ABANDONSHIP

I've been aware of Dave Kerman for some time, initially through his time as the drummer with Present and his involvement in Aranis' 2010 release, Roqueforte. I had been curious about this band for a while, and upon finding out that it was Dave Kerman who was responsible for almost everything on this album, my curiosity lead me to finally acquiring it.

Deborah Perry (from Thinking Plague, who I have not yet had the pleasure of exploring) does the vocals on this album, and the sound is by Udi Koomran. Other than a few guests, Dave does everything else himself here. Which is amazing because there is not a dud track on this album - everything is great!

The sound is generally agressive. The weirdness one expects from a lot of avant-prog, in terms of note selection and rhtyhms, are here. But you can tell that these tracks are composed by a drummer, for there are great rhythmic bases to all of them that really give the layers of music on top a lot of freedom and expression. Deborah's vocals are odd yet beautiful, and really fit well with the music.

There are definitely a few brilliant tracks on this album that really make it stand out. I should clarify - every track on this album is great, but there are a few that go beyond that, that stand to me as testaments to the validity of this genre of music as a rock form.

There is the simple "Doubt Be Met", which does not include as much of the density of some of the other tracks, instead relying on organ and Deborah's vocals to create a great but short piece. "Noah's Flame" must be mentioned, and is in my eyes the stand out track, featuring the best moments both instrumental and vocally, as well as being oddly catchy and aggressive. Couple #3 is a Solo is just odd, but in a very cool way, and perfectly composed.

If you are able to get your hands on this album, do so - you will not regret it.