BOOK M

I think that as an Israeli progressive music fan it is my duty to be as close minded and judgmental of Middle Eastern music as possible. The Israeli Middle Eastern music scene is... SO... BAAAAAD, that nothing but only Korean pop succeed to reach it's levels of baditude.

When first listening to Secret Chiefs 3, I was then turned off from the general Middle Eastern flavor here (which is very strong), yet I was really interested in the doing of these a-people, because it was all very different than anything I've heard. And in the end Secret Chiefs 3 really just taught me what many avant and prog bands taught me: genres are tools, not mindsets. Middle Eastern music isn't automatically bad (though you could very easily think that from the kind of stuff "the man" is putting out. So bad... *tear*). With that SC3 are not a Middle Eastern band. They're just awesomeness in a can. They're sick mesh of electronica DJing, heavy metal riffs, Middle Eastern melodies, funky bass lines, surf rock, really weird time signatures, varied instruments, and long flowing hair has won me over entirely (You really think you can survive the HAIR????). They're probably along with Sleepytime Gorilla Museum the best avant-rock (well you really can't call this rock but it will have to do) to come out of the California avant-garde scene.

For those afraid of the word RIO (ahhhhhh!!! The horror) be not afraid! SC3 is not random noise (not saying really that any RIO band is, it is definitely the stereotype that has been tagged to it by many people... bastards). The melodies are ethnic and surprisingly catchy. The electronica beats are really cool. A moment it's a belly dancing party and then it's a rave and then it's a metal show and many times it's all them together. Try drinking that mix... You'll die, don't do it.

The songs are all really great. I don't really want to elongate on them too much, a bit pointless really. I'll just name a few and get on with it (these are songs you probably should check out first if you are interested in SC3): "Horsemen of the Invisible" (so awesome... so awesome), "Ship Of Fools", "Blaze Of The Grail" (funky awesome), "Zuliqar III". But really, and I mean really, all songs here deserve an honorable applause and a general praising hum ("hmmm... I say... oh ha ha how sonically pleasing").

Trey Spruance and co. deserve much respect for the excellent musicianship and really tight groove they've got going. Spruance (of Mr. Bungle fame) is a genius. He also plays a million trillion instruments on this album so yeah... damn. My bassist critique of Tim Smolens is very positive. He's groovy and provides the whole backbone of these songs. The grooves are usually very interesting and melodic. I'm not going to praise all musicians, though all very much deserve it, there's just too much of them. Buuuut, Eyving Kang on violins, adds so much to the music. The violin many time goes through so many effects and things that it really is just awesome.

I mean for a long time I have believed in modern music's ability to be even better than the golden 70s. In the end the decade doesn't really matter, but music like SC3's really goes to show that original music is alive and more than well, and we are probably in a golden age of music ourselves. SC3 just assures me that I have nothing to worry about, there are still people messed up enough to be coming up with this stuff. 4.75.