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Palace
Terrace is a progressive and neoclassical rock band
with a theatrical and modern edge. Their music combines superb
musicianship, beautifully crafted melodies, unique harmonic
progressions, compelling stories, counterpoint, large
orchestrations, wide dynamics, odd meters, stunning vocal
arrangements and elaborate forms.
Palace
Terrace was formed when composer and world renowned guitarist
virtuoso George Bellas [ex Ring Of Fire,
ex Mogg/Way] contacted Tenor Vocalist Jonathan R
Marshall and invited him to fill the main vocalist
spot in the band. The two discussed how they would like to see
the band debut as well as evolve into the future. Sharing very
similar visions the two began writing their first album
"Flying Through Infinity". The search for an
extraordinary percussionist was much of a concern for George
and was a long but fruitful ambition when he finally
discovered the prolific talents of Percussionist Sasha
Horn.
"Flying
Through Infinity" is a combination of progressive and
neoclassical styles. The music contains extensive odd meters
(with one section in 99/32 time), melodic vocal lines sung by
John Marshall and rich vocal harmonies sung by George Bellas,
along with big orchestrations and guitar solos that are
drenched in feeling. The album is filled with a very wide
dynamic range. Some of the vocal arrangements were written in
strict 4 part counterpoint and others using imitative
counterpoint. The album is very diverse in different types of
songs, it contains progressive songs, neoclassical and even
simple commercial structures.
On
the album’s concept George Bellas states, “The essence of
the album is about the journey of a soul travelling through
the infinite universe and other dimensions within it. The
story is really about all of us here on Earth and the wonder
of what happens after we're gone. The spirit in the story is
just a character that represents any one of us... wondering
who we are, will we find loved ones on "the other side",
feeling the need to complete unfinished business after we pass
away... The soul's journey includes visiting loved ones on
earth and reflecting on cherished memories all the while
searching for its way to eternal peace and trying to find its
ultimate purpose. At the end of the story the spirit finally
finds inner peace, its ultimate purpose and a place to call
home”.
This
album is characterized by George's strong penchant for his
unique and well defined composing style, as showcased in his
previous releases, but differs from previous releases in that
this is not an instrumental album, but rather a vocal based
album. George debuts his vocal composing and arranging
abilities as being strong and unique, evident with his
inclusion of not just single melodic lines or stacked
harmonies, but with his well versed ability to compose in a
strict classical 4-part chorale
style. |
