THE DEVOURING

The Devouring is a stellar instrumental prog rock album that is frequently compared to King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and Ozric Tentacles. While I can hear those influences crop up this is not a clone band. They are more melodic than Crimson and often much more aggressive than Floyd. The rhythm section often reminds me of early Marillion although the songs do not. What you will find here are long and expressive instrumentals that sometimes have an epic feel to them. The speed of the songs vary and there are nice transitions and changes but they are natural and never artificially jerky or complex. The band doesn't need many gimics to grab your attention as they have the chops to please prog fans and the writing skills to keep most of you engaged.

For a little background on the band's name I turn to GEPR: "First, let's all get the pronunciation down pat: zhahm ka-RETTE. It's not DEE-jam Carrot. According to the band, Djam Karet is a Balinese phrase that means "the hour that stretches." However you pronounce the band's name, one thing is certain: Djam Karet has produced some of the most original American Progressive Rock." [this paragraph from Gibraltar]

Guitar sounds are broad and inventive with many levels of acoustic and electric textures. Rhythm guitar is tight but only occasionally harsh while lead solos can be dreamy and Gilmour-ish to downright piercing. Keyboards are about perfect for my tastes because they are primarily employed for creating background soundscapes and atmospheres rather than showing off technology. The sound quality of the album is also to my taste in that it isn't too harsh like some modern production, and the balance of the instruments in the mix allow everyone to be clearly heard.

"Night of the Mexican Goat Sucker" begins the festivities with a bang. This one is quite aggressive with riffing that borders on prog-metal although this is no prog-metal album. This is just one face of Djam Karet and why they are somewhat hard to compartmentalize. Heavy soloing wall to wall on top of these riffs will get your heart rate up.

"Forbidden by Rule" continues the heavy rock riffs out of the gate. The first half of this album is much heavier while the second half is slower and more dreamy. The guitar work throughout this track clearly enters space-rock territory and in parts remind me a little of Porcupine Tree. With PT vocals on this you could have an outtake from Deadwing.

"Lost but Not Forgotten" departs from the adrenaline of the opening two songs beginning with some smooth bass and keyboard work. The mood is serene and a little whimsical around 2 minutes in with some nice 70s sounding symphonic melodies. From here on it could almost be a Genesis track circa mid 70s. Very emotional lead guitars late in the song.

"Lights Over Roswell" features some very eerie violin textures which are really nice but the track lacks the focus and spark that the other have. The rhythm guitar here sounds a bit like the jangly Gilmour parts of "Run Like Hell" or "ABITW part 1."

"Myth of a White Jesus" features wonderfully far away sounding leads over clean electric chords for a gorgeous effect that just washes over you in waves, with no percussion. Sadly this is the shortest track, I could listen to the beautiful emotional guitar of this track for an hour and just drift away. Perfect (except too short.)

"The River of No Return" features ambient keyboards softly backing dreamy guitar leads until the 4 minutes mark when the bass and drums come in at a medium pace. They shuffle a bit while the guitars and keys trade off leads. At 6 minutes the rhythm changes and we go to a tabla style percussion with more calming keyboards.

"Room 40" is another 8 plus minute song starting with creepy faraway sounds until the band joins at about a minute in. The pace is slow here with a Floydian feel and lovely it is. Another one that will clearly please 70s symphonic fans. This song conjures images of gliding over canyons; it would be a perfect soundtrack for some kind of nature film.

"The Indian Problem" is a slow acoustic ambient background with flourishes of any and everything coming and going without much structure. Bass and percussion become lead instruments here while the guitar holds down what little frame the song has. Very nice.

"The Pinzler Method" is entirely a howling Adrian Belew-like guitar solo to a medium speed.

"Old Soldiers' Disease" is the longest track at 11 minutes. It is well constructed and I would describe this song as having a curious Neo-Prog genre feel to it. A very good closer that leaves you wanting more.

There are so many colors and interesting excursions here that you will never miss the vocals. This album is nothing short of fantastic and one of the most amazing CDs I own from the 90s. I just love it. 4.5 stars.

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