TOWARDS THE MYSTERIUM

This eclectic sounding instrumental album merging classical, jazz and metal influences is the first release by The Fractured Dimension trio. Jimmy Pitts (piano & keyboards), Jerry Twyford (5,6 strong bass) and Alex Arellano (drums & percussion) created here an album that is a homage to composer Alexander Scriabin and named after his uncompleted final creation Mysterium (hence the name of this album). 17 rather short tracks make up this album, travelling from keyboards fronted tunes to guitar based tracks, ranging from jazzy interludes and metallic parts in a sound that brings to mind a chamber music setting all with progressive and intricate composing and playing. Some tracks seem more amorphic and abstract, frameless even, where an improvisation like spirit dwells. Others have a more solid anchor, and move forward with high energy. The album also boasts a certain atmosphere, which sounds a bit sterile and cold.

While the album presents good and entertaining ideas, playing and tunes, I feel it lacks a center that leads it onwards, a focus and coherence in the compositions themselves. While the abstract quality, the impressionist characteristics here are well done and do serve the music well, I feel it would have served to give them more orientation and "purpose" to help move the music forward. Even tracks like Fibonacci's Notebook or The Mathematics Of Divinity which has an appealing rhythm and groove and is dynamic and compelling seems to wander too much at times, "unsure" how to develop and could have been further expanded. Other shorter tracks (Strangeness for instance), which sound like ideas performed on spot, or maybe improvisations, are nice tunes and help to create a special mood but don't contribute too much in other terms to the album.

Despite all that, it is an album worth listening to, as it is not a bad album; it is just not as good as it could have been. And it could have been better as the ingredients are all here (musicianship, musical ideas and compositional skill), they just need to "cook" them differently, while preserving the basis and taking them further.

A pretty wild ride offered by US trio The Fractured Dimension here, with a minor army of guest musicians helping out in this endeavour.

And to be blunt: If expressions like pleasant, melodic, accesible, driving or structured are amongst the ones you might use when describing the music you like best, this is probably not a CD you'd want to investigate.

With what in my ars sounds like pretty strong influences from free form jazz, especially in the rhythms department, dissonances, arhythmic excursions and chaotic disharmonies is the name of this particular game.

From multiple layers of frantic noisescapes to gentler ventures with a more laidback, subtle use of dissonant effetcs it's the fragmentation of themes that is the main issue here - to provide a constant melodic theme within a sonic chaotic inferno or the resonances of selected notes forming a strong theme within the gentler efforts. This is taxing and challenging music; not always succesfull either but intriguing and interesting enough when it works.

An album that warrants some investigation by those who love boundary-breaking, avant-style musical endeavours.

The Fractured Dimension is a trio consisting of Jimmy Pitts on keyboards /piano, Jerry Twyford on bass, and Alex Arellano on drums/percussion. Pitts and Twyford were members of avant- garde dark metal band Scholomance (The End Records), and Arellano was the drummer for the progressive metal band Power of Omens (Elevate Records). So on the basis of the above it would appear that this is a metal band with progressive tendencies. Right? Wrong! Firstly, they brought in a host of other musicians as guests to enable them to bring more diverse sounds to the table, and then decided that their debut album would be a tribute to Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin. He was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Fr'd'ric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system, accorded to mysticism, that presaged twelve-tone composition and other serial music. Apparently the first major example of this is the 5th piano sonata of 1907 ' now you know!

This use of atonal and extremely complex music means that this album has way more in common with free jazz than what many progheads would normally listen to. The musicianship throughout is stunning both in its' complexity and note density. Some of the drum fills are just incredible ' 'The Mathematics of Divinity' is a great example of their work. Compelling and melodic, yet also totally off the wall with phased electric guitars also making their presence felt. While Jimmy is often at the forefront of what is going on, as he is usually providing the lead 'melody', it is the rhythm section that really makes this jump. If you are lucky enough to enjoy bands like Art Zoyd or Can then I definitely suggest that you give this a try. www.thefractureddimension.com