Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Regulus
Label: Self-released
Release: 2016
Rating: 2.5/5
Regulus is a name backed by two seriously interesting musicians, Marjan and Slavko Lebar. Both are legends of the Slovenian music scene: in the seventies they caught the progressive rock phenomenon of the day and, in the bands Izvir and Predmestje, carried it over to Slovenian soil. Later they played in Spin, who sadly never managed to win over Slovenian radio and always stayed in the shadow of more successful bands (stylistically, Pop Design comes to mind), even though they deserved far more recognition and respect.
A few years ago the two brothers tried to revive the band Pirat, which later turned into Morning Fire, which in turn was finally renamed Regulus. Marjan and Slavko have always been known as musical perfectionists. You can feel it not only in the structure of Spin’s songs, but also in the filigree detailing of their musical arrangements. When you listen to the structure of Slavko Lebar’s solos, it’s no surprise that they bring to mind Neal Schon (Journey) and a few other guitar masters, where holding on to memorable melodies takes center stage.
Still, even though we’re talking about two musical high achievers, the album »Suoni« sadly falls far short of showing off that quality the way both musicians deserve. With Regulus, they let in too much democracy. So vocalist Jani Krmac decided to write the lyrics in Italian. Lyrics for a hard rock record, or rather a melodic hard rock record with elements of AOR, written according to a Slovenian musical recipe. It’s a one-of-a-kind phenomenon: Slovenes singing hard rock neither in Slovenian nor in English, which would be the expected thing, but in Italian.
Despite the potential of its arrangement structures and a suitable format for the lead guitar riffs, the album »Suoni« simply doesn’t breathe. Jani Krmac is too weak a vocalist and simply lacks presence in the mix, where his feeble vocal performance is at times almost buried under the instruments. The melodies the guy picks for his verses also leave an enormous amount of room for improvement. With a bit more commitment and digging deeper, he could have squeezed more melodic pomp and bombast out of the guitar riffs on offer with his vocal melodies, which is a must in the melodic rock and AOR genre. We know Italian is very melodic and incredibly singable. Choosing to use it isn’t out of place. It’s just the delivery that’s extremely clumsy. What’s more, it often comes across as not soulful enough. Compare the album »Suoni« with the work of native Italian Vasco Rossi, who has had Slash and George Lynch (Dokken), among others, collaborating on his albums, and the answers are all there for the taking. So it’s no surprise that the album’s highlights are three “non-Italian” songs, namely the two that kept their lyrics in Slovenian (Lahka izmena, Fenderca) and the closing instrumental Orient Express. Ironically, it’s only on the two songs sung in Slovenian that Krmac shows his true vocal potential.
So the album »Suoni« doesn’t take off. What now? Make a decision: write the lyrics in either Slovenian or English. Maybe start by recording the very same album again with a different producer. Perhaps even with a new singer, but definitely with better production, because the guitars, bass and vocals aren’t distinct in their lines, so the already weak vocal performance is repeatedly drowned out by guitar and bass, while the “boxy,” protruding drums, which sound “one-dimensional,” never give the rhythmic backbone of the songs a proper “punch.” The guitars are occasionally (in certain parts of the album) set too quiet in the mix. This is especially clear in the transitions, where single-voice guitar embellishments over the riff sit in a subordinate position in the mix.
Musicians like Marjan and Slavko Lebar deserve the best collaborators and the best environment for recording albums. Slavko Lebar’s solos remain pure poetry and, luckily, the only real bright spot on this album, which in a different story could have shone far more intensely. Let’s hope this slip-up is a good lesson and that the very next creative step brings what we expect and demand from both musicians. May the sentences above fire them up with even more creative drive and courage.
Regulus – Cose Che Non Esistono:
Lineup
Jani Krmac – vocals
Slavko Lebar
Dušan Korbar – guitar
Marjan Lebar – bass
Miro Hodža – drums
Production
Sašo Kisovec
Track List
1. Cose Che Non Esistono
2. Lahka izmena
3. Re
4. La Fine
5. Stella Nel Leone
6. Specchio
7. Fenderca
8. Chi Sono
9. Miglore Amico
10. Orient Express
