INK COMPLETE

For those that like your music technical, you may look no further than this album. For those of you that like your music so technical it will disintegrate your brain cells just THINKING about it... then you may also look no further. Because I present to you THE MOST technical metal album I have ever heard from anyone. Yes, even more technical than Spastic Ink's latter album, any of Ron Jarzombek's other projects and even more technically challenging than Behold... The Arctopus's music, this is by far a force to be reckoned with. Hell, I even played this to my friend that conducts brass music from the modern classical era, and even HE said he'd have a hard time keeping up with this. Brace yourself folks.

However, Ink Complete is not entirely void of melody and musical credit. Nope, everything in here has a catchy line somewhere, or some kind of groovy polymeter, so even if it mashes your head like a potato, you can potentially be entertained by this.

Now I'm one of these sick people that gets entertained by superhuman musical ability, so you can imagine how into this album I am. Personal favourite tunes have to be the opener, See, It's A Sharp!, Suspended on All Fours and Half and Harm Time-Baking Shuffle. However, the one the really stands out for me is the closing track. If you are looking for some of the greatest display of musicianship from all three instruments (guitar bass and drums) and are sick of those twangy solo offs in live Yes DVDs, then skip Mosquito Brain Surgery to about the 3rd minute and have a ganders. Just to get a feel for, you know, what this album is about...

The scarier thing about Ink Complete though is not the musicianship or the technicallity (although I will admit now these guys' skills give me nightmares when I'm not on vallium), but it's the fact that hardly anyone has heard of the musicians featured on this disk. I must admit, this CD was MY first exposure. But I will never ever forget the Jarzombeks and their pet bassist.

They're playing is now embedded in my brain, and now whenever anyone mentions either of the Jarzombek brothers, I either say "greatest guitarist I ever heard" or "greatest drummer I ever heard". And now that anyone mentions Robert Fripp or John Petrucci or even Chuck Schuldiner (my all time metal hero), I instantly mention how much Ron dwarfs their playing. If anyone ever mentions Tomas Haake or Mike Portnoy or even Gene Hoglan, I instantly tell them how much more creative, agile and technically excellent Bobby is. Because the fact of the matter is, the Jarzombek brothers are the two most talented musicians in Rock and Metal, and this CD is 11 tracks of them at their very finest, with an equally astounding bassist on board.

Go ahead. Try it. Have a listen. I warn you though, hold your face on while you hear it because it will more than likely be torn off within the first 5 minutes!

For sheer impact and craftsmanship, I'm going to have to rate it 4 stars at least. However because the album hasn't touched me emotionally like a masterpiece should, I will rate it no more than 4. So looks like 4 stars it is.