Apetrea, Coste CD's and DVD's

Rites of Passage

CD
 Lion Music

  

€12.90


$16.90
A Swedish legend of progressive rock returns with a blistering album
Surprisingly Heavy

CD
 Lion Music

  

€12.90


$16.90
Coste's new 2.nd album for Lion Music. Release date: November 14, 2008
 
 

Downloads and Audio samples
REVIEWS:
Apetrea, Coste – Surprisingly Heavy
 



2008 Lion Music

He is one of the most fluid jazz/fusion guitar players you will ever hear, but on the aptly titled album, he becomes one of the melodically enduring metal guitarists you will ever hear. Melding the knack for all things technical, Surprisingly Heavy is another extension of Coste Apetrea’s personality unto itself. Like the Electric Sun-era Uli Jon Roth Albums crossed with Alcatrazz, this record shows the subversive side to the axeman – and there are no complaints.

He executes all of the instruments on the record (expect for drums on a track) and even sings on a few here and there – it has a band vibe at times rather than an all out shred/solo record. Straightforward metal is exposed with “Chased by Shadows,” “Magician’s Gloves,” as well as the title track; but there are flourishes of prog/experimental (“Take the Stairs”), blues balladry (“Closer”), and even multi-faceted meldings (“Kolatta Traffic,” “Don’t Hold Back,” & “Pumping Hello”) where he mixes multiples styles within a song where an individual section of the song has a ‘separate style’ unto it’s own, i.e. the intro might have a flamenco solo, the chorus might be heavy, and the underlying verse might be poppy and so on. He certainly does not trap himself into one-dimensional limitations; still with the album’s focus on the metallic edge, there is the spontaneous combustion for diversity.

Surprisingly Heavy marks another high point for the axeman who has shown no boundaries throughout his career. The style of the music might come as a surprise, but it’s no surprise that the tunes are played to perfection.

CLICK HERE to Read a Review of Rites of Passage
CLICK HERE to Read an Interview with Coste Apetrea (from March 2006)

Copyright & Publishing: 2008 Tommy Hash for Ytsejam.com

Added: November 15th 2008
Reviewer: Tommy Hash
Score:
Related Link: Coste Apetrea link

 
 
 
 
   



REVIEWS:
 



COSTE APETREA - RITES OF PASSAGE (B-) Lion Music, 2006
7 tracks, RT: 53:22
[ http://www.coste.se/ ]
[ http://www.lionmusic.com/coste_rites.htm ]
[ http://www.lionmusic.com/ ]
Coste Apetrea may not be a household name here in the
US, but the Swedish musician has been impressing fans
with his compositional and instrumental skills for
over three decades. Coste first came to public
attention with Samla Mammas Manna in the early '70s
but is probably best known for his work in De Gladas
Kapell and the Jukka Tolonen Band. RITES OF PASSAGE is
his latest solo effort and is a fascinating mix of
progressive rock, jazz, hard rock and world music sure
to delight those with an ear to appreciate the diverse
selection of styles presented. RITES OF PASSAGE blasts
off with the title track, Coste mixing heavy guitar
work with energetic percussion, creative violin and
the unusual sound of a melodica (an accordion-like
reed organ). "Bagdad Boogie" is one of the highlights,
with its hard rocking riffs, mood changes and
interesting melodic themes, followed up nicely by the
quirky "Daily Deja Vu." There are some odd vocal
inclusions, such as on the more subdued "Trickster,"
with some nice flamenco playing and acoustic piano
moments on "Conversation With Santiago." Drawing on
influences such as Jeff Beck, Al Di Meola, John
McLaughlin and Robert Fripp, Coste has produced a
challenging and varied work that I fear will be too
demanding for many; for prog and jazz enthusiasts with
a taste for experimentation, disparity and the
unpredictable, RITES OF PASSAGE may be just the portal
they need to take them into a fresh new musical
world... - Neal Woodall (MysticX9@gmail.com)

Detritus Rock/Metal e-zine
"Rock Hard With A Purpose"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Detritus/
 


Coste Apetrea – Rites of Passage
 

2006 Lion Music

Fluid guitar players that add mystical elements to their chops are often hard to come by. However, jazz/fusion shredder Coste Apetrea (from the Jukka Tolonen Band) brings a different light of melodic styling to the table. If you were to take Jaco Pastorus’ style of production and playing (transferring it from bass to guitar of course) and mix that with some of Steve Vai’s more mellower/psychedelic sounding material; add maybe a little Fripp and Manzanera and you would come up with something similar to Apetrea’s style; similar in the fact that Apetrea really has a style of his own.

Captured with plectonic notes, it’s Apetrea’s phrasing that counts as the head of the musical mark that ‘Rites of Passage’ has to offer. Using instrumentation such as ethnic percussion, violins, and a melodica (reed organ) the music treads many different lines of melodic endurance, easily portraying artsy crafts with ‘Bohumils Bolero’ & the title cut as well as more mellowed tuned with ‘Daily Deja Vu’ & ‘Romana Lucia;’ obviously there is a lot of differentiated material throughout the record.

‘Rites of Passage’ recaptures the energy of the 70’s jazz/rock fusion heyday, before it got watered down and synthesized in the eighties; never seeming to resurface with the same vibe/sound (it was either metal (which rules!!), trad, or even hip-hop that would be the focus of just about any fusion material after that). A much welcome return indeed.

Added: March 4th 2006
Reviewer: Tommy Hash www.ytsejam.com
Score:
Related Link: Coste Apetrea Link
Apetrea, Coste - Rites Of Passage (6/10) - Sweden - 2006

 
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Lion Music
Playing time: 53:20
Band homepage: Apetrea, Coste
 

Tracklist:

  1. Rites Of Passage

  2. Romana Lucia

  3. Bagdad Boogie

  4. Daily Deja Vu

  5. Trickster

  6. Conversation With Santiago

  7. Bohumils Bolero

Apetrea, Coste - Rites Of Passage 

Here's another artist that I have never heard of. Coste Apetrea is a guitarist and if you look at him he looks like the son of Frank Zappa. He has been around since the 70's and has appeared on other artist’ albums like Jukka Tolonen for instance that I reviewed here on this very site. At any rate, this is another journey into solo hood by this Swede and it's nothing short of unpredictable.

 

"Rites Of Passage" quickly goes all over the place and never staying on track for more than a few moments. It starts out quickly in the Prog vein with very strong, heavy and very metallic guitar riffs before breaking out into ethnic sounds and then going into all these bizarre time changes. "Romana Lucia" blends romantic, soft, gentle and relaxing guitar work blended with odd sounds that could be heard on the Steve Vai "Flex-able" disc. Yeah, it's just flat out weird. After almost six minutes of what sounded like an instrumental, Coste begins to sing.

 

"Bagdad Boogie" is a bit more straight forward and rocking. The guitars are sweet here as the man just wails and pours his heart and soul all over this thing. The solo's kick ass as well. The drumming won't take a back seat either as they jam out as well. Damn, after two minutes of awesomeness, things take a left turn. It's weird. It goes back into that ethnic vibe, but the Rock remains in there. The fusion of Prog, Jazz and even Classical makes the rounds in here as well. Clearly, the man is a genius just like Zappa. He's very schizophrenic with his music which makes for an incredible journey, but it's hard to stay focused on the music. He has a lot of cool ideas and I wish that he could stick with them for a minute or two or three before doing any kind of change ups because what he does is interesting.

 

This isn't an easy listen and even if you are musical genius or think you are then take a stab at this. Even you will have to sit with this for a while before getting it. I like complicated music and while I appreciate what he does, this will take a lot out of you aurally and mentally. (Online August 7, 2006) metal-observer.com