RO1 - Errorist
Written by: Rod Whitfield - Independent Professional Writer | Sunday 12 June 2022
“… it exceeds and succeeds in world-class fashion.”
Wow, when I was offered this EP, I did not expect it to be such a wild ride, such a diverse and ear-grabbing prog explosion, but boy, am I glad I picked it up for ingestion and review.
Firstly a little background. RO1 is actually a young, virtuoso Hobart-based keyboardist by the name of Rohan Sharma, and this is his second major release.
The Review
The overarching vibe of Errorist is that of soaring, inspirational progressive instrumental heavy rock to metal, and in this it exceeds and succeeds in world-class fashion. But that is far from its only charms, far from the only musical ground it covers. This EP crosses into fusion-esque territory at times, and gives us glimpses of electronica, ambience, orchestral, straight-up jazz, piano balladry, moments that sound like a film score and some really quirky sequences that could possibly be described as a pisstake of elevator music.
Of course, it’s all well and groovy to be super-imaginative and throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at a recording stylistically, but it all has to stick. It has to work. It has to be cohesive and listenable. And virtually every note here does, and is. This is the work of someone who knows exactly and precisely what he’s doing, and the fact that he’s doing it at such a young age only makes it all the more astonishing. As to what he can achieve as he develops even further into the future, the mind fairly boggles.
The fact that it is a keyboardist composing these pieces of music, rather than a guitar player as is so often the case, gives the sound a different feel and shape to the usual instrumental stuff you hear, setting it apart. The uber-dextrous keyboard playing takes centre stage a majority of the time, as you might expect, however most of the rhythms are guitar-bass-drums, which still lends the music the punch and power it needs. And every instrumentalist to feature on this release is a master of his or her craft.
My one and only beef with this EP is just that, it’s an EP. At only 23 minutes short, it whizzes by in the blink of an eye leaving you gasping and gagging for more. Hopefully his next release will be a full album, where he can really wind out his monumental songwriting and playing chops.
The Verdict
This EP is exhilarating and masterful in its composition, musicality, sound and execution, and shitloads of fun to listen at the same time, and afficionados of just about anything heavy, melodic and vocal-free will find much to get off on here.
9/10
You can see RO1 live at I BUILT THE SKY’s The Quiet Place Away album launch on Friday 24th June
Errorist will be available on Tuesday 14 June
Pictured: Rohan Sharma - RO1
Photos by: Tom Waller