for lyrics and liner notes. This approach works quite well.

Gratto is a group and a person- the group is a four piece with Gratto (the person) on piano, organ and vocals, Chris Rodler on guitars, Brett Rodler on drums and Gary Madras on bass. The making of this release is an epic story. The musicians began recording the project in 1996 at a local church, taking advantage of the building's great acoustics and beautiful grand piano. They had to set up and tear down all of their instruments and recording gear every time they did a session at the church. Incredibly, they did this over a period of three years, however the band eventually dissolved with Madras leaving the area and Gratto (the person) taking an extended hiatus.

As more time passed the recordings were packed away and forgotten, and the project appeared to have become a dead end. Fortunately for progressive fans everywhere, Chris Rodler rediscovered the lost tapes in 2001 and and set about putting the finishing touches on this enigmatic release.

Anakin Tumnus has all of the elements that any fan of progressive rock will love to sink their teeth into: odd meters, drastic changes in texture and dynamics, intricate riffs and chord structures and of course extended opus-like pieces. You can hear elements of King Crimson, Echolyn, and perhaps Happy the Man in the music of Gratto. Vocally things are in the realm of Jethro Tull or maybe even Gentle Giant at times.

The musicianship on this release is outstanding, and although this is Gratto's namesake it is the Rodler's that really impress. Chris burns up his fretboard with twisting and turning riffs flying by at lightning speed. He also makes good use of acoustic guitar in conjunction with Gratto's piano on the lighter sections of some of the pieces. Brother Brett is no slouch either, executing intricate high-speed passages and complex accents with complete fluidity. Within the framework of this music Brett's playing is as good as any I've heard. He seems to have been influenced by players such as Neil Peart or Terry Bozzio. My only question is "what else is this guy doing, because I want to hear it!" Holding all of this together is the rock solid bass playing of Gary Madras. He cleverly finds a space in the frenzy to anchor music which otherwise might easily get out of hand.

Although there are definitely many quiet moments on this disc, overall it is a high-energy, bombastic release. This should make it interesting to fans of metal and musical pyrotechnics in general. If you are not into progressive rock probably the hardest thing to get past are the vocals and lyrics, which always border on grandiose no matter who the band is... some say that it is an aquired taste.

For more info visit the PMM website.

This release is available in our Online CD Shop.

Also, several PMM artists have pages here on PlayErie.com. Check out Gratto, Leger De Main, RH Factor and Andeavor.

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