Narayan - A King Declares Strength

Genre alternative Publisher Narayan Music External Links Narayan Website

Narayan is the brainchild of indie musician Vyon Pandit. Featuring members Thom Becker, Bahadir Erdem, Russel Helfman, Patrick Presiar, and Argiris Hristofis, Narayan's debut album A King Declares Strength was independently produced without the help of record labels. Everything was done, including recording, mixing, and production by Pandit. An impressive feat that is not accomplished all that much today, A King Declares Strength is a fairly good album at 12 songs and 41 minutes.

'Interrogator' is a solid introduction to the album's theme. It's energetic and uses a good mixture of synth like effects with contemporary rock melodies. The song's memorable coda is also displayed on the album itself "Don't look away it could be you on the other side of that cage". 'Third November' is a grittier rock song with less synth and more straight line sonic effects. The song comes off as a little bit emo but asserts Pandit's song writing abilities as true and his vocals are mostly pleasant on the ears. It gets quite explosive at the end which creates a good sense of force versus the somewhat redundant chorus "good bye". I enjoyed 'The receiving end of silence' which is A King Declares Strength's 5th cut. By now the album is clearly a mixture of emo, rock, and synthetic sounds but 'The Receiving End of Silence' represents this accurately. The use of keys is prominent during the verse and is blended nicely with the string plucking. 'Metastasis' is the album's most experimental song. It's done quite nicely and is not overly emotional. A random use of keys, synth, and special effects accompany Pandit's visitant sounding vocals. The beat picks up at the end which gives 'Metastasis' a boosting finish.

'One More Empty Moment' is more of what 'Metastasis' was than the record's earlier tracks. The harmony that hides behind the guitar and effects is interesting but difficult to decipher(if you're trying). At times the song is attractive when it plays with the beat but it begins better than it finishes. I didn't really like 'Fiction' because it reminded me too much of a band like Finch or more less like something that has already been done before. 'White Picket Trenches' is a good song because it's so much more pop rock than emo. It's got an attitude that most of the other songs last and its as bold as anything else from A Kind Declares Strength. The tempo is nice and dynamic because of the off beat chorus creates an almost dance like appeal; this is probably the best song on the album. '20071789' is the song that captures a more grounded acoustic like emo song except I found it quite hard to understand what it means.

All things considered, Narayan's A King Declares Strength is en emo record with a twist. Not that emo music is bad thing; it's just hard to tell if emo bands are simply being trendy or truly expressive. The heavy use of effects is branding and mostly does the album well by adding a twist. The songs themselves essentially reflect Pandit's trendy style, although he makes a valiant effort at giving A King Declares Strength regal individuality. He's a good vocalist and the production work is quite impressive.