Inception (Album 2021)

Renan Lourenço

Instrumental Prog Rock

Guitar Hero is not only a game. There existed and exist real wizards on the instrument, like Jimi Hendrix, Angus Young or Eddie Van Halen. And the way they were playing, still can be found again in other outstanding talents.

Like we had the pleasure with Johannes Maria Knoll, Marc Perin and Hendrik Huber, now here comes another amazing record from Renan Lourenço of Londrina. A city in Brazil, the country that is mainly known for its nature at the Amazon River or Rio de Janeiro, often seen in movies with the Sugarloaf Mountain and the Christ the Redeemer statue, like the one on Madeira.

Renan contributes to bands like Cometz and Bad Fripp. With his solo record, he is fulfilling a big dream for himself. The picture part in his logo is a guitar, as it is a record celebrating the instrument in an instrumental way. And looking at the song titles, it is a lot about life, inspiration and dreams.

And so the oeuvre starts powerful, with a touch of Classic Rock like Queen and cool riffing and strumming. A hint of Metal can be felt too from the beginning. But next to memorable riffs, we got e.g. keys as well. So it can shift from Pink Floyd to Early Metal like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin to some Jazz and Blues temperament like ZZ Top with harmonica.

The bass sometimes comes into focus too. And then again the licks get some game soundtrack character. One personal highlight is “La Inspiración”, first having a lounge impact Santana-style, concluding in a great, moving arrangement, reminding of Slash and with a violin until it fades out.

Apart from fast and Glam Rock moments (even with accordion in “Real Life Dream”), the acoustic tracks and parts are the ones to go deep with a lot of feeling. It kind of transfers the warm temperatures from Londrina, like in “Tão Perto, Tão Longe“ making think of “La Catedral”. A presentation with a lot of heart, that acclaims the facets of an instrument, from wild and rough to quiet and tender.