Stream this over at bandcamp while you read here!!
If you didn’t already know Luke Jaeger (Sleep Terror), Vishal J Singh (Amogh Symphony, Robots Pulling Lever, and a ton of other projects), and Mark Hawkins (Robots Pulling Levers, and another ton of other projects), this is the time to.
While these guys have gathered recognition mostly in the metal scene for their technical abilities and proficiency, here they are jamming some funky tunes, my friends!
With varying inspirations and styles such as funk, folk, blues, 80’s music, space-y music, flamenco and hindi music, and using a lot of keys and modes to complement all those styles wonderfully with different moods. There are even some keyboards and piano (and a really neat piano solo in Valkenvania Blues)!
The bass parts are what stroke me first, maybe it’s because bass is my weapon of choice, but here it is played with dexterity and taste. Sometimes slapped, sometimes fingerpicked, it always add to the music, and it’s not there only as a backup, but neither is it a foreground instrument, lying just behind the guitars, most of the time.
Speaking of which, the guitars are absolutely monstrous, in the best possible way. Those three mastermind shredders put aside their metalness to awaken -maybe- past joys when playing blues, country-dipped songs, or jazzy 80’s funk, or Spanish-hindi acoustic folk. This shows, and I like it.
Finally, the drums are really not the focus of this EP. Although good and with tasty fills and groovy beats, it is not the one that will strike your ear, but rather complement the other instruments and highlight them. The only thing that annoys me, and this is purely a taste issue, is the ride bell in Valkenvania Blues. I don’t know if it’s the use and abuse of it, or only the sound it has, but there’s something I don’t like about it. Maybe it’s the exact opposite for you, and that’s fine!
Each style played on this EP is done with the greatest of respect to the forms and bases of them. While this may be quite enjoyable to some harder fans of blues, jazz, or funk, I personally would have liked to see more exploration in- and outside of the boundaries of each genre and style. These three guys, L, V, and M, are capable of straying, so maybe that was not their initial intent, and they wanted to do a legit multi-styled EP for their own enjoyment of each style here. And I respect that.
And just so you know, here are some credits:
Luke Jaeger : bass, guitars
Vishal J Singh : guitars, guitar synths, drums, bass
Mark Hawkins : guitars
The EP comes out december 1st on their bandcamp (which isn’t up yet [EDIT: which is up now]), for the price of a good sandwich. Feast your ears on this!
The final word is: tasty.
The LVM Trio easily earns 95%, get your hands on this!
Luke Jaeger bandcamp
Luke Jaeger facebook page
Vishal J Singh (Amogh Symphony) bandcamp
Vishal J Singh (Amogh Symphony) facebook page
You must log in to post a comment.