SIMULACRUM - THE PAINTED BIRD

4.5 stars. I would describe Zorn's discography as intimidating to say the least. He has hundreds of releases starting in the late seventies right up to today. The only musician I know to surpass him is the prog-related guitarist BUCKETHEAD who started about 15 years later than Zorn, yet has surpassed him by a wide margin. It's laughable to think that anyone could take us on an album by album tour of Zorn's albums. Just to put this in perspective, I own and highly recommend five albums Zorn put out between 2012 and 2017. And that's only 5 of the some 45 studio albums he put out over that period. Surely Zorn and Buckethead have studios in their homes, because they apparently live in the studio.

One of the keys for me for opening the door to Zorn's world was experiencing the Zorn-led band ELECTRIC MASADA. More ethnic sounding than Zorn's "Inferno" from 2015, or 2017's "The Garden Of Earthly Delights", both trios. Or this record which fits in between those two, released in 2016 "The Painted Bird" has the same trio as the other two records, but adds two more percussionists, one playing vibes and the other congas/ voudun drums. And so this one is unique of the three with the vibes added, and they sound incredible. They bring a warmth and tone to an album that is just so powerful at times. When you see an album tagged with brutal prog, hang on to your hat.

I have a top four, and I love the opener "Snakeskin" which is the longest, approaching 8 minutes. This one settles into a groove 1 1/2 minutes in after being led by vibes and some powerful outbursts to start. The guitar and organ are so impressive here. The drumming 3 minutes in needs to be mentioned as well. Track three called "Ravens" continues the quality and heavy outbursts, but "Nettles" is where they ease up with plenty of atmosphere and vibes. I just am so into the "sound" here. "Night" is my final top four. Depth and heaviness. The guitar is on fire after 4 minutes and man it gets heavy after that.

So the little taste that I have taken from this massive discography that Zorn has created has actually made me feel quite content and happy. Before these records, along with "Mount Analogue" from 2012 and "Interpretation Of Dreams" from 2017 I had only experienced "Naked City" from 1990 which left me unimpressed to say the least. I at least have a sweet spot when I comes to Zorn, and I'm more than okay with that.