STARS FALL DARKLY

Back in the Nineties I was lucky enough to hear some albums by the American progressive band Kopecky, and was always incredibly impressed by their musicianship. They were somewhat unusual in that they were trio of brothers, with William on bass, keys and sitar, Joe on guitar and Paul on drums. I hadn't heard anything from them since 'Blood' in 2006, but now I know that William has been busy on other projects and this is the fourth album from Yeti Rain. Like Kopecky this is a trio, and William is playing bass, but at that point all similarities end. Originally a duo with William and Roger Ebner (saxophones, synthesizer, flute), they became a trio with the addition of Craig Walkner on percussion in time for the last album, 'III' which came out in 2010. Having not heard any of the others I can't say if 'Stars Fall Darkly' is of similar ilk, but I do know that I can say with some confidence that this is a marmite album. You are either going to love it or hate it, there isn't going to be any middle ground.

This is a progressive album in its' truest sense, throwing loads of things into the melting pot and seeing what comes out at the other end. That being said, there is also a great deal in common with avant-garde jazz and black metal, and it is only those who can say that they have truly catholic tastes in music who will be interested in this. For those who are, then you are in for a real treat. William is a wonderful bassist, here playing mostly a fretless with the wonderful depth and warmth, but while he uses the harmonics that can provide, he also has it set so that he doesn't play notes as much as move tectonic plates around with his fingers. That Craig manages to make sense of this by providing a strong percussive backbone just shows how much understanding there is between the two musicians, as they move together and allow each other to fully express themselves. Then we have Roger, who is obviously schooled in free form jazz as he goes off on tangents and uses the melodies provided by William and the rhythms provided by Craig to create something that is often off worldly and more than just musical notes.

There is an incredible depth of emotion and passion with this music, and it is something that is all encompassing that takes the listener to a different place where nothing else exists except the music. I felt that I was being taken down into a deep dark cave with the music resonating all around me, no light and no direction apart from the all encompassing sound.

There are times when one or other of the musicians doesn't play, which again drives the feeling into a new dimension, and this is a piece of art where the listener just gets more from it each time it is played. Music that has improvisation at its' very core will only ever be accessible to a select few, but if you are one of these then this is something that you need to investigate further as it is rare indeed that music containing this much presence and power is released. If one imagines that most pop music is plastic and disposable, then this instead is like a piece of rich deep swamp kauri (if you're not a kiwi you'll need to look up this analogy), aged and powerful with hidden depths. A truly wonderful album, yetirain.bandcamp.com