EMERGENT

Emergent opens with a bass solo, a slow beautiful piece that sets the mark both thematically and emotionally for the rest of the album. I've heard people claim that Sean Malone's(the mastermind behind Gordian Knot and bass virtuoso of Cynic) works are "soulless" but I can't for the life of me understand this sentiment. With the first notes of Muttersprache, the album's first song featuring an entire lineup, Emergent shows a subtle change in production and style from the self titled debut, moving more in the direction of progressive rock than before.

While the first album at times felt like a experiment in the first hand, Emergent feels like an entire album made purely for your listening pleasure. The technical aspect of the music is intact, so if your reason for checking out Gordian Knot are for the musical geniuses featured on this release you won't go disappointed either.

Emergent combines the brutal technicality, absurdly complex song structures and rock/fusion sound of it's previous release with even more memorable melodies this time around. I think you can tell that the musicians involved are having a great time finding their way through the complex maze of the songs Malone has lain out before them.

Sean Malone is, however, first and foremost a teacher in both his instruments and musical theory, and this really goes to show in his songs and Gordian Knots' albums and it is at times their only flaw. The songs and their structure seem to work their way initially from thought riddles of Malone and then finding their ways into songs. The album doesn't have as clear example of this as "Code-Anticode", a song consisting only of rhythm and counter rhythms(like the name implies) but there are moments where I get a sense of how pre-written it all seems. Almost as if no notes are improvised or out of place. Everything fits with such precision that I sometimes think it could use some brash movement; something to break the sense of absolute control and order which surrounds the project, just for a little while.

Gordian Knot and this album is a perfect example of how Rock Fusion can and will evolve, moving in unexpected ways while staying true to its nature. It may not be for everyone, but if you have a soft spot for either rock/fusion or Sean Malone's playing, I sincerely recommend you to get this album.

4/5