VOLUME TWO

Perhaps made a massive prog splash with their first volume and caused quite a stir in the prog community as they demanded to be noticed and nobody worth their salt in the progiverse could ignore them. They return with a release just under 30 minutes; so who could resist? It sounded like a fun way to spend an afternoon on a rainy day so here we go. Perhaps Volume Two takes off with a droning pulsating ebb in the first few minutes that builds ominously and reminds me of Krautrock such as Faust or even shades of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Then a grungy guitar begins to howl and moan as though being tortured with an unsettling aura. A blood bolstering bassline pounds solidly and makes the heart quicken. Then the band really take off into full flight with sporadic jazz percussion, barking mad lead guitar and spasmodic bass; this is what we came to hear!

It slows and then decides to gain pace again at about 9 and a half minutes. Where to from here? This is challenging music so it could go anywhere and I hoped it would. After a messy irregular slice of dissonant rock it locks into a rock guitar vibe, and then switches time sigs for no reason other than to blow out the drummer. He struggles to keep up as the pace gets into death metal mode, then a screaming guitar solo bursts through. That's a guitar in pain right there! It squeals and glitches and cries out in agony and the rhythm is now channelling the space rock of Hawkwind. Indeed there is a spacey reverbed delay on the guitar, and the bass is pummelling.

The guitar gets more chaotic and blazes gloriously along the slowing down bass and drums. The drummer is having a field day on the cymbals and the bass is hypnotic speeding to a frenetic pace. At 17 minutes it sounds again like space rock; did Dave and Nik enter the room? The band sound like they are having way too much fun as this evolves into an improvised freakout of fret melting lead guitar and bass that Lemmy would be proud of.

Towards the end it sounds like the opening of ACDC's 'Thunderstruck'. Then we settle into a straight four on the floor rock time sig. not for long though as a demented waltz tempo strikes up. The lead guitar is an inferno tearing up the rhythm admirably. The bass mixed to the front is awe inspiring. The pace slows at about 22 minutes in and it is a calm tranquil atmosphere after the maelstrom previous.

I loved this track but it feels way too short and would benefit by being a section of the part one release. Part One was shattering music, that built into a frenzy of musical instruments competing for supremacy, and at times sounding like an explosion went off in a music shop. This part two track is not quite to that high standard but still pleases the ear with dissonant textures, polyphonic rhythms and fiery percussion with irregular beats. I think the band really set the bar high with their debut and this recent release does not have the flurry of musical instruments of the previous part and tends moreover to focus on the lead guitar. However again, Perhaps prove they are a band to be taken notice of. Look forward to more from these innovators.