IRONIA
A Granite Scale   (ERF00225)         
Ind. (2001)   Country: USA    CD

An excellent first effort from this New Jersey outfit! Ironia have launched their debut album CD A Granite Scale. The album consists mainly of standard American style hard rock of the Van Halen flavour. Strong use of electric guitar and steady drum beats highlight this disc. Where VH are raunchy, these guys tackle subtle humour as in Track 2 Underground Stealing or track 11 Toe Jam (I think this is one of the few examples of toes getting the spotlight in music). Track 11 consists of little more then a monologue, but it's actually humerous and not too badly performed. Paul Zartler (vocals) performs the pieces with professionalism and enthusiasm to match his band mates eventhough on some tracks, such as #1 Chemical Moses, he seems to be struggling to keep up and be consistant at the same time; not a bad performer, as are all of them, but a bit of work is still needed in minor areas, IMO. The album tries but comes just short of being a full bodied flavour, as they say in the beer commercials. All the same, it utilizes tried and true riffs and concepts within its genre. It is definately not simple or shallow and leaves lots of room for artistic merit to show. A very radio savvy recording. This is a band that has no pretentions, and it shows in this honest and streight-up recording. Overall, it is a worthy and marketable recording and stands as an excellent first effort!

Reviewed by guest/staff reviewer/all around cool dude King In Crimson:

Art Hengst - fretted, fretless, and six-string bass, bass-triggered synths, vocals
Chris Midkiff - keyboards
Jim Rilko - drums, drum-triggered synths, vocals
Nick Delonas - guitars, guitar-triggered synths, audio engineering, vocals
Paul Zartler - lead and backing vocals, keyboards

Guests:
Rich Rodriguez - bass on 12, end of 2, bass solo on 3
Steven Bell mixed 9, 2nd acoustic guitar behind solos on 9

Produced by Nick Delonas

This is some very well crafted progressive music in the hard rock vein. It can also get a bit funky at times which brings to mind Edwin Dare and some of the better elements of Extreme, namely the guitar playing. Impressively, it never gets mired in a prog indulgence and remains vital throughout the disc. I must admit that the guitar playing is the main strength of the band. Touching on Nuno Bettencourt and Petrucci feel with a pinch of Jeff Kollman mixed in with strong shades of Adrian Belew-like Zappa influenced lines Nick Delonas is a very big talent. His lines are vibrant with great warmth and nice legato. Complementing his wonderful playing are some fantastic bass parts which have been given great treatment in the mix and it’s a treat to hear every note the bass plays on this album.

The singer is alright and has his moments but he needs to work on his projection more as his voice sounds a bit thin in the studio and he doesn’t attack the notes enough. His sound is not unlike James Labrie or the Edwin Dare vocalist but he cannot be classed in the category of the latter. The bio I received mentions some singing contests he won and I feel he probably sounds much better live and just needs to make some adjustments to how he sings in the studio and pick vocal melodies carefully to make the most of them.

The songs have an easily digestible hard rock/fusion type feel and the songwriting has a nice jazz-like quirky prog rock bent giving space to all the instruments used. Good production values. Look for these guys to offer even more as their singer improves as the instrumental calibre is highly impressive.

Highlights: Rhino Racing, Shackleton Perseveres(brilliant intro bass section), Toe Jam

Rating: 8.1

-K

Let me quote from this band's website: "Ironia is a hard-rock band that hails from the town of Ironia, New Jersey. Blending high-energy rock with progressive rock, pop, folk, metal, techno, and fusion, Ironia is a unique musical phenomenon."

Yeah, what they said.

This has been a really tough disc to review. The music never sits still long enough for me to get a good look at it, or to determine its scope. Improvisational is one word that comes to mind when listening to this collection of, um, improvised jam sessions. The feeling of the album is loose and subject to change without notice. Another word to describe the music would be unexpected, or better, unanticipated. The solos and experimental aspects of the music stray far from the canned norms of pop. You cannot anticipate the next direction change and there is no opportunity to settle into one particular beat for too long before you're off in another direction.

The lyrics are a lot of fun. Sometimes probing, sometimes tongue in cheek, always a cut above the standard schlock on the radio waves. There is the distinct impression that there are some inside jokes buried in the words and that the band is laughing at a joke that I don't quite get. The play is that of free artistry. One could say that the band is playing a form of abstract impressionism, giving you half formed images and not-quite-there glimpses of something. You have to meet this band halfway to grasp what they are doing, and even then it may elude you for several listens.

The bottom line is that this is a fun disc. The band obviously had fun producing it and it is meant to be a fun listen. If you try to work too hard to follow the music, you're going to miss the point. This is not metal. It is the heavier end of progressive rock, but it is pushing the envelope so far that it would be hard to categorize it. Let's just call it unanticipated and leave it at that. Wonderfully unanticipated.

Review by Matthew Braymiller

1/02

Offering challenging yet accessible music which is approximately equal parts hard rock and progressive, New Jersey's Ironia has released their debut CD, A Granite Scale. Guitarist/producer Nick Delonas propels the group, which walks the musical tightrope, keeping the driving music on edge at all times, without losing the audience in the process. Delonas rarely, if ever, plays a stock or expected guitar solo -- all his six-string excursions are creatively crushing or frenetically fuzzed out. In fact, the bulk of his guitar work can be commended for straying into alternative streams of sonic texture (check out "Rhino Racing" for an instrumental example of this). This kind of attention to vision -- where music is purposefully designed to set itself apart from the usual radio fodder -- is refreshing and should be encouraged and supported wherever possible. If a hard rock, progressive mix is up your alley, check out A Granite Scale.
Founding guitarist Nick Delonas (who studied composition at the Berklee College of Music) had difficulty initially finding musicians who wanted to push the hard rock envelope without breaking it. Maverick drummer Jim Rilko was his first recruit, and talented singer Paul Zartler was the next to join. It took two more years, but finally studio bassist Art Hengst and keyboardist/producer Chris Midkiff signed on as well. The veteran players immediately infused the group with additional creativity. Since recording their debut, two songs from the CD broke the top five on the Rock and Alternative charts at SoundClick.com. Audio files of their music have been downloaded from their web site over 20,000 times over the past year.

Ironia plans to work hard to distribute their debut CD and spread the news about the band's direction and musical goals.