FRACTAL SEXTET (AS FRACTAL SEXTET)

Fractal Sextet is a project of Stephan Thelen, guitarist, composer and artistic director of the Swiss band SONAR. This album follows that heritage with ample use of polyrhythms, but here he is joined by Burnt Belief musicians Colin Edwin (Bass) and Jon Durant (Fretted, Fretless, and Cloud Guitars), Yogev Gabay (Drums), and Fabio Anile (Piano, Synth), and the ever-present master of polyrhythms Andi Pupato (Percussion). If you enjoyed Stephan's collaboration with guitarist David Torn, or his more recent work on the Fractal Guitar series featuring Marcus Reuter, then you must check out this album. Tracks like Fractal 5.7 will sound all too familiar to fans of Stephan's work, and throughout the album we are treated to sonically soaring guitar passages that bring David Gilmour to mind. But the absolute highlight of the album is the track Planet Nine, a tour de force as far as prog compositions go. The track builds from simple stylings, to a guitar-centric section, followed by a piano-centric section which displays the Philip Glass-like minimalist and mesmerizing play of Fabia Anile, then to a fervently building percussion solo before a slight pause gives way to an enormous crescendo of instrumental, proggy jams to finish. We are even treated to a guitar melody uncannily reminiscent of the horns and violins in the closing passages of King Crimson's Formentera Lady - whether intentional or not. It's one of those tracks that begs to be blasted at a volume of eleven. Four stars.