Progressive Rock Reviews

Gordian Knot
GORDIAN KNOT

Gordian Knot are :
Sean Malone on Bass, Stick and Keyboards
Sean Reinert on Drums
Trey Gunn on Touch Guitar
Ron Jarzombek on Guitar
Glenn Snelwar on Guitar
John Myung on Stick

The tracks are :
1. galois
2. code/anticode
3. reflections
4. megrez
5. singularity
6. redemptions way
7. komm süsser Tod, komm sel'ge
8. rivers dancing
9. srikara tal
In early 1998 The Laser's Edge signed Sean Malone, A former member of the avante-garde metal band Cynic, for the release of his upcoming insttumental solo album 'Gordian Knot'.

'Gordian Knot' was conceived as a project to demonstrate Malone's abilities as both composer and performer. Malone's ground-breaking performance on Cynic's 1994 release 'Focus' brought him worldwide acclaim for his bass work and his mastery of the 12-string Chapman Stick. On 'Gordian Knot' he pushes the instruement to it's limits - whether he is playing percussive bass lines, flowing glissandos, or pure shredding leads that would wither most guitarists.

Only musicians of the highest calibre could perform music of such complexity. Drawing from the genres of progressive rock and metal, Malone invited an all-star lineup to participate.
Trey Gunn, a member of the current line up of King Crimson.
Sean Reinhart, former bandmate from Cynic.
Ron Jarzombek, Guitarist with Watchtower and Spastic Ink.
John Myung, appears on two tracks, from progmetal band Dream Theater.

The opening track is 'galois', which is more of a spacey atmospheric track all done by Sean Malone on Keyboards. There are 2 impressions I get when I listen to this track. The first is being on a ship viewing Whale's and listening to their sounds. The second is being onboard a doomed spaceship and hearing noises as the ship creaks and moans.

The next track is 'code/anticode', this track starts with some great guitar work and keyboards, these are mainly in the background, but as time passes they move forward for the start of a short solo which develops into some highly intricate guitar playing. The drums and bass are all excellent too. The sounds then fade away to a more mellew sound, but it's not long before it's back to more intricate guitar work. Theres a drum solo towards the end of the track with some atmopspheric sounds going on in the background, the just before the end theres some more excellent guitar and keyboards.

The third track 'reflections' has quite a heavy guitar sound to it, but this is mainly in the background with another guitar playing some intricate work followed by some excellent stick work, this then fades to acoustic guitar with an excellent solo coming in over the top. Then it's back to the heavier guitar sound, then back to acoustic and another solo.

The next track 'megrez' this track is made up of menacing heavy guitar sounds intermingled with a driving stick sound and classical influenced acoustic guitar that changes direction, mood and tempo throughout the track. There are some nice keyboards too, but these are mainly in the background.

'singularity', An excellent track with quite a heavier sound to it. The guitar work is simply breathtaking. The section in the middle is more atmospheric and more mellow, a kind of spacey interlude, before returning back to the heavier guitar work, fine keyboards and a wonderful guitar solo.

The sixth track 'redemption's way', starts with tribal drum rhythms before some nice melodic sounds from Sean Malone come in. This is quite a beautiful track, very melodic with two solos by Sean and two by Trey Gunn on Touch Guitar.

The next track 'komm süsser Tod, komm sel'ge' Sean Malone's arrangement of this J.S.Bach composition. Theres still a lot of classical feeling to this track, but with a lot of spacey atmospheric sounds fading in and out throughout.

'rivers dancing', this is another fairly heavy track with a wonderful driving rhythm superb keyboards and some stunning guitar work from Ron. After a while the music changes direction to a more melodic sound with John coming in on stick, there quite a Middle Eastern feel to the music at this point. The music then changes direction again and returns to the heavier sounds of earlier with some more excellent guitar work this time from Glenn.

The ninth track 'srikara tal', this track has a tribal drum rhythm which to me sounds similar to the one used in the film Crocodile Dundee, with some atmospheric sounds over the top.

Track 10 'grace', I am not sure if this is the title to track 10, but it could be looking at the inner sleeve as there is no track 10 listed in the track listing, maybe it's just untitled. Anyway this track starts with some nice multi- intricate guitar works, and this is another beautiful track with a wonderful touch guitar solo before going into a Fripp type soundscape.

Released on Sensory (a division of Laser's Edge). P.O.Box 388. Voorhees, New Jersey, 08043 0388, USA.
Tel: 609 751 6444
Fax: 609 751 7466

http://www.lasercd.com/Merchant/lasercd/
Email : lasercd@aol.com

There was something that struck me as I read along the press release while listening to GK's second all instrumental. Sean Malone, bass and stick man - "stick" operating much as would the bass or guitar, only the strings are tapped, not plucked, to achieve a more percussive and broader sound - and we'll call him "Project Manager" here, as rightful organizer of the latest GK collaboration, only don't suggest it's only a "project…"

A noteworthy piece of description from Malone followed: "There is structure similar to vocal music where you expect verses and choruses, though the verses are through-composed solo sections, and choruses retain an integrated melodic framework…"

Ah, simple then. Let's do instrumental music and give more headway to the instrumentation. Okay, then strike the equal balance of technical tactics from within, so as to justify an all-instrumental performance in the first place… Sounds easy but then why aren't more bands doing it?

We all know they could play, why not pull in the reigns, pattern the playing to the song, and save the solos for scenery? But then are we still doing Progressive music?

Anyway, "Emergent" initiates the discussion firstly, and all throughout the eight tracks, that are of a generally mid-range to slow variety, and answer themselves in a usually systematic way - but then when we're running rates of six to eight and beyond, there's only so many places to duck under.

"Arsis" is a mild intro track which leads into "Muttersprache," a mixed bag all its own; beginning with bludgeoning guitar riffs and siren-like harmonics, it soon avails to a quieter lull of keys and progressive effects. "A Shaman's Whisper" starts similarly with choppy riffs and offbeat drumming, while the solo plays above and next thing, you're rising like a bird in flight for one of the more convoluted guitar tracks on the disc.

It's also one of more melodically crafted pieces that's both tranquil and troublesome and also noteworthy in marking the first grouping of the former band Cynic for which Malone once played bass.

For a good example of the previously mentioned Stick instrument, track five, a "live" version of "Grace" features Malone and his instrument of choice for a beautifully presented song that holds up surprisingly well till the faucet drip effect becomes too much to handle four or five minutes later and next… "The Brook The Ocean" seems to follow the grammatically poor character of the title; featuring an early indication of jazzed up Prog-rock, it soon slowly gives way to an undersea speak sound alike by way of amplified bass thump that again yields to the returning utility man Malone, donning bass, guitar, keys, and loop effects for this disquieting example of untypical limb stretching.

Such continues further on for the eighth and final, "Singing Deep Mountain," where the full ensemble of guests return to raise the stakes again for this tranquil and trippy exodus that collects momentum as it gathers steam, reshaping and restarting itself at two or three minute intervals, here, closing out in a rising crescendo of mass continuum.

It's always touch and go it seems with the many Progressive music projects that come and go these days. The fact their last self-titled did in excess of 12 grand's not a small achievement; I haven't heard it but it featured similar but different contributing musicians from the perfect pitch community, but I can definitely suggest this one's more rambunctious than most, and finds a flood of different styles competing for attention off and again, giving the extra boost of excitability factor that's quickly shorn by slimmer margined solo-ism techniques.

Features: Bill Bruford, Jim Matheos, Paul Masvidal, Jason Gobel, Steve Hackett, and Sean Reinert.

Released on Sensory (a division of Laser's Edge). P.O.Box 388. Voorhees, New Jersey, 08043 0388, USA.
Tel: 609 751 6444
Fax: 609 751 7466

http://www.lasercd.com/Merchant/lasercd/
Email : lasercd@aol.com

Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]
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Vinnie Apicella

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