Okay I know this is like an OLD topic to bring up but hey I just heard most of their songs like this month… and they never cease to entertain. Besides, my name is “retro guy” so what do you expect :halo:. This is my first pro-style review so please be gentle. Anyway here we go:
Irtiqa is Pakistani rock band Entity Paradigm’s debut album. A fairly avant-garde production by Pakistani standards, Irtiqa had to follow along the hit-or-miss formula. What do I have here, let’s see.
Right down from lead composer Xulfi’s largely Western proclivities to the uniquely Pakistani soul pervasive in the album Irtiqa manages to give a deviant performance from most other Pakistani releases. Irtiqa is very nonconformist, nothing mainstream, and ultimately a genius in its own way. Most of Irtiqa is submerged in either one or more of these three moods – angry, resolving, stubborn. While the album is dotted with a total of eleven tracks, including two non-lyrical tracks, I’ll talk here about my favorite ones.
Waqt, translating into “time” and its challenges, is probably my most highly favored track. This ditty is a bit more upbeat and resolving than the rest of the tracks. The lyrics are fairly simple yet extremely well penned; the vocals are molded superbly into their moods, and the background music is very catchy with its syncing appeal. The English rapping may come off as an attempt a bit too bold for Pakistani audiences but there are many upsides leading to Waqt to overshadow it.
Hamesha, translating into “forever,” is not a very experimental track but still extremely appealing. Banging drums and dynamic vocals backed up by uniquely subtle stringing pack a very unique mood into this song. Once again the convoluted English rapping doesn’t sound like it’s exactly meant for Pakistani audiences but it’s just one dark speck in this bowl of lights.
Hamein Aazma, translating into “try us,” is the band’s debut song. Having said that, this is indeed an extremely mesmerized track. The vigorous youthful vocals backed up by riffs that nod your head to their beat this one is one heck of a debut, not to mention as a song altogether. The English rapping seems a bit elongated here (wait I’m not done yet), and half way through it the vocals are thrown into the background eventually drowning out the rapping, giving a beautiful stroke to the song. Although the lyrics aren’t as coherent here as of the other songs, the track altogether doesn’t fail to deliver at all.
Irtiqa 3, translating “Evolution (3)” is the bizarre main-event experiment; so let me elaborate. Most music listeners will notice something very different here – it’s not just a song. In fact, it’s barely a song; it’s a message, almost like a sermon, even if a very quaint one. From the marvelously composed melancholic background music to the angst-ridden vocals, this one has potential to send shivers down the Pop listener’s back. Yes, there is screaming, crying, and unlike the aforementioned tracks not a hint of resolution to it, and it combines to project the perfect rendering of a tortured soul. Everything from the heartfelt vocals right down to the Azan heard near the end (very offbeat I know), makes sure that Irtiqa has indeed served its purpose, and an evolution is indeed taking place.
The rest of the songs on the album are worth a try at the least, and the ones mentioned above are a must-listen, even if only once. I personally didn’t find anything wrong even with the rapping; hey it’s using clever American English, unaccented and a worthy source of what the song is saying for our non-Pakistani counterparts; but still I know the Pakistani audience might have a problem with it. Other than their music, EP also deserves respect for the fact that they had the guts (and the mind) to explode a subject so coveted (our society’s problems) onto the big screen. An spellbound debut performance by EP.
4 years later… January 7 2006: EP disbands due to members choosing to go on different projects of their own! So far the only album they have released is “Irtiqa” (through Lips Records)