Tag Archives: experimental

ASYMMETRIC UNIVERSE – The Sun Would Disappear As I Imagined All The Stars

Posted on by
2

The last thing you’d probably expect from a something touted as an “experimental prog release” is an intro featuring an easy jazz piano melody, but that’s exactly how experimentalists Asymmetric Universe kick off their 2023 EP ‘The Sun Would Disappear As I Imagined All The Stars’. Fact is, this release isn’t so much an “experimental prog” release, as a weird concoction of jazz fusion and metal riffs that often centre around some very busy melodies. It’s jazz fusion at its most aggressive; a world where the funkier elements of The Brecker Brothers meet the flowing grooves of Weather Report, only to be roughed up by the heavy mechanics of Cynic and Animals As Leaders.

Continue reading →

BLACKLAB – In A Bizarre Dream

Posted on by

Blacklab’s debut album ‘Under The Strawberry Moons’ was – and remains – a brilliantly intense listen. By taking classic stoner and doom riffs and layering them with distortion, the noise making duo hit upon a sound that fused elements of Acid King and Boris with the ugly sonic textures of Melvins. By then layering that with extra distortion and adding a semi-detached, distinctly Japanese vocal, the album became bigger than the sum of its parts; a sludgy yet strangely alluring listen that really raised the bar for massive, dark – and sometimes ugly – riffs.

Their follow up, 2020’s ‘Abyss’, flaunted a slightly different guitar tone in places, but didn’t skim on the intensity. In toning down the bass in more than a few places, it actually made Blacklab seem even more uncompromising as they continued to wheel out their massive slabs of distortion. Also by cranking the speed in a couple of places (as with ‘Forked Road’, one of the record’s stand out tracks), it showed the band as being capable of tackling some seriously intense garage punk, which provided a superb counterpart to their doom laden core.

Continue reading →

VINCENT CARR’S SUMIC – Strolling Early Morning

Posted on by

One of the UK prog scene’s true underground talents, Vincent Carr’s complex acoustic work and love for pastoral soundscapes has helped create some interesting recordings over the years. On 2016’s ‘Rekindled’ he injected a very strong British folk rock vibe into some largely instrumental pieces, and on the follow up, ‘New Paeans’, he truly unleashed his inner Mike Oldfield on lengthy arrangements that blended prog, new age sounds and a hefty dose of acoustic complexity. Obviously he was working on a thousandth of Oldfield’s basic 70s budget, but the outcome certainly wasn’t in any way inferior. After that, Vince released a couple of ambient, improvised works that showed off yet another side to his talent. Those were approached with interest by a few of his biggest online champions, but were never designed for mass acceptance.

Continue reading →

EVOLETAH – Run With The Hunted

Posted on by

Led by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Matt Cahill, Evoletah began life as a guitar driven rock band. Their first two albums were enjoyable to a point, but didn’t really do anything that would make them stand out in a world of other similar bands. In 2013, their ‘We Ache For The Moon’ presented something of a rebirth, with the band exploring jazz, rock and pop in a fusion that sounded almost cinematic. It had almost nothing to connect it to anything that’d come before, but it was superb and found a place as one of the year’s best albums. It was, and remains, a record that showcased a lot of musical talent, a broad musical imagination and a willingness to cut the strings of expectation. By doing what came naturally rather than trying to craft a broadly appealing alt-rock hit, the Australian band created an underground masterpiece.

Continue reading →