From: "upnsm0ke" <>
HEAVY REIGN ~ *Ram's Rock* (1996); Guitars: Jeff Shimmyo; Keyboards and Drums:
RAM; Bass: Larry Calcagno; Produced by: Jeff Shimmyo; Order this disc at:
http://www.guitar9.com
1) Introduction (From Water We Came)
....begins with the ambience of tidal waves crashing ashore, along with smooth
synthetic strings & delicate guitar notes plucked in D (as in Di Meola). Things
turn Hackettesque, and the introduction of drums helps to 'tense' things up.
This track segues into...
2) Mirage (To Water We Shall Return)
...with guitarist Jeff Shimmyo executing those 'singing' guitar lines that sound
like equal parts (Vinnie) Moore and Hackett. Keyboardist RAM keeps up with the
pace of things on organ and harpsichord voices, building rolling chord
progressions and rapid arpeggios alongside Shimmyo's squeaky clean tone. Bassist
Larry Calcagno, whose lines are mixed too low, provides some compentent rhythmic
parts. Shimmyo produced the album, and the bass should definitely be 'upped' in
the mix for album #2.
3) Forgotten Knights (Time Forgets The Valiant Deeds of All Brave Soldiers of
Armor)
Now Heavy Reign really begins to strut their stuff. Synth-strings reminiscent of
ELPowell kick things off. The prog-metal aspect of this symph-prog album shines
with more clarity, and RAM (for e-proggers, now!) lays down some killer rapid
melodic lines atop Shimmyo's 'crunch' chords. Shimmyo also doubles some of RAM's
parts in later bars, which is a nice touch. True to the title, the track has a
medieval flair to it. Midway, the drumming shifts smoothly uptempo alter the
feel of the track and give it a more 'fleeting' characteristic, that is very
professionally executed. A good reference point would be something of Tony
MacAlpine's circa his
"Maximum Security" album. My fave track on "Ram's Rock."
4) Incantations (Magic Cannot Be Performed Without Sound)
Somber analog strings open this piece very tastefully, accompanied several bars
later by some wiry, cutting guitar, and makes for a nice aural combination. Pipe
organ appears and molds a very pastoral flavor for this track. None appears, but
some mellotron would have been very appropriate here. No percussion is employed
in this track.
5) Spirit Waltz (A Dance For The Dead)
Also very medieval-sounding (in a modern rock sort of way). Acoustic guitar
flourishes and lead synth sound superb together, here. The 'waltz' isn't just a
part of the title, the waltz *rhythm* is definitely present in this track,
though it isn't quite noticeable until a bit before Shimmyo's guitar solo.
6) March To War
i. The March
ii. The Encounter
Militaristic snare-drumming is prevalent for the first half, supporting
Shimmyo's 'singing' guitar (my apologies for such a cheesy expression). The
second half is very frantic, very uptempo, and very rockin.' Closer to
virtuoso-metal than outright prog/art-rock. Sounds great. I suspect the bassline
on this one is synthetic, but it doesn't matter.
7) BCAD
i. Birth
ii. Discipline and Teachings
iii. Trials and Tribulations
iv. Crucifixion
A suite! A myriad of influences and expressive timbres populate this 16min.
piece, from funk to world music (almost no one would agree with me, on that,
though, as it is very 'classical' in it's framework). The refrain reappears in
different places, a very nice melody, and transitions to new verses are
ultra-smooth. Much guitar-keyboard lick-trading aplenty. A steady-blues rock
section is the highlight, and shows Heavy Reign as close to ELP as they'll get,
style-wise, on this disc (recall that guitar and keyboards share the spotlight
in HR, versus ELP). Virtuo-riffing and stop-start rhythms are in abundance in
Pt. III, and Pt. IV is very calming, very somber, with synth-chime sequencing
and an overall atmospheric feel.
A last (important) note: all drums were programmed by RAM, not played on a
drumkit, though one would never know it! The programming is that good. I
particularly enjoyed listening to the surprise tempo shifts and excellent fills.
Fantastic job, RAM (the initials for Richard A. Matheson).
From: Mark Fonda <>
I just received RAM'S ROCK by Heavy Reign and I'm very impressed with the
overall musical quality and style. Although it is more metal than I normally go
for, it is tastefully executed and there's a very good blend of keyboards and
percussion to round it out. RAM (the keyboardist, who I have corresponded with
for this review) says "most all of the band's fan base has accumulated due to
word of mouth. The album is not commercially played on radios and is not
available in stores. The music style is, you can say, progressive art metal."
All the band members are from the New York City area.
Eli reviewed the CD a couple of weeks ago and his very detailed review is here:
http://www.geocities.com/~e-prog/bands/heavyreign.htm I'm NOT a musician so my
comments will be from a fan's viewpoint.
I enjoyed the strong interplay between guitar and keyboard throughout the album,
with some good bass and percussion backing. The blend is reminiscent of the
recent Djam Karet release "The Devouring". Powerful, yet subtle when it needs to
be. Dan Shimmyo's guitar blazes throughout most of the numbers and RAM's
keyboards add a classical, symphonic sound to the mix. There are no vocals. I
especially like the 3rd track 'Forgotten Knights' which has a lead synth trumpet
effect to 'call to arms' the forces about to stir which turn out to be a
powerful snarling guitar line interspersed with some shimmering keyboards which
sound like Rick Wakeman. Also, the 5th track 'Spirit Waltz' which starts with
some ominous synth chords & delicate harpsichord effects followed by a brooding
electric guitar lead and just enough bass and percussion to fill it out. This
track reminded me of Focus without the vocals. Yes, in fact DS's guitar is very
reminiscent of Jan Akkerman of Focus. Track 6, 'March to War' is very nice too,
with a militaristic snare drum, more superb guitar work and some great keyboard
effects. The album has 10 tracks totaling 45 minutes and I was glued to my seat
the whole time.
Eli listed http://www.guitar9.com as the place to order the CD... I see the
precise URL is
http://www.guitar9.com/ramsrock.html and it has RealAudio sound samples.
(although RAM says they are poor quality)
There's a bio of the guitarist Dan Shimmyo at
http://www.guitar9.com/bio/danshimmyo.html and a review of the CD at
http://www.guitar9.com/undiscov8a.html
The CD sleeve gives http://www.key.com/heavyreign as the band website, but it is
no longer active. (a new site is in the planning stages, which will have MP3
clips)
Dan Shimmyo has his own production company which produced this CD:
http://www.panix.com/~dshimmyo/edge.html (Dan also has a solo album
"Metamorphosis".)
RAM lists Bach, Beethoven, Holst, Stravinsky, Yes, ELP, Malmsteen and Dream
Theater as his influences. He says there is another album in the works: "We are
starting a new recording project very shortly that will include a vocalist. We
will not be skimping on compositional quality. The vocalist will effectively be
another instrument. There will be two major pieces on the next album. One will
be almost a rock opera piece, and the other will be a full blown concerto for
electric guitar. Our goal is to release this album by the end of summer."
RAM also stated that they have been asked to play at ProgDay 1999 and are now
working on plans to perform live by April or May.
From: "upnsm0ke" <>
After Ayreon, I'm all for a "rock opera/concerto" album. Some of RAM's phrases
also harken to Mitchell Froom (he was the keyboardist for Ronnie Montrose's
blues rock band, Gamma), IMHO. 'Ram's Rock' is good stuff, and great to lambada
to :-)
From: RAM <>
Subject: Heavy Reign's new web-site
Many of you recognize me here from my posts. Some of you know me as a
contributor to the "e-Progeny" compilation CD, but only a few of you know me as
the keyboardist and composer for the group Heavy Reign. After all these years, I
finally got around to putting up a web-site with oodles of MP3 sound clips to
check out. Setting up a site was very intimidating for me since I never made one
before. I started the project a couple of days ago and so there isn't much to it
yet, but mostly, I wanted to put up MP3 clips quickly for you guys and gals to
hear. For those of you who already have the Ram's Rock album, there is nothing
new here. But for those who never heard "Neo-Romantic Rock" music before, come
and have a new experience. http://HeavyReign.com
Come visit the site. Listen to the MP3 files. Go to bed knowing you've made me
very happy. -RAM
From: Roddi [theband@lightspeed-rocks.net]
Subject: [e-Prog] Heavy Reign
Well...last week I ordered a copy of Heavy Reign's Ram's Rock. An instrumental
CD recorded by e-prog's own RAM. If you are like me and really dig instrumental
guitar/keyboard music, I have 2 words for you -->GET IT! This is a GREAT CD. No
weak points at all. And it can be purchased for $11.00, shipping included! But
even if it were to cost more, I'd still highly recommend it. You can get a
pretty good idea of what it's like by listening to the sound samples at
http://www.heavyreign.com/RamsRock/ and it can be purchased here at
http://www.guitar9.com/ramsrock.html Ram...you need to develop more of an
ego, buddy :-) You never mention this CD! Don't hide it from those who enjoy
this type of music!
From: "Errol Allahverdi" <>
Subject: RE: Heavy Reign
I've had it myself for quite a long time (2 years?) and also recommend it highly
to this list.
From: Otso Pakarinen <>
Subject: Re: Heavy Reign
RAM wrote: > Thank you so much Roddi, but my ego is already bigger than I'd
like it to be. -snip- ...I'll humbly accept your compliment and hope somebody is
encouraged to check out "Ram's Rock."
At least you do an excellent job in feigning modesty, RAM! ;^)
Even though "Ram's Rock" is not exactly my cup of tea stylistically, I still
listen to the album occasionally because it's so damn good!
From: RAM <>
Subject: Re: Heavy Reign
>> I'd love to hear more if the band ever gets around to making another
album. >> Jeff Gutenberg
>> When will a new CD be available? Are you still working with Dan and Larry >>
Juan Jose @ Luna Negra
>> If you are like me and really dig instrumental guitar/keyboard music, I have
>> 2 words for you -->GET IT! >> Rod Lightspeed
>> I've had it myself for quite a long time (2 years?) and also recommend >> it
highly to this list. >> Errol
>> The last track of the CD is a masterpiece! >> Lanzarini
>> Even though "Ram's Rock" is not exactly my cup of tea stylistically, I >>
still listen to the album occasionally because it's so damn good! >> Otso
I'm very grateful for all the support that has been shown me and the group
by our listeners. I feel I should explain to those who are curious about our
status as a group, what could be expected from us in the not-too-distant future.
First, I'd like to mention that Heavy Reign was not originally a band, but
rather a studio project. It was a vanity recording, a project we simply decided
to try to see what our material would sound like. I met Daniel Shimmyo, our
guitarist, at the company we both worked for when we had a company outing to a
Dream Theater concert. Dan and I discovered we had similar tastes in Rock music,
and so we listened to tapes each of us had made. He later asked me if we could
try working on a collaboration piece, and I told him there was a piece I'd
written a decade earlier that I was dying to try out. That piece is titled "BC
AD" which Lanzarini mentions above. Once the recording was done, I sat back and
listened to it realizing that something magical had transpired through our
collaboration. Afterwards, it was not hard to convince Dan to continue and
record more pieces, eventually leading to an entire album. Some of the pieces
were written a lot earlier, and some were new.
After the album was completed, the three of us went our separate ways, (me,
Larry, and Dan.) The album had been difficult to make, and we needed a break
from each other and from spending so much time in the recording studio. We each
had our regulars lives to deal with which we had neglected during the project.
After a couple years passed, I asked Dan if he would be interested in a new
project, and he surprised me by agreeing.
We actually went back into the studio, before the E-Progeny album project began,
and started on what would be the main track of the album, which is an 18 minute
epic. Unfortunately at the time, other personal issues kept cropping up, and we
were once again forced to put the project aside.
Now, at this current point in time, things are beginning to get better again, at
least for me. The Sept. 11 incident had gotten me on antidepressants for the
first time in my life, and I'm starting to feel like making music again. Early
next year, I will be getting back into the studio to finish the track we had
begun, and then get Larry and Dan to lay down the bass and guitar tracks. So far
we have 40 minutes of material ready to be recorded, which includes a guitar
concerto and another 6 minute instrumental. I want to write another 10 minutes
of music after that, and also do a cover piece from a band I've loved for a long
time, that will remain nameless for now pending an agreement from the group.
Do I think an album will be ready in 2002? Well, there is a good chance of it.
That might sound a little lame to people who only purchase albums and not make
any themselves, but the fact is that we each have busy lives trying to support
ourselves and our families in fields other than music. Music is my passion, but
it is also something I don't make any money from. I want every album project I
work on to be special, so I can't really churn them out until I have nothing but
time and money on my hands.
God willing, the next album that we will release will be very special.