Fortunately, a lost tape, an abandoned recording, and an empty church didn't lead to a missed opportunity for the fans of expressive, intricate, and thought-provoking music. Prog fans look out, as the now unleashed piano-driven furor of Gratto moves into uncharted musical territories. Production of the Tull/Echolyn/Crimson-esque concept disc began almost six years ago, when vocalist/keyboardist Gratto began constructing his tale of good triumphing over evil, and along the way enlisted the talents of Leger de Main alumni Chris and Brett Rodler to add their traditional polyrhythmic overtures.
Set the way-back machine for 1996. Gratto and the church, night-by-night painstakingly constructing and deconstructing gobs of studio gear to capture the venue's unique acoustics. Centerpiece of the fray was the congregation's grand piano - grandiose ideals from Gratto the man required grandiose setups for Gratto the band. Over the next three years, those hallowed halls captured theatrical Fish-like emotional vocal deliveries, incendiary fretwork, and stop-and-start stylistic changes.
A fan of C.S. Lewis, Neil Peart lyrics, Yes' Rike Wakeman, Broadway musicals, Tori Amos, Price, and Nine Inch Nails, Gratto took his influences off his sleeve and tossed them in a blender. The result, Anakin Tumnus, crosses the territories from textured acoustic simplicity to electric bombastic complexity as the main character searches for meaning in an empty world.
After three years of compositional madness, the Gratto crew - which now included bassist Gary Madras - had three tracks and 36 minutes committed to tape. At this point, Madras split town, the Rodlers focused on Leger de Main and other PMM projects, and Gratto went on extended hiatus.
The Gratto odyssey resumed in 2001, when Chris found a lost DAT stuffed between last year's Christmas ornaments and discarded baby clothes. The lost two years provided perspective, as Chris revisited the compositional chops and intricate arrangements that were recorded over many tumultuous nights. Simultaneously a snapshot of what was and a sign of what could be, Chris' enthusiasm for the project returned, and soon the finishing touches were put on Anakin Tumnus.
Though the spirit of Gratto had been revived, unfortunately the body of the band remained distanced. Mixing and production of Anakin Tumnus thus proceeded - offering in 36 compact minutes more intensity, emotional dips and turns, lyrical insight, and sheer diversity than most 74 minute drag-em-out epic opuses that seem to be flodding the virtual shelves of progressive distributors worldwide.