Ben Strick (Moonlapse) is a musician and producer based in Essex, CT. He seeks to change perspectives on how music can sound through the use of unusual and disparate combinations of genres, instruments, and sonic textures.
Strick has been influenced profoundly by acoustic masters such as Don Ross, Trace Bundy, Michael Hedges and Andy McKee. He is also impacted by electronic artists like RL Grime, Thriftworks, Rameses B, and Porter Robinson, as well as ground-breaking composers like Clint Mansell and Hans Zimmer. He is consistently engaged in the metal world, his current favorite acts including Meshuggah, Vildhjarta, Opeth, Erra, Katatonia, and Symphony X. “In my music, I do my best to combine all of these influences together, as a way to expand progressive music even further,” explains Strick. “I strive to make some kind of mark on the musical landscape. As Dream Theater’s John Petrucci puts it, progressive music is ‘defined by its very lack of stylistic boundaries,’ which is a mantra that has become a key aspect of my work.”
To date, Strick has released five albums under his moniker, Moonlapse: Conscious, Fade Construct, Viridis, Reversal, and Scacity. Metal Injection dubbed Fade Construct, “your new favorite instru-metal album” and described it as “chill metal vibes on the same level as The Devin Townsend Project’s lighter stuff or Animals As Leaders.”
“My first two records embodied my approach to cinematic progressive rock and metal albums,” shares Strick. "Viridis is a trap/electronic album that is constructed with a highly progressive and metal-influenced mentality. My fourth record also uses metal-based songwriting but experiments with using cinematic instruments alongside a more organic drum sound. In my fifth album, Scarcity, I tried to combine my metal influences with a drum & bass / dubstep / electronic context."
“An album of frightening intelligence…This project deserves all your attention. Conscious or not” - Lorenzo Becciani of Suffissocore
“The Fade Construct EP is fantastic. It’s more ambient and electronic than it is metal, although the composition style is undoubtedly very metal-inspired. I’m just loving these keyboard tones” - Vince NeilStein of MetalSucks.net
“’[Fade Construct] is one of my favorite ambient metal records of the year…it provides chill metal vibes on the same level as the Devin Townsend Project’s lighter stuff or Animals as Leaders” - Robert Pasbani of Metal Injection
“Though at its most ornate prog-rock can become tangled up in complexity, Strick leaves enough room in his compositions to avoid that kind of tangle” - James Heflin of Valley Advocate