SONAR & DAVID TORN: VORTEX

Right now I consider this my third favourite record from 2018 after the works of Dewa Budjana and ALL TRAPS ON EARTH. And I have to mention another trio of albums starting with "Vortex" which is the first five star SONAR album for me and no it's not a coincidence that this is where David Torn gets on the bus. And the appeal of this one is his upfront presence. It's like he let his hair down(and he has a lot of it) impressing to no end the other four musicians involved.

2019's "Fractal Guitar" by SONAR's leader Stephan Thelen is a five star affair where Torn and many other guitarists show their unique skills. Love that record and my favourite from that year. Finally "Tranceportaion II" from SONAR released in 2020 makes such a great trio of like-minded albums but with each having it's own flavour and this third record I'm mentioning again has Torn on it but it's the other two guitarists and the bass player using tritone instruments that sounds so incredible.

The music here was recorded live in studio over three days in Switzerland and I'm so glad Torn was there and not just mailing in his parts. In fact Torn produced and mixed this recording. Again Thelen is the main composer here but everyone chips in when it comes to that. So we get three guitarists, a bass player and a drummer. The liner notes are nothing but pictures of the band at the studio and they are meaningful and show a real bond already between Torn and the rest of the guys. This is such a consistent record which I like, in fact five of the six tracks I'd rate at 5 stars leaving "Monolith" as the one lone non-killer track. Still really good and the longest at almost 11 minutes but man those other five have me scratching my head as to which one is the best, or even a top three.

I was always drawn to the closer "Lookface!" as it hits the ground running while the others usually build. A heavy rhythm section on this one with Torn soloing over top. "Red Shift" has to be a tip of the hat to that Space Rock band from the UK. Strummed guitar is different to open but it works as drums and bass kick in. This trips along mid-paced and it sounds amazing. Love when the guitar rises out of that calm around 4 1/2 minutes. Torn is back soloing late. "Waves And Particles" is a drifting track as Torn comes and goes. This just sounds so good.

The title track like others opens with the band tripping along until around 3 1/2 minutes when everything is amped up. So good! We get a calm then it builds and this sounds incredible ending with Torn and some really good drum work just before 8 minutes. And yet the opener "Part 44" might be the best of the bunch. Torn puts on a show and this just "sounds" so good and at 10 minutes it's a ride but Torn kills on the second half of this one.

This one for me is mostly about the David Torn influence, it's very strong and less so moving forward.