I-III

This is some pretty bizarre shit...

But chances are you already knew that if you looked these guys up. This is a record in the same vein as Mr. Bungle's self-titled album where the band defies genre convention and flies from musical style to musical style several times a song. This is chock full of avant-garde strangeness and dazzling musicianship.

The album consists of three long instrumental tracks labelled I through III. Don't let the unimaginitative names fool you, this album is as creative as they come. The 18 minute first track alone features too many stylistic changes to count and is a dizzying listen. The only comparisons I can draw are the aforementioned Mr. Bungle or maybe the Dan Swano project Pan-thy-monium. This is not for everyone: It's schizophrenic, manic, and frankly distracting if you're the type that likes music to function as a soundtrack to whatever else you're doing. This commands your full attention as it changes musical styles and even instruments almost every four measures. The second track goes even further in this dimension utilizing odd chanting over dissonant and arrhythmic guitar lines. Church organs, xylophones, funky bass lines, smooth jazz guitar all make appearances. It's like the keyboardist used every effect he had on his synth on this single song alone. The best parts on this track are the several moments where the insanity pauses for these great groove sections that give you some space to breathe and get your head nodding before sending you back into the chaos.

So why the high score? Well, if you appreciate this type of music, this is some of the best experimental spaz metal out there. It's, though expected, a shame that this is obscure as it is because there is some truly amazing songwriting and playing going on here. It is obvious that all three musicians have a strong command of their instruments and it's difficult to believe human minds conceived of this music in the first place. Not only that, but the album is mixed quite well for a small, independent release like this.

If you like experimental music, please, do yourself and check this out. It's pretty amazing and very unique.