THE DEVOURING

The US combo Djam Karet, being one of the most creative prog bands around, unsurprisingly has a number of great to excellent items in their résumé: "The Devouring" is one of their most outstanding gems. Generally speaking, this recording's line of work is like a confluence between the ethereal psychedelia of their sophomore effort "Reflections from the Firepool" and the explosive fireworks of "Burning the Hard City". The recording process was so intermittent that Henderson, one of the guitarists, could only perform on 4 tracks, leaving Ellett and bassist Osborne in charge of most of the guitar parts, despite this detail, this repertoire is full of pushing energy, many times taken to a compelling level. The rhythm tandem of Osborne and Oken, as always, serves as a rock of resistance and a versatile foundation for the instrumental travels, be them leaning toward the hardest side of prog or going for more texturial realms. 'Night of the Mexican Goat' y 'Forbidden by Rule', strategically placed as the first two numbers, reveal the prototypical Djam Karet symptom: a powerful musical source delivering relentless, punchy ideas in a well-ordained compenetration. The latter includes effective mellotron layers between the dual guitar excursions. And since we're talking about this progressive paradigm keyboard, let me tell you that it sets the opening passage of 'Lost, but Not Forgotten', a melancholic piece in which DK focuses on their melodic side further, without giving up on the aura of sophistication provided by the motif shifts and rhythm changes. The synth-dominated sections offer a clever counterpart to the sections led by the guitar solos (which set a kind of compromise between Metheny and Gilmour, go figure!). 'Lights over Roswell' kicks off in a cosmic mood until it derives into a speedier section partially influenced by 80's King Crimson. The intervention of guest violinist Judy garp proves crucial for the track's development. The cosmic thing is the general rule for 'Myth of a White Jesus', in which the keyboard layers and the guitar picking create a gray, autumnal atmosphere. Things continue to deepen into the ethereal side of prog in the log introductory section of 'The river of No Return' until the main motif shows a playful hook that momentarily shifts into the extroverted side of DK's ideology. A few second before minute 6, things take yet another dramatic turn into an ethnic-electronic section in which the bass guitar assumes a starring role with some Tony Levin-inspired phrases, craftily displaying themselves among the synthesizers' amalgam and guitar-synth layers. The combined programmed and human percussions set an exotic architecture in which the aforesaid dreamy sounds find a proper focus. 'Room 40' finds the band getting at their most Floydian, bringing the various motifs with enthusiasm and sensibility - the first half's central motif is retaken along the second half in a more complex fashion, thanks to the added role of keyboards that threaten to steal the limelight from the dual guitars. Such a great climax, indeed! The ethnic thing return with a vengeance in the eerie 'The Indian Problem', with featured acoustic guitar exorcising distant emotions and evocating thoughts over the rhythm pattern and the keyboard layers. The last two tracks deliver the typical DK robustness: 'The Pinzler Method' sets a marriage of early 90s Ozric Tentacles' dynamics and modern King Crimson's neurosis; 'The Soldier's Disease' is an 11-minute travel across the harder and the more languid sides of psychedelic tradition, once again including noticeable influences from classic Pink Floyd. Djam Karet is one of the undisputed points of reference for what's the best that progressive rock can still give to the music market nowadays - definitely, "The Devouring" serves as a very good evidence for this statement.