Van der Graaf generator: the large sphere acts as a capacitor to store the charge transferred up its supporting column. The small sphere (connected to the ground potential) will draw an arc from the larger when the air gap breakdown voltage is exceeded

Track list

1. The Hurlyburly
2. Interference Patterns
3. The Final Reel
4. Lifetime
5. Drop Dead
6. Only in a Whisper
7. All That Before
8. Over the Hill
9. (We Are) Not Here

Genre

Progressive rock, art rock

Release

March 17, 2008

Label

Virgin/EMI Records

Background Information

Van Der Graaf Generator is a band from Manchester, England, formed in 1967. While Trisector was released just a few months ago (sorry for not covering it before), the band didn’t keep going on a straight line for 40 years. They stopped playing and producing material in 1972, picked up the instruments again in 1975, and then became inactive again in 1978 until 2005.

They were mainly known for their albums like H to He, Who Am the Only One and Pawn Hearts and with a different line up, the albums Godbluff and Still life were also considered highlights of their career.

The band is characterized by their darker ambiance, relatively rare in progressive music (except maybe for King Crimson). You also can’t mistake them once you’ve heard Peter Hammill’s unique voice, reaching many ranges and able to push inhumane screams as much as regular singing.

Trisector is the band’s second album in this generation (2005 - present), second to Present. Since then, they’ve gone with a more improvised sound, something they wouldn’t try as much in their old releases. Their sound changed. It’s not like they had a choice, without saxophones nor violins.

My Opinion

The Hurlyburly opens the disc slowly, with a few special effects and noodling, as if the band was preparing. It takes about 1 minute before VDGG are ready and start the song for real. The instrumentation is tightly wound, but the whole thing just reminds me of some songs from the 80s I always had trouble to digest. It’s not bad, and if you liked the 80s rock, you could easily get into that track.

Interference pattern has got a more mechanical feel to it, reminding in structure (not really in sound) of songs like Discipline by King Crimson. Not exactly surprising since Robert Fripp used to do some appearances on their past albums. It’s nothing special, though.

The final Reel and Only In a Whisper bring the band closer to their origins, with some slower music, slowly building to a melody with a lot of tension in it. Peter Hammill also proves he hasn’t lost his voice with age, something singers like Ian Anderson couldn’t do.

A few of the following tracks seem to place Van Der Graaf Generator as stuck between their original 70s and the 80s. Drop Dead has to be the perfect example of this. It’s the normal 80s rock song, not exactly what you’d be expecting from VDGG. I think the worst offender in this aspect is All that Before, which sounds like some kind of remake of You Really Got Me by Van Halen

Luckily, the album ends positively with Over the Hill and (We Are) Not Here. They’re more akin to the normal Van Der Graaf generator in how it sounds. Don’t get me wrong though, you can’t easily confuse this album with older ones.

Conclusion

This album doesn’t beat Godbluff, or Pawn Hearts, and the lineup made it their first release without the Sax. All in all, it’s not their best work, but not their worst either. I’d say this album is more for collectors and fans than the casual person who wants to discover Van der Graaf Generator. Go with Godbluff, Pawn Hearts, Still Life or H to He, Who Am the Only One to do that.

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Those are the blue men from the Blue Man Group, surprisingly not having the plural form of ‘man’ in the band name.

Track list

1. Above
2. Time to Start
3. Sing Along
4. Up to the Roof
5. Your Attention
6. Persona
7. Piano Smasher
8. White Rabbit
9. The Current
10. Shadows, Pt. 2
11. What Is Rock
12. The Complex
13. I Feel Love
14. Exhibit 13

Genre

Experimental rock

Release

April 22, 2003

Label

Lava/Atlantic

Background Information

The Blue man group has to be one of the most known experimental groups around in pop culture. Part of it is certainly because their experimental side is more oriented on the instrumentation than on the composition. This permits them to make really accessible music, often with a new sound, and if you have the chance to see them live, a surprising vision. Indeed, their instruments made out of PVC often impress, like the current photo shows.

I will also just add this youtube video about their song Sing Along with Dave Matthews to describe them.

My Opinion

The Blue Man group use most of their custom made instruments to percussive purposes, backing up a more pop-like music. Above introduces the album in a similar manner, being highly rhythmic over anything. The piece gets more and more intense as a prelude to the intro song Time to Start which introduces the concepts of Rock Concert Movements, around wich the album’s tour is based.

In my opinion, the narrative voice is well suited for a live show, but it’s out if its element on the disc version. Not too bad, because Sing Along (with dave Matthews) follows, and I must say that it’s one of the best tracks on there (it’s also why I chose it as the previously linked video). The PVC instruments (as well as boat antennas) are sounding much better in this arrangement in terms of ambiance and general feeling.

There are many other collaborations on the album, namely Up to the Roof, featuring Tracy Bonham, Persona with Josh Haden, White Rabbit ft. Esthero, I feel love supported by Venus Hum, The Current with Gavin Rossdale, Shadows, Pt. 2 (where the hell is Pt. 1?) with Rob Swift and Tracy Bonham. Finally, there’s What is Rock featuring Peter Moore and Arone Dyer, the former also participating in The Complex. I will admit not knowing a single of these names. That’s not a big problem, because it sincerely takes nothing away from the album to my foreigner ear. Good News.

I do believe that the Blue Man Group must be seen live over being listened (a lot of their concepts are more entertaining and impressive when seen), but the invited artists permit the album to gain in diversity so you don’t need all the visuals to still enjoy it.

Piano Smasher is an interesting piece based around the instrument that bears the same name.

The Piano Smasher is a piano stripped down to its frame and stood up on its side. It is played by hitting the strings with a large soft mallet, resulting in a clangy, almost discordant sound. In live performances, this instrument is generally played with a MIDI system, using sensors behind the strings, as the instrument goes out of tune very quickly. Each Piano Smasher is tuned to only one note, as it would be otherwise impossible to get anything resembling a musical tone from the instrument. (source)

The track is filled with soulless percussions spiced up with Piano Smasher hits, and that’s about it for the song. Interesting nonetheless.

The Current Is almost completely at the opposite of Piano Smasher, really more intense. The same kind of intensity stays until the end with compositions like What is Rock.

Conclusion

The Complex is a good effort from the Blue Man Group. I feel I could get tired of it fast enough, but it’s worth a listening once in a while. The inventive capacities they use live are transported relatively well to this recording, and I’ll finish this review by saying that it’s certainly worth a try.

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If you think this is what this is about, you are wrong. DEAD WRONG.

Track list

1. Plastic Svensson
2. Morgondimman
3. Verkligheten
4. Betygsterror
5. Den Vita Snön
6. Miljöförstöring
7. Värderingar Om Skolan
8. Balladen Om Fyristorg
9. The Spoon

Genre

Prog, blues, rock

Release

1977

Label

???

Background Information

There’s not much to say except mention again that this is NOT about Lord of the Ring, although the band name is certainly relative to Tolkien. I can’t be sure the songs speak about the Middle Earth universe or not either, due to SWEDISH. The only song I can understand talks about spoons, which, I assume, are not purely restricted to Tolkien books.

On a more serious note, Gandalf is a band from the late 70s, who released their eponym in 1977. There is not much else I can know about them, their fan base seems to be really restrictive, and the band is [unsurprisingly] not really popular today. I guess their strategy to steal the band name and album name of another artist didn’t even help them.

My Opinion

Right at the first track, there is a thing you are sure of: this certainly doesn’t sound like The Lord of the Ring’s soundtrack! This old Swedish record got a pretty bad recording quality and has thew typical rock n’ roll vibe all over it. While Plastic Svensson has a good composition, the song itself and the arrangement are nothing to phone home about. I must say it’s been a while since I didn’t feel like giving an album its chance when it’s old stuff like that, but I had serious doubts about it.

Fortunately, Morgondimman began in a tone I like more, a bit like Gandalf is Camel’s old uncle (except Camel were there before). It’s far less aggressive, more balanced. It has flute, which I guess has to be expected when you consider listening to instrumental music probably deriving from the Tolkien world.

The tracks that follow (Verkligheten, Betygsterror, Balladen Om Fyristorg) are nothing too impressive, nothing sounding bad. Gandalf was probably an alright record for its time, but I guess what remains popular has something special, and Gandalf did not have it. The songs do have interesting points, but to me it sounds like the band is just trying to find which way to go and can’t decide.

Maybe it’s the fact there were too many influences, or that Gandalf came in when prog music began falling down, but it’s hard to spot a piece I’ll like from beginning to end. Miljöförstöring could be the worst offender in this category: you even get surf rock there! Some bands and artists can get this kind of shit right (same goes for genre transitions), but Gandalf fails pretty hard.

At least, the ending track, The Spoon, is actually good. A bluesy song, the only one in English, and the tone is relatively different from everything else on the record. This may be the only song worth it on the album.

Conclusion

Meh. Gandalf is not bad, but it’s not good either. Well, it doesn’t compare with this chocolate bar that kid got me to buy 15 minutes ago for some school activity. This is your run of the mill progressive rock derivative. It wasn’t known enough to have 2 other bands taking the same name through history (another progressive artist, and a hard rock band in the late 90s). I’d advise not to bother with the album, unless you’re really intrigued or want to give an ear to The Spoon.

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Some of the band members from Diablo Swing Orchestra from a promotional photo set for Butcher’s Ballroom

Track list

1. Balrog Boogie
2. Heroines
3. Poetic Pitbull Revolutions
4. Rag Doll Physics
5. D’Angelo
6. Velvet Embracer
7. Gunpowder Chant
8. Infralove
9. Wedding March For A Bullet
10. Qualms Of Conscience
11. Zodiac Virtues
12. Porcelain Judas
13. Pink Noise Waltz

Genre

Metal, symphonic metal, avant-garde

Release

August 17, 2006

Label

Guillotine Grooves

Background Information

I’m going to have to start this article by saying I’m usually not a big fan of metal music. I usually only go look at some artists, or get what is a byproduct or presents some influences. Symphonic metal is usually as far as I’ll go. Avant-Garde, however, is a genre I’m more familiar with. In this case, a band named Diablo Swing Orchestra was flung to my face, mixing both the genres of Symphonic Metal and Avant-Garde. I liked the album more than usual similar releases, so I decided to make you guys discover it via this review, if you’ve never heard about it before that is.

Diablo Swing Orchestra is a band from Sweden, a band who has won ‘The Biggest Surprise’ award in 2006 Metal Storm awards, ranking before Iron Maiden (source). They also pulled in second place in avant-garde metal. They’re 6 musicians, with one playing the cello, an instrument relatively rare in Metal.

The Butcher’s Ballroom is the band’s first real release, and it delivers. It’s a fusion of swing, flamenco, jazz, opera, orchestral music, all wrapped up in the metal envelope. Of course the opera singing can get cumbersome at times, but DSO manage to incorporate it efficiently.

My Opinion

The album begins with Balrog Boogie on a little drum line with cello. As the title indicates it, that song is a boogie, but with heavy distortion, making it contrast with regular boogie. The opera singing already begins here, but apart from being a woman singing in a high-pitched voice, there is nothing too annoying about it. Horns here and there add the salt and pepper of the piece, which has a bright, crazy tone to it. It’s one of the strongest tracks on the album (of course, this comes from a guy who likes the boogie style).

Heroines is mainly introduced via drums, cello and voice, with a dark and dramatic undertone. It quickly turns to some sort of surreal tango deviation, before being transformed to your regular metal-opera (haha, can this really be said?) song by the end. As a kind of progression in terms of genres, Poetic Pitbull Revolutions comes right after. It begins with the traditional flamenco guitar, but instantly becomes some shred fest interluded with Spanish-like trumpets. It’s a wonder Diablo Swing Orchestra managed to incorporate trumpets to metal, but damn, they did it. And they did it well.

This was not the end of surprises for me though, Rag Doll Physics follows, and has to be one of the best songs on the albums, with Balrog Boogie, from its contrast with the rest. DSO demonstrate their ability to make balanced music by using various movement, unified by what seems to be flawless musicianship. There are not many songs that sound like each other on the record, which is surprising for many avant-garde artists, who tend to follow the works of Mike Patton or John Zorn.

To me, it’s like Nightwish and Devil Doll mixed together, except it’s not annoying (oh God, this will not go well with the comments). Yes, I think Nightwish tends to be annoying. Devil Doll sound like they are trying hard to have a style, and it doesn’t have the same natural flow Diablo Swing Orchestra managed to find.

This is not exactly saying Nightwish and Devil Doll suck, it’s more that those who like them will be surprised and pleased by DSO. You have to keep an open mind in some genres, though, I’d say, especially since tracks like Gunpowder Chant borrow a lot to foreign music with themes sounding like they come from the East, and the use of instruments like a didgeridoo.

Other songs keep the same idea of originality and change through the rest of the album. Zodiac Virtues and Qualms of Conscience both go in slower, more emotional themes, although this doesn’t keep the former from touching the normal metal branches.

The Butcher’s Ballroom also ends in great way, with Pink Noise Waltz reminding of Balrog Boogie in a heavier form, more in the lines of Zodiac Virtues. It’s a decent example of what the band can produce. Just when you think it’s completely over, a slow jazzy tune comes up, and guides you to the end of the CD with class.

Conclusion

Diablo Swing Orchestra managed to surprise more than one with The Butcher’s Ballroom, mixing genres, intonations, moods and instruments in a way that seems to become rare today. Many bands will stick to the ‘tried and true’ approach, but DSO go further and bring new content to our ears. It’s definitely a good addition to the collection of anyone who enjoys symphonic metal and/or avant-garde music, although I’d not really call it a classic you must own. It’s Worth a try, though.

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There is hardly any good quality photo of Wobbler, so you guys are stuck with this forest picture found on their website.

Track list

1. Serenade For 1652
2. Hinterland
3. Rubato Industry
4. Clair Obscur

Genre

Symphonic progressive rock

Release

September 6, 2005

Label

Laser’s Edge

Background Information

Wobbler is a Norwegian band formed in 1999, inspired the prog-rock creations of the late 60s and early 70s. They were mainly influenced by symphonic progressive music bands like Premiata Forneria Marconi, and possibly the more recent group Anglagard (they recorded their stuff fairly recently but tried as much as possible to use the old days’ technology).

They only have one album out so far, it got out in 2005, and the title track is nearly 30 minutes long. It has only four tracks, all longer than 12 minutes, except the first one, which lasts a smashing 41 seconds. This review is going to get massive name-dropping due to how easy the influences are to spot on the disks, so if you’re not too well versed into progressive music, you may find it harder to follow. My apologies in advance!

My Opinion

The first track (Serenade for 1652), as stated above, is really short. It sounds like some remake of an old movie’s music. There’s nothing much to say, it’s kind of pointless on there.

Hinterland starts better. It’s got a heavier structure, it’s fun to listen to, and there are constant theme changes. They sound like about 10 bands doing a medley, some parts having Chris Squire’s bass sound, others having roughly the same flute as Anglagard, the back vocals of King Crimson (in songs like In The Court of the Crimson King), or whatever other band. It’s not too aggressive, the song changes frequently enough not to get bored.

A lot of people say that this is a pale copy of past bands and musicians, and although I see where this comes from, it’s not exactly how I’d describe it. Wobbler can and do stand well on their own, but they just don’t have that little jaw-dropping effect some people may experience with the big classics.

That’s for the first ‘movement’ of Hinterland. The second one kicks in at maybe 8:40 into the track. An audible gentle giant influence kicks in at that point, but it’s done in a many times friendlier and less eclectic way. They also have a better balance in their sound, which is all good. Third ‘movement’ (I’m not sure I can actually call it that way) enters at roughly 10:40. A slow interlude if there’s any, focusing on guitar and vocals over anything. Near 13 minutes and a half, you get a sound that’s much more closer to King Crimson, with the addition of Emerson Lake & Palmer keys. The more it goes on, the more the influences get mixed. This kind of influence-switching and mixing keeps repeating until the end of the track. I’d say it would be a pretty good introduction to progressive music to any newcomer, really.

Rubato industry is the third song, the second shortest one. It’s a shame, really, because in my opinion, that’s the best piece on the album. It has a panicking ambiance to it, and this is where Wobbler cuts the links with their influences, or at least use them to their advantage the most. It keeps the same mechanics as Hinterland, though, the constant theme change. What do you expect to be different though? Near all the progressive music is made that way!

Hinterland ends with Clair Obscur, beginning in a slow and melancholic way (although it’s got nothing on last week’s Phideaux , to be honest). At about 4 minutes played, the Wobbler picks up a sound that is a big mix between ELP’s Tarkus and Anglagard. Even though there’s a lot of influences, do not get me wrong. The musicianship is still top notch and the album is still a pleasure for the regular prog fan. It’s just nothing completely new, even though it got out a bit over 30 years after what it sounds like.

Conclusion

When recent bands try to emulate older times’ music, you can usually end up with two main groups: those who sound like a copy of the bands they admire (see Citizen Cain and Genesis), or a whole new band with a genre that we know. It may be a question of opinions, but I like the latest better, and Wobbler succeeds. I would say that if you like bands like Anglagard, you should jump right on the Wobbler train and get a copy of their album. They’re not a must-have, but if you’re in the mood for long songs and ‘new’ symphonic progressive music, they may be worth a shot. They could also be a good introduction to progressive music as a genre, rather than going directly for bands like King Crimson, Yes, or Genesis.

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Phideaux (the band), playing live for a rare time. They had never performed live before 2007, as far as I know.

Track list

1. Micro Deathstar
2. The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part One)
3. Candybrain
4. Crumble
5. The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part Two)
6. Thank You For The Evil
7. A Wasteland Of Memories
8. Crumble
9. Formaldehyde
10. Microdeath Softstar

Genre

Progressive rock, art rock

Release

June 21, 2007

Label

Bloodfish Media

Background Information

Sorry to the regulars, the internship took away some of my time to listen to stuff, play and review music. This week, though, I’m pleasing myself by reviewing one of my favourite composers.

Phideaux Xavier is an American TV producer who began composing music in high school. In my brain, that would already ring a bell about pop music. Well I’d be proved real wrong by this man, who describes his own music as “psychedelic progressive Gothic rock.” His material really doesn’t stick to one formula, and every album is different in style, but not exactly in genres or quality.

There are many little interesting aspects about his band and him, being that they released an album that his musicians and him wrote, composed and recorded in a single day. That album would be ‘313′. Despite not being their best release (and the song Have you hugged your robot? strangely sounding like In the hall of the mountain king by Edvard Grieg), it’s an interesting disk that manages to prove the kind of musicianship you deal with when you get into Phideaux.

Doomsday Afternoon is Phideaux Xavier’s most recent album up to now, and the second release of a trilogy that began with The Great Leap, in 2006. It’s also certainly their most artistic album so far, a step above anything they released before, in my opinion.

The line-up is certainly impressive too, with about 9 main musician, 4 appearances from others, and 16 musicians for the orchestral parts of the song (mainly violins, violas, horns, cellos, etc.). Let’s go straight to the content.

My Opinion

This all begins with Micro Deathstar. The first time I listened to it, I was simply blown away by the surprise. I couldn’t have thought someone could have made music with arrangements that good in the last 20 years (hey hyperbole there!). Still, it hit me and I instantly fell in love with Phideaux’s music.

The progressive and near-classical sounds are mixed with a more actual feel, there’s a great flow and certainly a great ambiance to it all. It’s not too surprising, given Phideaux himself describes his album as “one long song cycle that has been broken into sections.” Well, he also said “Doomsday Afternoon is a pretentious and bloated concept album,” (unreliable source) but let’s get over this. It’s possibly the best track on the album in my opinion, which is a little sad because frankly, I don’t want to listen to the rest as much as this song. It could easily have been broken into 4 or 5 shorter tracks, but the transitions are flawless and you don’t get bored, unless you’re one of the ones who dislike his voice (after liking Jethro Tull, there’s not really any voice to annoy me anymore).

The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part One) Takes the mellow and melancholic Micro Deathstar and pushes it away with a way more energetic setting, also more dramatic, giving some place to the horns, that surprisingly manage to mix themselves to the neo-progressive keyboards and electric guitar on a background of violins. A surprisingly good, but alas short instrumental piece.

Candybrain follows seamlessly, and if it wasn’t from the play-list, I would have thought it was simply two movements of the same track. A simpler ballad, closer to pop music, but the good kind, because of its non-annoying catchiness. It has the emotions, but not the glitter and drama attached to it.

The album keeps going as one long track with Crumble, a piano-centered composition that could proudly stand on its own, but is rather used as a kind of transition from Candybrain to The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part Two), a dark but dreamy composition led by keyboards and vocals, supported by heavy bass in the background. This song, as a lot from Doomsday Afternoon, sounds unique, but still borrows elements from many classic Progressive Artists, namely Genesis, Pink Floyd (although it’s easier to spot on Thank you for the Evil, which follows), and even bands like Porcupine Tree or some material from Mike Oldfield. While the beginning is more dreamy, as I mentioned, the second half of the second part of The Doctrine of Eternal Ice is a lot heavier, with distorted guitar and frankly more electronic feels to the keyboards, pure symphonic Rock.

As said a few lines ago, Thank you for the Evil follows. It’s the first track of the second act. Pink Floydesque string effects on the keyboard, the same heavy bass, but with a guitar far less impressive. Still, it’s a kind of reminder of The Dark Side of The Moon, over 40 years after having it hitting the shelves. Another track with great harmonization and balance in overall, led by an unobtrusive voice. Definitely a great opener for the second chapter of the album.

A Wasteland of Memories is not out of place, not bad at all, really influenced by classical music, but it still remains a kind of weak piece on the album as a whole due to its short length (2:21), which makes it the shortest song on Doomsday Afternoon. When you listen to the record from beginning to end, though, it’s going to be one of the songs with the most momentum you’ll get.

Crumble (the second part) follows, brilliantly completing the first half, again highly emotional, but not in the crybaby way. It’s again, a bit of an interlude, but listening to both Crumble one after the other is great, especially with the female voices.

Formaldehyde comes right after, one of the best tracks of the album (how many tracks are one of the best tracks so far?) if taken on its own, going closer to some folk roots. The song is meant to be where the rest of the compositions build up to, but strangely enough, I think it kind of sticks out, that it’s not exactly as the rest, but you get big hints from the older progressive music during the main theme and the synthesizer solos.

Microdeath Softstar is the ending track, the longest one too, with near 15 minutes of length. It begins with organ melodies for a good two minutes and a half before suddenly breaking into heavier music with the complete usual instrumentation. It reminds of the rest of the CD, with the grandiose allure of The Doctrine of Eternal Ice (Part Two) and the singing of Thank you for the evil. The rhythm is quasi-hypnotic by its pattern, not in the sleepy way, but in the way you may find yourself singing to it without noticing it. By the half of the song, you’ll find yourself stuck in a track way closer to progressive music, relatively distant from what you had with Candybrain. Again, I’m not too sure of how this stands within the album as a whole, but given this is the second part of a trilogy, I assume it’s used as a transition for the next release from Phideaux (after ‘Seven’, which he is currently working on). Fortunately, the song turns back as a kind of summary of the album, taking themes and lyrics from previous compositions. Don’t be scared, it’s not à la Metallica’s St. Anger (hey, let’s play each song TWICE, right?), thank God. The song ends the album smoothly, in a near-perfect manner, if it wasn’t of the longer middle part feeling out of place.

Conclusion

Definitely Phideaux’s best release so far, although it’s a question of tastes. Pink Floyd nostalgics who liked the ambiance of it all may find their niche with Doomsday Afternoon, keeping some dark themes and a roughly similar ambiance. Worth checking out by anybody who’s a fan of progressive, psychedelic or art rock. It’s refreshing to see someone still producing that kind of music (which means not dead or disbanded), although Premiata Forneria Marconi can hold their own ground while being a lot more symphonic (do I smell a PFM review? maybe!)

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Even when scanning the booklet, I can’t get title images that fit within my cropping size. In order: Wolfgang Zenk, Markus Froschmeier, Klaus Engl, Markus Grützner

Track list

1. Diffusion
2. Indigo Dunes
3. Emoctify
4. The Winding Path
5. Silent Flow
6. Cyclotron
7. Spiral Dance
8. Hidden Depths
9. Mystic Mouse

Genre

Progressive rock, jazz fusion, metal

Release

January 25, 2008

Label

MGI Records (KDC)

Background Information

I reviewed 7for4’s two first albums (Time and Contact) a few weeks ago (link), and through some luck and google help, their band leader Wolfgang Zenk left a comment and asked me for my address in order to review Diffusion, their most recent album at the moment. I was fairly excited (hey, first direct benefit of reviewing music!) and replied real fast hoping it would not be some sort of disguised lawsuit.

Good news, I received the album via snail mail from Germany just today, listened to it 3-4 times and posted this review on the same day. So let’s start with more details on the band, given I could get more informations than last time. The line-up stayed the same: Wolfgang Zenk on Guitars, Markus Grützner on Bass, Klaus Engl on Drums and Markus Froschmeier on Keyboards.

It turns out Zenk is the manager and a teacher/lecturer of the MGI Munich, a very well known (in Germany) institute for professional guitarists. Klaus Engl is a teacher too, he worked for the drum-institute “Drummer’s Focus” (also in Munich) and played along Markus Grützner before (in the band SERUM). Markus Grützner was a bassist for many Jazz fusion bands and also played on tours of “Hair“, a Broadway musical. You can just get to their respective biography pages for the information needed.

Diffusion took the band about 2 years to record, and once again was all produced, written and arranged by Wolfgang Zenk himself. You may still get the feeling the album is more oriented toward guitar, but while looking closer, you’ll manage to put yourself in doubt on that subject.

My opinion

7 For 4’s new album starts with Diffusion, which introduces us with a mellow jazzy guitar line. 7 For 4 didn’t change their recipe: as with the previous albums, it soon changes for a rock-metal style which could remind me of the band Royal Hunt without lyrics. It’s always cut by jazzy lines on bass and guitar, hard to hate, really. It’s followed by Indigo Dunes, where the keyboards have a sound similar to the ones used by Liquid Tension Experiment, and a similar use too. In Overall, this track has a slower tempo than most of what 7 for 4 gave us by the past, but it’s nonetheless really interesting, especially when considering the basslines taking their places in there. A really balanced piece, one of the best on the CD in my opinion.

The Winding Path has a great introduction, slower, well sustained with well placed piano. Similarly to Emoctify, it gives a strong Liquid Tension Experiment vibe in its heaviest parts. The structure of The Winding Path is slightly more classic-oriented than many other compositions, as far as I can tell. Not a bad thing, it reminds you of stricter symphonic metal, something Vinnie Moore could be proud of if he wasn’t so lost back there in the 80’s.

Silent Flow is way closer to an ambiance track than anything the band has pulled before (except maybe X-Dreams and parts of Rockalaxy, from Contact). Its composition mainly relies on the guitar, with support from Grützner’s fretless sound. It’s a track with a refinement they did not possess before, and it’s frankly great to see them able to still find new stuff to give to their listeners given the number of genres they already managed to cover before. I would almost go as far as saying that Zenk’s guitar nearly reminds me of some of the stuff David Gilmour could do, at least in the feeling. It comes close.

Cyclotron is really fast-paced piece, on every instrument, and as with every album from 7 for 4, you get slower bits at some points, but this never lasts too long. Really, it’s the same pattern that can be heard in Spiral Dance or mostly any other song, except it doesn’t grow old due to the fact that while the structure is the same, the recipe changes. I mean there are many kinds of pie, and even if it’s chocolate or apple pie, it’s still a pie. And it’s hard to stop wanting more (I am mastering the art of pointless analogies.)

Oh yeah, I just mentioned Spiral Dance, but I must add it’s the mandatory Latin song on the album. Contact and Time both had at least a Latin track, and Diffusion doesn’t break the rule, although the band incorporated some neo-prog-like keyboards in it. When it stops, you go back to an acoustic/classical guitar filling the track, something Zenk doesn’t prepare us for beforehand.

Hidden Depths is way jazzier, led by Grützner’s fretless bass at times. This goes up there with Silent Flow in terms of closer to ambiance and refined sound. Again, one of my favourites from the album. So far I’ve liked the 3 slower tracks more, so maybe it’s just my mood at the moment, but I like the direction 7 For 4 takes with this album.

I’ll leave Mystic Mouse as described by the band:

Take 7 and add 4, then divide into 4 equal parts, as far as possible. You get an 11/8 beat with subdivisions 3-3-2-2. All you need to add to finish the song is some chords. How’s that for mystic…?

It’s got a much darker ambiance, with techy-sounding keyboards. Each note is cut dry, you get a big staccato-ish feel out of it. I could say it’s not the best song to end the album, but near the finale, there’s a shift and it’s not that bad. I still feel Hidden Depths and Mystic Mouse could have had their positions switched on the album for more balance. Way to be picky, Mr. Reviewer!

In conclusion

Diffusion completes the previous albums really well. To me, the style is pretty much halfway between Time and Contact. It closes the tiny style gab between both albums and balances the whole thing even more. This album sure makes me promise to be a long-time fan of 7 For 4. It’s got some really good songs nobody should miss on if they like 7 for 4’s style.

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Part of Fermáta’s logo used on their album covers, flipped sideways.

Track list

1. Huascaran I
2. 80 000
3. Solidarity
4. Huascaran II
5. 15
6. Valparaiso
7. Perpetuum

Genre

Jazz fusion, funk, progressive

Release

Date not found, 1977

Label

Bonton Music, OPUS

Background Information

Fermáta is a band that has become really rare, mainly given their name is common musician notation term, and also the fact they were stuck behind the iron curtain during the cold war. However, musically speaking, there is little doubt they could have become huge names of progressive and jazz music in the 70s had they been available in the western world.

Their 3 first albums are clearly the best ones, Huascaran being their career’s highlight. Right after that, you get Generations, that came out in 1981, and while it’s still a decent record, it’s nothing close to Huascaran, Piesen z hol or their eponym album.

The line-up consists of Tomáš Berka on the piano and synthesizers, František Griglák on the guitar, piano and synth, Ladislav Lucenic on bass, Karol Oláh at the drum (and percussions), Peter Oláh on vocals (notice that there are no lyrics, just singing) and finally Dezider Pito on cello/violoncello. I may add that I don’t know shit about who they are, and I can’t even pronounce their names (oh the ignorant me), but these guys make awesome music.

Huascaran is a concept album, based on the Peruvian 1970 earthquake that killed some 80,000 lives (sources like wikipedia instead say 20,000) and had its epicenter near Huascaran, a mountain in Peru:

Huascarán or Nevado Huascarán is a mountain in the province of Yungay-Cordillera Blanca, part of the Western Andes. At 6768 m, its southern peak (Huascarán Sur) is the highest in Peru and the fourth highest in South America, although a lower height of 6746 m from a more recent survey is also often quoted.

On 31 May 1970 the Ancash earthquake caused a substantial part of the north side of the mountain to collapse. The block of falling ice and rock was about 1 mile long, half a mile wide, and half a mile deep. In about five minutes it flowed 11 miles to Yungay, burying the entire town under ice and rock, and causing the deaths of more than 20,000 people. Also buried by an avalanche was a Czechoslovakian mountaineering team, none of whose members was ever seen again. This and other earthquake-induced avalanche events are often described incorrectly as “eruptions” of Huascarán, which is not of volcanic origin. (source)

Some people with this in mind say it makes the album better, in my opinion, it stays pretty much the same. Granted, I’ve only known of the Huascaran earthquakes because of this band, and I expect it to be the same with most readers here.

My Opinion

What an album. Right before the review, I could say it’s one of the best prog-fusion ever offered. It’s ranked up there with the Mahavishnu Orchestras of this world. The album itself and the bonus tracks are nearly two different entities, but they’re still a great piece of music.

Huascaran I starts with slow strings, and keyboards that must be supposed to remind you of birds or something meaning peace and whatnot right before the earthquake. It’s kind of cheesy in my opinion, but apart from that, the track itself is outstanding. There are a few movements in the song, mainly alternation of cheerful and moderate, to slow and desperate, to cheerful and faster, to slow and desperate, to a more aggressive rock. Huascaran I is more oriented on the keyboards as a lead, switching to the cello, back and forth, until the guitar comes in on the last parts. Here is a live youtube video of the song, taken from their 2007 live DVD:

80 000 would be a song referring to the 80 000 people who died during the earthquake. The song is heavier than Huascaran I, more oriented on the guitar and percussions, supported by the keyboards and bass with slight overdrive in it. The drums somehow remind me of Cobham’s Spectrum.

Other tracks like Solidarity, Valparaiso and Perpetuum are funk-oriented with jazz guitar through them. Standard material, while still satisfying.

Huascaran II has keyboard tracks reminding me of the sounds Jason Forrest pulls out in some of his remixes (see this video: Jason Forrest - War photographer ) in his album Shamelessly Exciting. Just substitute the horns with a synth and then add fusion to it and you get a similar feeling to both songs. There is a downside to Huascaran II, though: it finishes with the same cheesy birds and fake nature sounds Huascaran I had. I guess that’s where the conceptualism of the album is buckled.

15 is an incredible piece in terms of funky rhythm and groove. The guitar leads the song in a brilliant manner, taking its roots in rock and jazz music, while the drums and bass play hand in hand to give it a big bounce. The keyboards are rather staying in the back, but every time it’s needed, they bring a solid accentuation on the whole piece.

In Conclusion

A really strong album from Fermáta. I must repeat myself, if it was not from the Cold War’s Iron curtain on the Eastern world, they would surely have been big names of prog-jazz or jazz fusion music in the Western world. The album costs a whopping $50 on amazon.com, without shipping, and they only have 1 unit left (there were two when I started writing this review). Otherwise, you can find some DVDs and recordings on ebay and shady Russian websites. They’re certainly worth discovering if you can afford it.

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Cropped album cover. This is Maskineri. This is a good new album, in my opinion. Read further down to know more!

Track list

1. Moment
2. Apokalyps meg
3. Den andre er meg
4. Bastard sønn
5. Maskineri
6. Toxic blod
7. 9mm
8. Volvo i Mexico
9. Enden av november
10. Med en gong eg når bånn
11. Kaizers 115. drøm
12. Ond sirkel

Genre

Rock, alternative, eclectic

Release

February 18, 2008

Label

Petroleum Records, Sony BMG

Background Information

Kaizers Orchestra is an alternative rock band getting their share of eclectic sound: It’s hard to compare them to anything around and you really have to listen to them to know what they are.

They’re coming straight out of Norway and have been around since 2000. They had a tiny special catchy touch that is hard to describe since their first album (Ompa til du dør, released in 2001) and that kept growing through songs like Di Grind (from Evig Pint) and that got even bigger with the album Maestro. Maestro had to be my favorite album from the Kaizers Orchestra and it made me have a lot of expectations for Maskineri, which got released just today.

I was slightly disappointed, quite possibly by my anticipation, to see that this little touch wasn’t as present as in Maestro; however, I find myself liking the album more and more every time I listen to it.

This little change can be explained by a few things:

In 2007, the band was contacted by record producer Mark Howard on MySpace. Howard had previously worked with R.E.M andTom Waits. Kaizers Orchestra came to an agreement with Howard, and he was hired as their producer. They also signed a deal with Sony BMG and Petroleum Records as their new label.

With Maskineri, the band stated that they wanted to go in a new direction, not only with the songs, but also with how the album was to be made and who to make it with. The band had recorded their three previous studio albums in Duper Studios, Bergen with the help of producer Jørgen Træen, whom they stated was the “best producer in the world”. Despite this, they decided to work with Mark Howard in the Planet Rock Studios in Berlin, Germany. (source)

The band also introduced the marimba as a new instrument (pretty much a big xylophone with resonators under it for those who do not know what it is), giving a new tint to some bits of their sound.

My Opinion

The album found a new durability in its sound: while it may not be as surprising as previous releases, I find it increasingly pleasing to listen to, and I like it more and more as I listen to it rather than instantly liking it.

The album starts slowly with the first 3 tracks, really easy to like, until Bastard sønn comes on. It’s a breeze from the past, something I can’t say I dislike: heavier percussions, bigger accentuation with the basslines, high-pitched singing at some points, unpredictable rhythm. To sum it up, an assortment of elements that makes Kaizers Orchestra who they are.

Maskineri starts with the Marimba introduction, giving the song a really mechanical ambiance (which fits, given “Maskineri” means “Machinery”) with the help of Rune Solheim’s percussive work. Granted, I don’t get a single word from their lyrics, but this is far from ever stopping me from liking it. The piece is a big mix of influences and dissonant styles melted together in a piece that stands for itself. Again, that’s nothing different from the past in how they do it, but the style is still different in how it sounds and feels.

The album as a whole may appear as if there’s a little more repetition than usual in the structures of each song, meaning the Kaizers may be trying to make their music more accessible to a broader public, although the instrumentation would prove it really hard to believe. Tracks like 9mm sound like they’re directly taken from an older album and packed with Maskineri, with some licks from the double-bass we wouldn’t have heard as much before. Even more? Enden Av November begins with a piano line that can remind you of Di Grind like no other song, but gets a completely different feeling from it. Kaizers Orchestra didn’t reinvent themselves or lose their roots, they just pushed their own content and style in a new manner, far from displeasing me.

Kaizers 115. drøm bugged me. It did for a while until I remembered how close to a song I already knew it was: Ani couni chaouani, the Iroquois lullaby. Call me crazy, but I think some parts in the chorus are really close, although it’s probably just coincidences and the habit of hearing the lullaby as a child. It kind of proves how far Kaizers Orchestra’s style can go; from alternative rock to eclectic near avant-garde sounds, down to old native lullabies resemblances (for some people?). Anyway, enough of this for this review, it makes me sound insane.

In Conclusion

At first, I thought this was not the exact same Kaizers as before, it’s not as good. With more listening, I find it to be a more than decent album: hard to compare to previous ones, possibly their best after Maestro in my opinion. Getting both albums would be a good idea for a newcomer in order to know the multiple faces the band can take. Kaizers Orchestra have this innate catchiness that you like, at the opposite of annoying earworms and they know how to exploit it in this new release.

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This photo is way too hard to crop. The flowers on the right are part of Klaus Engl’s shirt.

Background Information

Little seems to be known about 7 for 4, even though they are more than an average band. Maybe it’s just some kind of personal inability to google their material correctly, but it seems that even North American versions of Amazon (amazon.com and amazon.ca) don’t carry them. The band describes itself as a metal/rock/jazz fusion mix, and listening to two of their albums (Contact and Time) makes me agree with them. I would add that many would classify them as a progressive band too, and I couldn’t oppose that view. Having no idea which of both albums I liked the most, I decided to review both of them.

The band consists of Wolfgang Zenk on Guitars, Markus Grützner on Bass, Klaus Engl on Drums and Markus Froschmeier on Keyboards, a group of little known musicians (Not exactly, as many of them played in other bands, but let’s say they are not big public names anyone would know) who outperform eachother on every piece of their albums.

Contact

Track list

1. X-Dreams
2. Tokamak
3. La Provence
4. E-Gyptian
5. Highlands
6. Rushian
7. Rockalaxy
8. Catking
9. Subspace Distortion

Genre

Metal, rock, fusion

Release

October 22, 2001

Label

MGI Records (KDC)

My Opinion

Contact starts up with X-dream, a slow intro played on Grützner’s fretless bass, while Froschmeier complements with keyboards, until Zenk kicks in. About a minute in, the song starts with a strong emotional melody enriched by Engl’s accentuations on drums, a bit of a surprise, but a good example of what’s to come.

Songs like Tokamak instantly change the mood with an approach flirting with symphonic metal led by keyboards and guitar. The guitar could remind you of Bumblefoot’s more aggressive stuff, the keyboards of what FROST* pulled a few years ago with “Milliontown” mixed with some old-school progressive, while the bass sounds like a mix of Liquid Tension Experiment and Spiral Architect to my ear. As soon as you get used to the song, it stops, and you fall back down to smoother stuff like La Provence.

E-Gyptian has got a really Latin sound as an intro (which makes it a more striking piece), and then you get surprised by stronger metal coming back at it. Don’t throw your pinkie and index fingers in the air too fast though, because the song rapidly turns into a metal-Latin-metal-Latin duel to finish, until funk kicks in at some point. The amazing thing is they manage to do it effortlessly, without exactly interrupting the flow. This song alone could be a good example of the whole thing.

This kind of pattern repeats itself for most of the record, and listening to the album, you definitely know it’s going to be a never ending game of style switching, in a smooth manner, far from what Mike Patton or John Zorn would set you for, which is all to its advantage from an accessibility viewpoint. Readers who tend to go for metal should look Contact up before Time, in my opinion.

Time

Track list

1. Zeitgeist
2. TempERAmento
3. Where Are You Now
4. 7:44 a.m.
5. Time (Chapter I)
6. Rock’n'Rolex
7. Perpetuum Mobile
8. Time (Chapter II)
9. Flux Capacitor
10. Burnt Chicken Wings
11. Slow [e]Motion

Genre

Metal, rock, fusion

Release

April 5, 2004

Label

MGI Record (KDC)

My Opinion

Time begins with a way more jazzy sound when compared to contact, but the ‘duels’ with a more aggressive sound still subsist, thankfully. In my own opinion, it seems like there was more work put into Time as far as musicianship goes.

While it is still very guitar-oriented, it would be a shameful lie to say it’s the only thing there is to listen to: While Zenk’s guitar playing is hard to compare to anything, Engl’s percussions are surprising, extremely dynamic and changing, exactly what you’d wait from a true fusion drummer; Markus Froschmeier does an outstanding work at sharing the limelight with Zenk (like in Time (Chapter I)) and then keeping himself away from it when needed, a great work for the overall balance. To top it off, Grützner’s bass is far away from anything mediocre, going well above the basics to play around the complex structure with an ease making it look like he’s warming up.

Although time keeps the roots of Contact alive, it covers a broader spectrum of styles and is richer all around. A step above it’s older brother from 2001, may it be for the balance between instruments, some melodies, or just the general sound. Time, at times, really feels like Liquid Tension Experiment decided to try themselves at fusion and brilliantly succeeded. It’s really up there with the big names, an album that anyone who like these genres should give an ear to.

Conclusion

7 For 4 is a definitive must to anyone who likes both metal (mainly the symphonic kind), jazz and/or prog variations of both. If you tend more toward metal, go for contact, otherwise, go for Time. I’m still trying to get my hands on “Diffusion”, which got released on January 25 and will review it as soon as possible. 7 For 4 really impressed me, end of the line.

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