Welcome to the Prog Suite

Progressive Rock is what you get when you combine classical and jazz with the intensity of rock, played with on-the-dime precision and flawless technicality. The pioneers of this hybrid music combined a wide range of elements to come up with their unique sound. Prog rock (or just prog) bands had two things in common: extended song structures that frequently eschewed the verse-chorus-verse of popular music, and intricate arrangements that needed high levels of skill from its players. Often bombastic and long-winded, prog earned disdain as a “dinosaur" genre during the mostly punk and grunge dominated 1990s. It has since been given fresh life by modern groups like Mars Volta and Coheed and Cambria. Fuseboxx is the hands down champion of prog in the Philippines. They are famous for blowing away the judges and winning the Red Horse Beer Muziklaban Challenge back in 2003. Later, the release of their self-titled debut album would throw open the floodgates of the local rock community for other like-minded rockers. They’ve also been headliners at the yearly event In-Progression, a festival for prog bands seeking to share original songs.

As far as the Pinoy progressive community goes, Fuseboxx is the tip of the spear. They are the most visible and arguably the most accomplished prog rock band locally. They have either played or been cited in Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Italy and the US. In a musical landscape populated by many groups who favor reductive pop hooks, Fuseboxx is ambitious, grandiloquent and labyrinthine. Their music is a potent stew of classical virtuosity, adrenaline-fueled metal chugs, melodies that weave sonic tapestries and soaring vocals spiced with blues and jazz odd-time signatures. It’s also never hard to listen to despite songs clocking at six minutes or more. On their sophomore album Animated, Fuseboxx once again wows listeners with fits of technical ecstasy on songs like the single “Pagbalik" and, my personal pick, “No Glory." After a series of member changes, their current line-up has been cemented with founders Eric Tubon on synthesizers and Abby Clutario on triple vocal, keyboards and bass duties, new drummer Lester Banzuelo, and Mico Ong on guitars. “The tracks in this album are heavily influenced and inspired by classic progressive bands such as Rush, Yes, and UK," says Eric. “We also realized that we needed to make our genre known through our native tongue," says Abby. “Why can J-Rock and Anime Music penetrate the Philippines when we hardly understand a word?! Can’t we do the same?" Animated has four English tracks and four Filipino tracks. They have also opted to go the indie route with this album, daring to forge ahead without a record label. Catching them live is a must. I often find myself thinking “that’s impossible" even as I watch someone syncing two instruments in flawless lock step. Likely the most visually stunning thing to witness is Abby orchestrating her limbs and voice to sing and play keyboards and what’s called a Chapman Stick. It’s a fully polyphonic monstrosity with twelve strings which the player may opt to tap or fret riffs and chordal shapes. Fuseboxx describes the Stick as “a progressive and very flexible instrument." Abby, a classically-trained musician who used to sing alto for the San Miguel Master Chorale, employs the Stick to round out the sonic bottom end for the usually synth and keyboard heavy songs. Animated, to my ears, is an evolutionary step for the decade-old band. There are more sophisticated melodies here than on their debut. They lose none of their pop luster even with the searing guitar leads on the instrumental tracks. The artwork on the album has the vibe of the next level. When once it was a tesseract, Escher-alluding box of blue and gold, now it’s a liquefied ouroboros of molten yellow without edges that looks like it’s been twisted and forged by a mad hatter animator’s demented hands. “Abby did the arrangements mostly," says Eric. “This added a feminine and positive side to the collection, allowing the meld of progressive music with lyrical Filipino melodies. Filipino flavor and sentimentality (on the vocal melodies) was pronounced." - ELR/KBK, GMA News