TRIAX

Triax biography
Formed in 2003, Triax are a British electroacoustic trio from Leicester and the most recent incarnation of Alto Stratus, the project of Alan and Steve Freeman. Here the brothers are joined by hurdy-gurdyist Dave Powell, with whom the Freemans also play in Extremities, the industrial krautrock quartet from which Triax are a direct spin-off. Existing alongside Extremities and flagship group Endgame, Triax began when Jim Tetlow temporarily left those ensembles to stay with friends in Australia, with the Freeman brothers and Powell seeking to forge a new and distinct path in his absence. Triax are currently the most active of the Auricle projects, amassing nearly forty-five full-length LPs, three live albums and three videos, with their most recent album, Hidden Planet, released in 2023.

Triax's sound is consistent with the Freemans' prior groups, continuing and refining their tradition of improvised hallucinatory kosmische missives twisted and shaped in the studio by Alan. A blend of krautrock, raga, medieval folk and psychedelic rock elements, Triax's sonic signature lies somewhere between Endgame and Extremities, with the latter's more explicit rhythms replaced by the implicit clang of industrial loops both analog and digital. Alan and Steve remain on guitar, bass and synthesizer duties with Powell supplementing his hurdy-gurdy with flute and violin, with all three members sampling and processing various objects to build their restless aural miasma.

Triax cite their influences as La Monte Young, early Klaus Schulze, Nurse With Wound, Bernard Parmegiani, Zoviet France, François Bayle, Faust, Cranioclast, Amon Düül and even Alessandro Alessandroni. The trio's mind-bending dark ambient will appeal to fans of the Stargazer's Assistant, Suspirium, Aidan Baker, Endoplasmic Flow, the Interstellar Cementmixers and Dead Voices on Air.


- Gordy, February 2024