CONJURE

Herd of Instinct's "Conjure" is an instrumental album with some heavy guitars and embellishments of flute, trumpet, fretless bass, Hammond, Moog and Mellotron and some killer drums. Immediately one will recognise heavy influences of King Crimson, especially on the polyphonic time signatures of 'Brutality of Fact', even feeling at one point like guitarist Mike Davison is channelling Robert Fripp.

This leads to the spacier effects on 'Alice Krige Pt.1 ' with a haunting guitar sounding violin style, punctuated by African rhythms and sweeping keyboards. Joel Adair's trumpet is otherworldly and adds a genuine feeling of isolation and shrouds the nocturnal atmosphere. The flute further enhances the soundscape played beautifully by Bob Fisher; a mesmerising track.

'Solitude One' continues the ambient sound, with backwards keys and an Egyptian or Arabic flavour resounding; an incredible atmosphere. Another great track is 'Mother Night' utilising the fretless bass well and swathes of synths that transfix with their beauteous melodies. 'Vargtimmen' has a short narrative then locks into pronounced Crimsonian guitar phrases and grandiose synth lines. 'Malise' is more King Crimson sounds that have a dissonant aroma until breaking into frenetic tom tom percussion and blasts of guitar distortion. There is a heavier feel on 'New Lands' with a driving fast tempo and more aggressive guitar expulsions. The lead break is dynamic and frenetic.

'A Sense of an Ending' slows things down to a simmering keyboard and bold fretless bassline notations. The effervescent keyboard phrases are coupled by guitar glissando and some distorted off beat rhythms. 'The Secret of Fire' closes things off with glistening key pads and phased lead guitar over a relentless bass and drum signature. The melody is more upbeat and it ends with an improvisation of sustained lead and ethereal synth. It is a wonderful journey and one of the better instrumental albums out there.