ANATOMY OF THE WORLD

Kalisantrope is an Italian trio of bass, drums and keyboards. 'Anatomy of the World' is their debut EP, containing five instrumental tracks clocking in at 26 mins. With this setup, you might expect some ELP influence, but putting on the opening track, 'Varroa Destructor', we are heading off into different landscapes. Drums and a deep, rumbling bassline opens to track. The keys adds a symphonic flair to the rather gloomy atmosphere. The calm intersection nearly takes the track into total darkness before the keys, drums and bass kicks off again in similar fashion. Great opener, especially if you are in a shady mood. With 'Hypophysis' a floating keyboard sound is allowed to dominate until drums and bass splashes into the spotlight again. Track shifts into different gear for the 2nd half before that floating keyboard sounds bookends the tune. 'Holodomor' once again starts with floating keyboard sounds for more than a minute. This is the most jazzy part of the EP, with close to improvised drumming and jazzy piano chords on top. Very good one! The piano chords continue on 'Concept Fading', but in a less subtle way, and this track soon turns into a rather tight and demanding affair that starts to get a bit annoying after a while. Closing section luckily calms it down. The closer is a three part 'epic' that starts with a church organ playing a funeral-like intro, before we are treated with a short rocking section of the EP in the 2nd part. Then it all slows down with a low key interplay between piano and bass, before all three comes forward in full throttle on the final episode. Elements of jazz (mostly) and prog (a little) are melted with a flair of post metal to create a feeling of dark corner jazz trio with proggy ambitions. It's hard to point at specific references, but if we stay within Italy, I could find some traces of Le Orme and Perigeo in their playing. The trio of instruments don't allow much variation on sound, and puts some challenges on the future development of the band. They seem highly capable musicians, and may profit on bringing in some guests for their next record. 2.5 stars rounded upwards for being their first recorded attempts. Potential is definitely there!