Júlio Stotz - Dark Ravishing Energy EP (2015)

About a year back in time, I reviewed a EP made by Brazilian-German music composer Júlio Stotz called "Suspended In Reverie", a beautiful instrumental EP that mixed heavy djent inspired riffs with more fluent and vibrant piano melodies. An all in all great effort that still to this day is one of my favourite EPs that I have reviewed on this blog.

The same guy has now come with "Dark Ravishing Energy", a EP with more of the same, sweet thing. 4 brand new songs that will cleanse your mind with beauty and emotions. All of the songs displayed here are nice individual works that ties together perfectly in both style and sound to create a grand unity.

All 4 songs are worthy of a listen, for different reasons. The opener "Will To Power" succeeds in telling a story, without uttering any words, while "Delusions" shows some good technicality with its epic synths, sustained guitars, and oddly satisfying drum beats. Then we have "Verstonnen" (German for thoughtful), a calm song with no guitars, only beautiful piano melodies that never seem to end. Finally, we have "In Spite of Everything", a nice, epic song that includes guitar solos from Olaf Thorsen (Vision Divine, Labyrinth) and Ivan Mihaljevic (Side Effects).

The song line-up certainly matches the one in "Suspended in Reverie", but because this EP was named "Dark Ravishing Energy", I expected something that would resemble the name, something more feisty. And just like with the last EP, I would have loved to heard more. 4 songs  with a combined play time of 17 minutes is just not enough to satisfy my needs for good music.With that said, I still think this EP is another fine release from Júlio. Here he shows again that he knows how to create a stunning mood and accompany it with great musicality. A marvelous EP of unique and stunning music.

Songs worthy of recognition: All four songs are worthy

Rating: 8/10 Delusions

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Júlio Stotz - Suspended In Reverie EP (2014)

If you think that the cover suggests that this is not a metal release, then you have obliviously forgotten the old saying "Do not judge a dog by its hair". The Brazilian music composer Júlio Stotz have in "Suspended In Reverie" created a four song instrumental EP that mixes the delicacy of the piano with several djent/progressive metal beats. It is a slightly weird combination, but Júlio is doing a really nice job of balancing the different components together.

All four songs are pretty slow and beautiful, but thanks to the heavy djent riffs, they also have some edge that gives them an extra level. Well, except for "An Der Elbe" that only has piano loops. And of course, as a metal lover, I feel that the songs lifts when the guitars enter the stage. Especially the steadily increasing epicness in "Dreamlike Perceptions" gets me rocking my head back and forth every time I hear it.

The EP as a whole is very even, but short. I would have loved to see one more song in it, or keep the same amount, but making one long and epic song to see how far the artist can take it (the longest song by the way is around 5 minutes). Júlio himself describes his music as instrumental progressive metal with a djent touch and piano/orchestra vibe, but I do not see very much progressiveness in the music. Of course, I would also label this as progressive music, but I think he can take it even further to really show off something impressive.

I would definitely love to see a full album of this kind of music, and I am certain that if Júlio ever gets the tools to complete this full length album, he will do a marvelous job. "Suspended In Reverie" is unique, beautiful and very interesting. A nice choice for both lovers of progressive metal and more classical music.

Songs worthy of recognition: Dreamlike Perceptions, From A Restive Slumber

Rating: 8/10 Essences of Thought

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