SILUURIKAUDELLA

This Pharaoh Overlord album carries a title referring to ancient visions of Silurian ages, but instead of trilobites the line-up of several guitars and a rhythm section craft more modern industrial meanings to this concept with their archaic and atonal sculptures of avant-gardist free rock visions. The epochs of this imaginary interpretation of quasi-ancestral history is divided to three ages; All starts calmly with subtle string pickings, preparing for the mighty elevation of "Water Tower". Patient improvisations create intense feeling, bringing visions of water drips randomly running down huge concrete pillars surface, drips glimmering on the light of dawn. I personally felt this autistic focus to rhythmless exchanging of musical ideas as comforting alternative for the group's other records, often dominated by heavy rock or stoner riff patterns. These motives are also flowing by pleasant logics, escaping the risks of falling into complete random chaos without listening of other players, how unconventional the sonic environment ever should be. The anticipating tension on the final moments of the first song gives hint of the cacophonic assault occurring on "Casting Festival", celebrating the now erected tower trough furious bacchanal of drum and guitar maelstrom. In the middle part of the song the aggression settles down, instruments wandering each other with curious caution, still engaging momentarily to short skirmishes with each other. The drummer leads the group wonderfully with his freeform timings, proving his skill on melodic playing approach to his instrument. He also finds convincing channels to other musicians, who together close the song with sharp mutual strikes. Last tune "Diagram 3" has some shades of bluesy stoner music, but from quite alienated perspective. Maybe the concept here could be being observed as a process of people drawn building's construction blueprint diagrams without any plans about the end result. With time, fast but still quiet rhythm starts to gather the guitars together. Instead of blowing up a familiar riff passage, the process however tames down. From the subtle hours of void the guitars learn themselves the strait of monolithic note repetition, escaping to the grandiose void of astonishment left behind. One reference for this album's music could be Pat Metheny's "The Sign of Four" experimentations, if implemented to the psychedelic heavy sound familiar from Pharaoh Overlord's other recordings, but not getting lost as far as the referred project did. The difference seems to be the choice between total rejection of basic human emotions in their aggressive chaos versus confusion still relating to common subconsciousness. A really fine experimental record from the Pharaohs of mythic rock codexes, certainly recommended.