by Aaron Gidney

‘Planes’ comes from TROPE’s debut release, ‘Eleutheromania’ reviewed here last year. I perhaps made too many references to similarities with Tool at the time and it appears that the band have now come into their own by bagging a support slot on the 2022 UK King’s X tour along with the Symphony X/Haken US tour. The diversity of those three acts shows how universal (much like T**l) the music of TROPE is, and gives them a great opportunity to win some new fans across all spectrums of the wide Prog genre.

The tracks drops back and forth between 4/4 in the verses and 7/4 in the pre-chorus, giving the track an off-kilter feel before powering into the chorus. The instrumentation has been beautifully mixed and layered so that every part is crystal clear to the listener and inhabits its own sonic space – allowing the track to ebb and flow, and most importantly – breathe. The track is probably the most accessible on the album – although the album is clearly meant to be absorbed as one piece of art, but this is a good cross-section of all that is good about TROPE.

It’s a fairly short track at 3 minutes 42 seconds but doesn’t outstay it’s welcome – it builds slowly, goes for the jugular, then makes a quick getaway. Perfect for a single aiming to attract radio play and a new audience for those who have not heard of them yet.

I look forward to seeing them on the forthcoming King’s X tour.

Online: www.tropetheband.com