Irish math fusion act Alarmist are dropping their full-length debut, Popular Demain, on November 2, and at only one week away, my excitement is palpable. Of the two tracks currently available for streaming, we’re treated to some sweeping, cinematic jazz progressions supported by an arithmetical rhythmic core. At times it’s uplifting, yes, but in harmonically rich and complex ways characteristic of fusion. Think Jaga Jazzist meets Battles and you have a fairly good idea of what to expect. The album will be available on Bandcamp, where you can also check out their existing EPs.… Read more
Tag Archives: fusion
Acrania – Fearless
Acrania (not to be confused with the more popular but less interesting Acrania from the UK) is a Mexican progressive thrash/death metal band, the selling point of which is their unique incorporation of latin jazz rhythms. They’ve released their first EP in 2007, and then went on to release full-length, Fearless is their third and latest LP and it came out in April of this year.
Jazz, samba, bossa, and salsa are intertwined with more regular thrash and death metal riffs as an integral part of their sound, rather than just a gimmick used for infamous “jazz interludes” and other … Read more
The Pneumatic Transit premieres Enochian Dyskinesia
The new baby of Jeff Zampillo, formerly of Exotic Animal Petting Zoo, The Pneumatic Transit, has released about 3 minutes of one of their new songs, called Enochian Dyskinesia. It seems like their songs are too extensive to single them out, so we get only 3 minutes of one. And that 3 minutes finishes way too quickly to my taste. Well, at least I kinda know what to expect from their album, “Concerto for Double Moon”. At this moment, I’m still trying to figure out if it’s jazzy rock or rocky jazz… but it sounds pretty prog … Read more
Review: Tigran Hamasyan – Mockroot
The rhythm section on Mockroot (from left to right), Sam Minaie (bass), Tigran Hamasyan, and Arthur Hnatek (drums)
CREDIT: Maeve Stam
Being a musical genius is hard. Not in the, “Oh, I’m a musical genius, I’m so oppressed, pity me” sense, but rather in the sense that one must live up to the expectations one has created. This is of course not a problem limited to the realm of music; all artists must ultimately struggle with it. If an artist has released material before, their new work is inevitably, and necessarily, put into a particular context. One must walk a … Read more
Review: At War With Self – Circadian Rhythm Disorder
At War With Self is a progressive rock/jazz fusion endeavour with Marco Minnemann and Glenn Snelwar. At first, it makes me think of the Pitts Minnemann project’s 2L82B Normal, probably because Marco’s drumming is really a signature sound. There is a lot of work put into this album, and it truly pays off, for your listening pleasure
Marco Minnemann is widely regarded as one beast of a drummer, after all he was pretty much close second on Dream Theater’s drum auditions, and he’s participated in a vastitude of musical projects: Paul Gilbert, Necrophagist, The Aristocrats, and multiple other ones. Glenn … Read more