EP Review: Kilter - Sys (Instrumental Jazz Metal, 2021)

Some bands really dare to go new ways. That's what came to my mind as I heard the newest output of brooklyn-based band Kilter.

While the basics of the three tracks on this one source of solid groove taken of the Jazz genre, it's the build-up that opens my ears so wide. "Sentinent Robotics" for instance plays around with wild bass and saxophone riffing. The segments come out in little potions and evolve over the tracks duration. But what I love most to hear is that the elements talk between each other. It's going back and forth but never loses it's line so the music keeps track- and enjoyabile.

Most of all the sound adds to the experience. It's clear and direct. You can easily spot all elements and enjoy them. It's a variable release. "The Turing Test" is much slower creeping through your speakers but builds with every second passing. The middle part consists of fat grooves going hand in hand with the songs theme. Fine detail work towards the end.

"Mind-Body Problem" forms the last and longest one. Experimenting with saxophone noise the beginning already introduces a unusual song. It keeps going this way but adds a nice bass riff in the background to finally explode a little bit into a float of saxophone noise experimentation.

If you're open to something new and sounding so much different try Kilter. They don't serve the usual but wake your ears for fresh sound. The trailer has some snippets of the release that is expected to drop on June 25th 2021. 

Make sure to pre-order this gem through the Bandcamp page of Kilter or pre-save it to your Spotify library.

 

Fatal Opera to release final album after 20 years

Some bands are a bit legendary for me since they were using a sound formula not to be heard too often. It's like this with Fatal Opera, a band from the US that featured ex Megadeth drummer Gar Samuelson and his brother Stew Samuelson.

They had a jazz influenced way to set up the songs and the first album "Fatal Opera" to me personally also feels a bit as if Jimi Hendrix's feeling for exploring heavy guitar sounds mixed with various rhythm was continued by the band.

A old band picture of Fatal Opera, Photo Credit unknown after 20 years.

These days I'm surprised to learn that the band had a third album "Fatal Opera III" in the makings before Gar Samuelson died. Now 20 years later the results of these writing sessions are about to be released but in a special way with many upgrades and specials.

The street date for the LP has been announced to be Summer 2020 via Combat Records.

The album will include guest appearances from Megadeth’s Chris Poland and David Ellefson, who will appear on the track “The Raven”, which will mark the first time Poland, Ellefson and Samuelson have appeared on a track together since Megadeth’s seminal Peace Sells.. But Who’s Buying, as well as additional guest appearances from Poland, and New Yorkers bassist Robbie “Pags” Pagliari, marking the first time the original lineup of The New Yorkers (Poland and Samuelson’s pre-Megadeth Jazz/fusion project, also featuring guitarist Stew Samuelson) has appeared together on a commercial recording.

Also making a guest appearance on “The Raven” is Ellefson vocalist, and COMBAT Records A&R, Thom Hazaert.

Fatal Opera III, is the final chapter in the band’s legacy, featuring the final recordings of Samuelson, who passed away in 1999. Fatal Opera began work on a new album prior to Gar’s passing, and the tracks sat for almost 20 years, until they were finally revisited. Enough tracks were found to create Fatal Opera III, produced and mixed by Andy Freeman. The remaining members joined forces to finish the album that was started so many years ago, released in a fitting tribute and celebration to the legacy of Gar Samuelson, and Fatal Opera.

Vocalist Andy Freeman says, “It was a long time in the making, but it truly was a labor of love, putting together this final release. It was an honor and a privilege to work with David and Thom, who helped make this album possible, and getting Chris and David together with Gar once again brought the whole project full circle. We are very pleased that it will finally see the light of day, and hope that it will be an offering to our fans, and a fitting final musical tribute to Gar."

Megadeth bassist, and Combat Records owner, David Ellefson says, “Gar was one of the more unorthodox, unpredictable, and musically compelling drummers I've ever played with. His legacy continues to grow with the passage of time. So, it's an honor for me to have this posthumous performance with Gar, in honor of his incredible musicianship and legacy he left for us all to enjoy.”

Make sure to keep a eye on Combat Records Facebook page for further announcements of this release.

CD Review: Mikey Cunningham & The Aftermath - Massive head wound (Instrumental Metal, 2016)

This record shows how much you can dive deeply into the world of instrumental rock sometimes slightly mixed with power and progressive elements.

The cover of "Massive head wound", (c) by Mikey Cunningham & The Aftermath, used with kind permission

Summary
The album let's the screaming six strings speak out loud and clearly to the listener. On most of the arrangements the start goes in straight forward with compact riffing and drums that power up the rocking message. Afterwards it's time to show some solo's and a lot of guitar technique's. It comes around a bit like in those days when Jimi Hendrix was alive and put out a new record. The world was stunned to hear what he was able to make of his instrument.

Something similar remains in my mind having listened to this disc. I like that these elements still add to the song as a whole so it's not only a presentation of solo's. The only downside is that nearly all the songs are build like this so after some time some feeling of repeat comes in. But this is the way it is - I think it's already hard enough to get something like this done at all. Please remember that instrumental artists cannot rely upon standard song structures so the pure sound is all they can offer. Sometimes I had to think of Jazz songs listening to the tunes of "Massive head wound" but this can be seen as a plus as I enjoy listening to that genre from time to time, too.

The fine sound of the production made me feel comfortable and added a lot to the listening pleasure. The guitars are sharp but not to hard so they remain enjoyable. Drums are lound and clear most of all the snare set's a mark. It's a pleasure  to hear the band feels as one so it's not guitars all the way with nothing behind it. Surely a strong band backing a cool guitar performance. Don't miss this one out instrumental heads out there.

Purchase- and Preview-Link
You can pick up the album as download through the widget on the band homepage. It costs 9,99 Dollar and you can pay with Paypal. Here we have the track "Creepy Halloween Cat" for you to check out.

Contact Data
Follow the instrumental band on Facebook for show updates etc.

CD Review: Atropos Project - Towards Firmament

Short Introduction

Atropos Project plays instrumental music with a lot of progressive and metal elements in them. The band started out as a one man project and saw it's first release with the full length album "Equator" in 2013. In the meatime John Quarles, who writes and plays nearly all the music has created a follow up record called "Towards Firmament" in his studio in New York. The new album will see the light of day on December 1st 2015.

(c) by Atropos Project, used with kind permission

Summary / Player / Purchase-Link

I am very glad that this outstanding project survived the tides of time. In the two years since the first album Atropos Project developed the song-structures quite a lot. I mean the first album was great but this one shows a bit more precisely that John Quarles has learned a lot when it comes to writing songs. The new tracks that will be released soon have more structure, often follow more a main theme or topic as the songs on "Equator" did.

Still the great thing is that it doesn't miss the fun aspect of music. You can hear a lot of parts on the album where especially all the musicians amongst you out there can nearly re-feel the positive vibes and emotions that John might have been in when writing, producing and recording these songs. You can feel a lot of jazz vibe in the music and that's what makes this recording sound so different from other's that go into the same direction. It comes out with a jam-feeling to it, a great emotion to me. This feeling when everything seem's to come together in a good mood and everyone involved throw's in his power and talent to it.

It sounds very powerfull and hard but also melodic and very versatile when it comes to the playing techniques and styles of the various tracks. One can quickly point out that it's a typically Atropos Project recording you're listening to.

The first half of the album comes more direct while the second one needs more time to fully sink in. Don't let this stop you from buying. I would like to encourage everyone out there dedicated with the full heart and soul to music to buy this diamond. It's always surprising to see how intensive a record can be - this one will be a journey you'll love and enjoy. Just give it a try.

It's also a great idea for a christmas gift if you know someone out there that has this dedication towards music. It will be a great surprise and I think a album one will enjoy even more with every listen. Remember that Bandcamp also offers the possibility to gift someone with a download code directly through the plattform's shop system.

"Towards Firmament" will be available through the Bandcamp page of Atropos Project starting December 1st 2015. It will also be available through other digital merchants such as CDBaby, Itunes, including streaming at Spotify, Google Play, etc. There are no physical copies planned unless demand warrants it this time around.
Note:  I'll add the exact links to the purchase and streaming plattforms once they've been released so please check back if you're interested in buying or listening to the album. The same goes for the album stream. If it should go online I'll add it here, too.

Currently a preview can be accessed through YouTube that gives a good overview on the album with excerpts of each and every track. Just click on the player below, it only takes a few minutes to listen to it.


Update 01.12.2015: The full album stream is online so I've added it here as promised.  
Album Overview (Track-by-track review)

The Slide: The tracks starts with a few broken notes at the beginning and then goes over to a midtempo slower stomping track with full distortion. Sounds very powerfull and heavy. A keyboard intermission lights up the dark feeling of the track with a lighter melody. The track becomes faster and takes up some tempo. A intensive shred section dominates the last third of this opening song before it finally ends on some strange noise. A great opener!

Bent Crown: A rough and compact but also short intro section kicks us into the second number. It finally let's us fall onto some softer notes that finally form the main theme for this song. The rhythm changed to fit to the guitars. A lot of jazzy feelings in here. This is one of my absolte favorites of the album. The jam feeling comes a lot into play on this one. A new melody abruptly comes in giving it a dreaming theme in between just to be followed on a new part that wraps the melody into a rougher noise guitar vibe and rhythm. The melody continues to shine through. Beautiful part! Finally the rougher part get's more intensive and starts to dominate the track giving it a blistering intermission with a fitting rhythm section. The song goes back to the starting theme to start a little play-around with it before climating into going faster with every round further. I love this!

Block No Light: The opening riff makes it already clear that this track comes around a lot sharper and heavier than the previous one. The main theme morphs and forms a lot as the track progresses even further maintaining all the while it's rough style. Finally a new melody comes up giving it a more melodic and mysteric touch. A ghostly feeling comes up before a sharper midtempo riffer rushes in that opens up the way for some keyboard elements which give it a epic theme. The end comes fast and abrupt but also very fitting to the track.

Alchemist: The fifth album track starts out with some soft introduction notes before heading on to a straight rocking number. The short break with silence comes as a surprise but the melody rushes in even better afterwards. Throughout all the changes the song always remains heading straight on forward in a faster mood. The end presents a lot of distortion and drums playing along to it. It plugs out quickly but all of this feels as if it should be this way.

Expeller: This one opens up quite epic with walls of sound of guitar and keyboards. It transforms further into a midtempo number with heavily distorted guitars and a lot of shred formed into the sound. Finally clear guitars softly come in just to leave as fast as they came. The walls of guitars seem to reflect into the music once again before a string of clear guitar melodies form a soft touching outro to this outstanding track. You'll remember it often afterwards.

Towards Firmament: A rather unusual beginning for this Atropos Project tune with a soft arrangement of guitar strings along with few percussive elements at the start. Rough and dry guitars come in forming a pulsating noise gate that along with the constant rhythm sharps the heaviest track of this second album. It's a big surprise even if you're familar with the sound of this instrumental project. The end gives in some more relaxed parts that form a contrast to the first section that is overwhelming with it's sheer intensive power. Surely a track that set's a mark in the world of heavy instrumental music.

Sistine: This one starts out softly. It has overall a lighter feeling to it with percusson adding to it. Thoughout all the variations a main theme runs through all the parts giving this a heavy jamming attitude. It has a attempt like "Bent Crown" in it. The drumming is more versatile and faster but the guitars go more directly on it. A overall straighter number but with the slight progressive elements I like in this music so much.

Red Roads: We reach the final track of this album. It welcomes us with soft keyboards. The eight song plays around a bit before it comes to the next section - a riff hacking heavy track that has a epic keyboard theme with it that seems to form a echo for the guitars. The hacked notes come back in with much jamming added to it. It plays around a lot with the variations that can be made of it and John Quarles knows how to use them. It's great to see what can be made of single elements and this track shows the variations you can make of it. I hope the journey this album provides can be continued one day. I would love to go on. As for the first I'll put it on repeat and enjoy it a second time that's for sure.

Neal Schon reveals new track and free download from upcoming album Vortex

Instrumental band give the listener a lot in my eyes. Compared to other bands they cannot work with the classic structures of a song like intro, 1st verse, bridge refrain and so on but have to find other ways of giving the listener a thrill to keep them on the speakers. That's a heavy task in my eyes. Just take a look at how long a minute of instrumental music is and how hard it is to put something inside that's worth listening without making the song sounding monotone.

Recently a brand new track from Neal Schon (guitarist of the famous band Journey) came across my desk and it gave me a lot of positive freezin' chills as well as it shows the superb musical abilities of Schon with it's blistering guitar work and variations. The solo section is held very extensive while the basics of the music constantly keep the song going. Besides playing the guitars Neal Schon also laid down the bass guitar tracks as well as he produced the whole songs on this and all other songs of the album that is yet to come.

(c) by Kaley Nelson, used with kind permission

The track "Tortured Souls" is a first glimpse into the new double album "Vortex" that is set for release on June 22 in Europe and one day later in UK and North America through the Mascot Label Group.

Stream the song in the widget below. And in case you like what you hear why not pick up a free download of the track? Just push the button underneath the picture and enter your email in the box to receive a download link to a full quality wave (!) file of the song.



If you'd like to keep updated on the further release activities make sure to see Neal Schon's Homepage or connect with him through Facebook.