Release date: March 22nd 2021. Label: Independent. Format: CD/DD
The Great Red Dragon - Tracklisting:
Sunset (4:00)
Slide (3:14)
Ancient Voices (3:16)
Annihilation (1:32)
Arabic (2:03)
Cosmic Mantra (6:00)
Birds (2:15)
Southern of Nowhere (2:02)
Thelma (8:28)
Sacred Riddle (3:20)
70’s (1:51)
Falling (2:33)
Members:
Rolo Riemer - everything
Review:
If you are specifically and strictly looking for a heavy and energetic or something similar stuff for this moment then I recommend you think twice before giving your time to “The Great Red Dragon”, this pleasant solo release conceived by Mexican guitar player and singer Rolo Riemer (member of bands like Rivers of Gore and Powertrip). Please don´t understand this as a disappointment or depreciation: it is a filter that can help a lot to better enjoy the experience with this intimate, climatic work. It can end up being valuable advice.
Immersive to the core and introspective in their influences rooted in World Music, Psychedelic music and Folk, without peaks of sound elevation, the album is a diversified work by a musician more accustomed to the dense and heavily lysergic nuances in their other projects. Uniform, rectilinear and perhaps "strange" in some moments, yet the work sounds like a breath of sensitivity and externalization of feelings in the midst of a chaotic world. It may not be your next favorite album or it may even become: in any case, this "perspiration" of calm and placidity can fit in very well depending on your moment and energy.
The work seems to demonstrate throughout his hearing nuances of artists such Carlos Santana, Pink Floyd and others similar supported by details that sometimes pass almost imperceptibly, but that attentive ears can find and add to the appreciation for this work. Strings, ambiance, nothing else. Minimalism is the law in "The Great Red Dragon" and makes every atom of the essence of “minimalism” count, giving itself over to this concept and investing energy and spirit.
As in my own case, perhaps Rolo's solo album may not seem at first look to be a potential favorite work of your life. But it can be observed and absorbed as an honest and witty manifestation from the inside, as a projection of feelings like anguish and anxiety and s a search for internal realization. Allow yourself to try to listen to this work with an open mind and heart, and you can possibly enjoy it in its entirety with all your heart.
Words by Matheus Jacques
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