DESENSITIZED TO INSANITY

"Desensitized to Insanity" is the debut full-length studio album by Canadian jazz-rock/fusion act Where´s the Nine. The album was released through Cyclone Records in 2008. Drummer Barry Conners met the other half of Where´s the Nine Dean Watson (everything else than drums and percussion) in 1979 when he joined Dean Watson´s band AirKraft. Barry Conners was not satisfied with the low income that came from playing in a progressive/jazz-rock band and went on to pursue a more commercially rewarding career. He has played with artists such as Coney Hatch, Lee Aaron and Toronto. 25 years went by without the two of them speaking to each other until they found each other through the internet and then started exchanging ideas. "Desensitized to Insanity" is a product of those ideas.

The music is Instrumental Fusion with both jazz-rock and progressive rock elements. I hear a couple of heavy metal elements too, although the latter is in no way a dominant trait of the music. Artists like Allan Holdsworth, UK, and Planet X are some of the influences I think I hear in the music.

Most songs on the 8 tracks, 57:52 minutes long album are pretty excellent and adventurous compositions and even the closing track "The Camera Ear", which to my ears is a bit too jazz oriented is extremely well performed and composed. "2 Days Left" is one of the highligts of the album with its dark atmosphere and aggressive playing. The drumming on that track is otherworldly. The musicianship is outstanding. Dean Watson who plays both keyboards, guitars, and bass is an extraordinary musician to say the least. He handles all instruments on a virtuosic level. But to my ears the price goes to drummer Barry Connors. What a fantastic musician. Seldom have I heard as varied, challenging, fast, and precise drumming. Being a big metal fan I would really like to hear him play some tech metal. I´m very impressed with his inventive and very powerful drumming.

The sound production took some time to learn to appreciate as it´s a pretty cold and sterile sound, but considering the technical music and the busy and often aggressive playing, the sound production is actually suiting the material pretty well. Upon conclusion "Desensitized to Insanity" is a high quality jazz-rock/fusion release. It´s experimental, performed at a virtuosic level, and there´s some relatively interesting songwriting ideas here and there too. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.