Relic

Relic’s press photos, which show them performing with like nine keyboards and a bazillion toms in a marble rotunda somewhere in full armor—I repeat, full armor—seriously raised my hopes for their “medieval rock.” Preparing to laugh, I also raised my fist. While Relic’s lyrics are derived from 14th to 16th century poetry, their music is a mélange of ‘70s prog, ‘80s metal, ‘90s riffage, and moldy madrigal. People, this brew sounds awful on paper, but tracks like “Dance of Death” and “St. Stephen & King Herod” find the lads capable of lopping the heads off invading Normans (and indie “rockers”) with synthesized strings, arpeggiatic guitar shrieks, bizarre vocal effects, and Rototoms. The real beauty of Relic is the feeling that they’ll do whatever the fuck they want, which includes (between slabs of riffage) a whistling solo over synthesized choir voices in “I Want Be an Angel.” Relic has the aesthetic and the chops of Rush (shudder) minus the joyless pretension. I’ve never had headcheese, but this must be what it’s like. -Dan Nelson - BayArea Buzz

The Gaslighter -- It was a full house at The Gaslighter on Wednesday night. The floor, the seats, the lobby, the bathroom. The place was packed. The crowd was energetic and in the mood to rage. Relic was testament to the limitless creativity of a true live band. Dressed as knights from the late Dark Ages with a stage designed of cauldrons and faux fire, Relic slayed the dragon in the form of eight-minute epics with soaring vocals and flowing guitar lines. The band's imaginative concept of progressive metal from medieval times was flawlessly on display. Geddy Lee (Rush) would approve, as would Steve Harris (Iron Maiden). Stunning musicianship kept Relic in the pocket as keyboard and guitar battled it out in front of a caged drum set where the loser would be beheaded; however, the duel ended in a draw. They will thankfully fight again. This band is a must see experience. Relic will be playing next on August 14th at the "Bands Fest," an outdoor concert at Kennedy Park in Union City.
- Loria Kutch - "PowerSlave.com" - August 4, 2004

Wow, you missed it! How could you! Relic, at five buckaroos, was a steal. The bands persona poured out the door of the Aptos Club, drawing people off the street, as they tried to walk by, into the club’s mid-evil atmosphere. Dressed in the style of King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table they looked like the real thing. Real leg armor, mail and fog left you no doubt of how serious this band is.
Relic’s backdrop, black lighted, scenes from the era left you wondering if you had just experienced some form of time warp. The music truly comes from within the souls of this band, Black Knight eat your heart out. Watching them play, you could feel the passion that vibrated throughout the club. Their music is both haunting and electrifying, magically bringing images of glorious battles and mystical encounters into your mind’s eye, a truly wonderful experience.

Staging added to the feel of an ancient castle, a cage of instruments surrounded the rythmatic drummer Sir William and keyboardist Alek II (who masters no less than 11 keyboards) as though each was in readiness for battle, defending their part of the castle. Duke Ueda, dressed in a brown robe, performance was nothing short of pure wizardry compelling the listener to really listen while Sir John wielded his axe with the precession of a Knight of the Round Table, his weapon of choice… an unfailing musical attack upon evil, towering as a conquering hero of the king’s daughter, truly a force to be reckoned with. Count Sebastian stood as a parapet of the castle walls, laying down the rock and mortar on his bass with a surety that kept the foundation of the music in perfect harmony, a flow of true brotherhood. The band lives and breathes for the moment they can play their songs of ancient battles and struggles against the forces of evil. This music should have been the score for Lord of The Rings. Don’t miss the next show!

The Aptos Club’s new management and Jackie Wright, The Music Lady, are given a “hip hip hurray” for this kind of entertainment, way to go. …Keep it coming! - Photo Grafiti

Relic, a "Medieval Art Rock", hails from the San Francisco Bay area who not only play in full armor, they also use medieval poems and other texts for their lyrics. You can see the photos on their website. I’m sure it’s a task in itself to play with all that extra metal gear. They are compared to many bands on their website but to me they have the qualities of those bands while adding their own identity. The only flaw, for me, is the vocals. Sometimes they’re clear and melodic, other times harsh and distorted. According to the band there is a reason for the different style vocals. It's portray different characters within the songs.

The purpose for the variation is that the vocalist changes his character in the song like he does on stage......so for instance in "Dance of Death", he is the voice of death, bellowing out to mankind "MORTALITY BEHOLD IN FEAR WHAT A CHANGE OF FLESH IS HERE......" when on stage he comes charging out in a grim reaper costume with a sickle and severed head in his hand.....is very dramatic! The whistling in "I want to be an angel" is Satan walking among mankind, enjoying his tasks. In St. Stephan and King Herod' again his voice is distorted in the end because again, Satan is influencing the act of the killing (stoning) of St. Stephan. So, as you may have figured out, the theme of the first CD is in simple terms good Vs evil, whereas in the second CD the theme is of victory, dreams and light.

This quote was from an email from the band's management to help clarify things for you the reader. They’re already planning on third and fourth disc, hopefully longer than 40 minutes.

Relic can be thought of a novelty act, if they played a simpler form of music. But theses guys rock out in the vein of 70’s Progressive Art Rock with a hard rock slant. If you need a idea of their sound, just imagine them as part Yes, part old Pink Floyd, some Led Zeppelin-aspects. Plus they site, King Crimson as their heroes. There are some early Genesis as well as a bit of early Rush (2112 era).

- Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on July 22th, 2004, "ProgNaut"

Relic are freaks, this is for sure! Not only that they call their 70ies (Prog) Rock influenced music "Medieval Art Rock" and use medieval poems and other texts for their lyrics, no, they perform live in full armour. Yes, I am talking about armours the knights used to wear. And on the band-photos the keyboarder is surrounded by eight or nine keyboards, which he seems to play all at the same (Must be kind of a castle-wall!!!) while the guitarist is defending the enemies with a double-neck guitar. Okay, let the battle begin. The Intro - "Overture" - is well-done and has a nice melody. The first real song, named "Dance Of Death", plays with different, technical manipulated vocals. This way "Vada" (the leadsinger) sometimes sounds like he´s singing through an armoured helmet. Actually he´s the only one who´s not wearing a helmet. The song also has some squealing guitars and a freaky keyboard. Not that well done. With "Kill Them All" it get´s much better! In this song you get real singing and also a cool refrain. Personally I do not like that much such long instrumental parts (the whole song is 8:40 min), but these are typical for 70ies Rock Bands and also for a lot of the modern Prog Rock/Metal Bands. The following " I Want To Be An Angel" sounds like a mixture of Led Zeppelin and old Pink Floyd, adding a whistling in the middle of that song (not like in that Scorpions-songs) which adds a strange feeling to it. "Lift Up..." ist the debut of Relic, who show with this output that there are not only thrash bands in the bay area. Album 2 is already available und number 3 ("Histories") and number 4 (working-title is "Destruction") are in the work right now. Relic definetely do not follow any trend, they do their very own thing. If you like this 70ies Progressive Art Rock and you could imagine a mixture between Yes, old Pink Floyd, some Led Zeppelin-aspects, King Crimson (the heroes of the keyboarder), early Genesis and a little bit of early Rush you should invest 7 US-$ plus shipping & handling. The vocals - with the sometimes bizarre effects - are maybe not liked by everyone. For Europe the band has already signed a distribution deal with french Musea Records. http://www.relicscastle.com - Oblivion Metal & Gothic Magazine