FRESH BLOOD

Not unlike their mates Boud Deun, Ozone Quartet is evolving into an uncommon quartet, with drums, guitar, violin and bass. The fact that the bass heared on this album is actually a Chapman Stick gives a hint on the more avant garde approach that Ozone Quartet wants to take. Nonetheless, while Boud Deun clearly leans toward jazz with its stylisticaly complex guitar playing, Ozone Quartet is obviously still more concerned by rock, and it rocks hard to say the least ! So, listening to "Fresh Blood" brings back to mind bandnames like Cynic (hopefully without its boring heavy metal singing), the Sean Malone's project, Gordian Knot, or Laundry, the fabulous project of ex-Primus drummer, Tim Alexander. And it's a bit of everything mentionned here that you can find on Ozone Quartet's debut ; an ambitious instrumental rock piece of work, focused on the art of contrasts, textures and ambiances. Well, they do not succeed at creating a world of their own, with the obvious influences and heavy load shadow of acts like King Crimson, ending with an album wich is pleasant to listen to but without any strong personnality. But it will surely find receptive ears amongst those who appreciate spanish Dificil Equilibrio or french Philharmonie, even if the latest are mostly acoustic.

This North Carolina-based fusion group consisted of excellent musicians on every instrument: bassist Wayne Leechford on chapman stick, Francis Dyer on drums, Hollis Brown on electric violin, and Jeremy Shaw on guitar. (No vocals.) Great fusion a la Mahavishnu/Crimson/Dregs, etc.

Similar to (but not quite as Crimson-esque as) Boud Deun, this group hits a home run on their debut album. Great production and nice balance between the instruments contribute to the excellent playing of some very energetic compositions. My only gripe is that the songs, though good, all start to sound a bit similar after awhile; I personally could have used more slower-paced songs and perhaps some different instrumentation here and there.

This group also put out another studio album ("Nocturne") around the same time as this one, which shows some maturing and progress. But I'd REALLY like to plug their live cd, "Live at Local 506", recorded during their tour following "Nocturne". Comprised of 5 songs each from both studio albums, you can really see how the group has become even tighter and more polished. It's amazing how they can rip through these complex songs live on stage!

I think the group has disbanded, so good luck picking these cd's up. Their website may still sell all of their cd's. If you're into instrumental prog fusion, you should seek them out.

Vive la difference!! After so much indie-rock, "hats-on-backwards", cut-offs and airwalks beer-pop-tunes belching alongside the plodding behemoth of overweight heave-metal, I long forgroups like Ozone Quartet. One word says it . . . refreshing.

Ethereal beauty, Hollis Brown, enchants on electric violin whilst axeman extraordinaire,Kenny Thompson twists and turns and rocks like John McLaughlin and Steve Morse. It's not empty riffing for speed records but soulful, well placed sonic seasonings that carry you down the river of prog-rock fusion dreams. An essence of King Crimson weaves itself throughout the disc as Wayne Leechford excels on Chapman Stick. His Levinesque precision is a delight to meld with. Percussive rich "bass" ties each composition together. Check Leechford out on "Dragonfly"! Francis Dyer provides complex time signature drumming and multi-atmospheric moments to each piece. I can see distant lands of ancient times in his polyrhythmic colorings and collages of beat.

80% of this album is an medium to slow paced, quirky, rocking, musical meandering through bizarre realms, fog shrouded moors, and moonlit shrines of ancient Babylon. It is a sorcery of sound, each artist playing off the other as if many arms of one unseen being. Brown and Thompson have plenty of room to stretch, wander off, and refuse the moment in each piece. Only two songs, "Surge", a very Mahavishnu Orchestra moment, and "Dragonfly", a King Crimsonic manic-overdriven tribute, dare speed along towards an upbeat frenzy.

People like references to get a feel for things so here are some comparisons. So . . . think Mahavishnu Orchestra, (Between Nothingness and Eternity) early Dixie Dregs, CurvedAir, (Air Conditioning), Darryl Dobson, (The Mind Electric), early JLPonty, Steve Kindler, (on Visions of the Emerald Beyond), Mark Wood, (Voodoo Violince), Boud Deun, (Fiction and Several Days), and of course King Crimson.

Last thoughts: Hollis Brown on violin and Wayne Leechford on Chapman Stick gives this group that singularly distinctive sound. (THERE ARE NO VOCALS on this CD. So what.)

Support quality progressive music. Add this to your collection, now! File it beside "Birds of Fire".