KAROSHI

Second album from this American instrumental electronic rock quartet. In a similar style to the debut but more interesting and slightly more adventurous overall. The drumming is better and the keyboard sounds are more diverse. The guitars (especially the bass) are more noticeable and prominent than before. One thing there is less of here is the vocal samples, but they are not totally gone. This is still '90s style rhythm-heavy, electronic-oriented "post-rock" but the music here would be of more interest to proggers in general than the first album.

"Strong Holder" is a great way to open the album, being fast-paced and energenic. There is some nice sustained wailing guitar notes throughout the piece. The track is built around a busy drum pattern and keyboard sounds going back and forth. Great organ soloing here. "The Companion" opens with looped glockenspiel or something similar. The music starts off playful and child-like but then turns into something more dramatic and suspenseful. The main keyboard melody keeps your attention.

"Thomas Jefferson Airplane" is a hard-hitting piece of music with some interesting percussion parts. Love the spacey synth in the middle. After that part it gets stereotypical 'prog' sounding for a moment. "Monterey Days / Malibu Nights" is another hard-hitting track. Sounds like everything except the drums are done on keyboards. Great interplay between those keyboards though. "Dull Normal" is a very (synth)bass heavy track. Love the dub-y echoed snare drum. Great piece of IDM-inspired "post-rock".

"Taco Muerte" has samples of someone talking in Spanish (I know, weird right?). The music is some kind of reggae-waltz until some ethereal keyboards show up, then it becomes some sort of New Age Trip-Hop. More dissonant keys show up later (or is that guitar?). "Craters Of The National Moon" is a very electronic piece that is also equal parts spacey and avant. The title track starts off based around a tribal-like drum pattern and droning synth. It develops into a vaguely Middle-Eastern sounding part as the drumming gets more loose and varied with lots of fills. Dies down at the end.

This would be their last album for a few years before making just one more. All three of their albums have something to offer, but Karoshi is the more consistent and the most 'proggy'. Maybe not all killer but very little filler. A solid 4 stars.