ProgRock Records
www.myspace.com/decburke
www.decburke.com
By Craig Hartranft, 10.04.2010
If Dec Burke is not a familiar name to you perhaps Frost* and Darwin's Radio are. Burke formed the latter and participated with the former, both important bands in the progressive rock genre in the United Kingdom. Now, Mr. Burke ventures into his own with a solo project entitled Destroy All Monsters.
If the title suggests some fury and heavy musical devestation, you would be wrong. Destroy All Monsters turns on simple melodic progressive rock with a dash of Depeche Mode sans the excessiveness. Burke charms with his spooky Floydian vocals, and then erupts with his soaring guitar technique. Winter to Summer, Secret Lives, and Promised can be equally spectacular and sublime. But then the title track, Destroy All Monsters, can be clever, grandiose, and self-centered. Which version of Dec Burke you get can vary from song to song. This is Frost* without the icing, and Darwin's Radio seeking the popular appreciation of a radio friendly vibe. While this may sound confusing, it works to a beneficial conclusion: the listener will be confounded and entertained.
Dec Burke's solo venture Destroy All Monsters turns on something between the creative and unexpected, the popular and the perplexing. It's all worth your while.
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