Coronavirus, quarantines, lockdowns… This seems to be the only thing we are reading all through social media around the world. Though a very serious and sad situation (stay home!), there are other ways to battle the probable lack of activity that you may be going through at home and, if you feel adventurous, you should press play to Kilter‘s Axiom (Alter-Nativ). The Brooklyn trio composed of Kenny Grohowski (Imperial Triumphant) on drums, Ed Rosenberg III on sax, and Laurent David on bass brings a very exciting, weird record that combines the heaviness of their obvious Metal roots with the strange soundscapes that Jazz can bring.
This album reminds me of other trios that have combined Jazz with Metal influences like Trioscapes, which is formed by Between the Buried and Me‘s bassist Dan Briggs and, now Cynic drummer, Matt Lynch, in the sense that it brings the extremely aggressive, yet technical jazzy parts, but with the heavy, fuzzy, and dirtiness that only these kind of musicians can bring to the table.
And it’s just simply a matter of them trying to be ahead of the curb, establishing new parameters for people that want to get out of their comfort zone and discover unfamiliar soundscapes. Though mostly an instrumental album, the track ‘Out of Kilter’ brings some Death Metal growls performed by Andromeda Anarchia from the band Darkmatters, which adds to the heaviness of the track. The album also features a guitar solo from Per Nilsson (Meshuggah, Scar Symmetry) in the track “Spherical Bastards” that brings the notorious and tasty licks that only Nilsson can provide. My favorite track of the album is, without a doubt, “Kafkanated”, though heavy as well, this track has a bit of a Latin Jazz groove and my Latin heritage cannot deny moving to the catchy rhythm pattern of this song.
This album is a total clash of sounds and explosion of musical emotions, having said that, this is not for everyone. But if you’re adventurous and would like to add a new band to your collection of strange bands, this is the record for you. So, go ahead, press play, you don’t have anything better to do anyway. Trust me, it’ll be worth the trip!
7 / 10
WESLIE NEGRON