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Metal Chaos Ensemble: Intermetallic Compounds
ByYuri Zbitnov, a regular in Leap of Faith and Metal Chaos Ensemble, juggles at least nine different "instruments" on Intermetallic Compounds and within that collection, he runs the gamut from traditional drums through the Chinese stringed instruments, the guzheng and yanqin. Vibraphonist Andria Nicodemou also plays the two Chinese instruments along with other instruments. PEK mans the saxophones and an assortment similar to Zbitnov and Nicodemou. All in all, the three musicians manage about eighteen different instruments, few of them customary to any existing genre.
The title track is the entire album, running a bit over forty-seven minutes. Much of the first ten minutes of "Intermetallic Compounds" are left to an arsenal of musical devices, bells, whistles and metal, almost delicately carving out a wave of sound. Yet "chaos" is not the atmosphere at allnot yet. As the layers begin to build, we enter into something like a grandfather clock factory run amok as sounds swirl together around a warped melody with PEK's saxophone becomes clearer. The sound gets angrier and the noise edgier as the tension builds, leading to a partial collapse into more primal territory and vocalizations that seem not quite human. Then the disarray fades and the sound becomes hypnotic once again.
The music is as much about what individual instruments/devices can bring to the overall sound as it is about individual musicianship. In other words, PEK and company use every available tool to its maximum functionality on an extended aural improvisation that marries people and their tools. Intermetallic Compounds is mesmerizing and filled with an expectancy only for the next unexpected turn of events. This is living, breathing art in every sense of the word.
Track Listing
Intermetallic Compounds.
Personnel
PEK: tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, bass tromboon, contra-alto clarinet, gaunzi, sheng, metal, crotales/bells, daxophone, aquasonic, theremin; korg ms-20, daiko, guzheng, yanqin, whistles; Andria Nicodemou: vibes, crotales/bells, metal, aquasonic, daxophone, guzheng, yanqin; Yuri Zbitnov: metal, drums, Daiko, Indian Festival Drum, daxophone, vibes, aquasonic, crotales/bells, yanqin, voice.
Album information
Title: Intermetallic Compounds | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Evil Clown