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Jannick Top - Infernal Machina CD (album) cover

INFERNAL MACHINA

Jannick Top

 

Zeuhl

4.09 | 148 ratings

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tszirmay
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars If there is one bassman that needs little introduction or any additional effusive praise in the wonderful world of prog, it must be France's Jannick Top. His legend is firmly anchored within the community, mainly for having taken the glorious instrument into deeper and unchartered realms, a unique style that serves not only the groove but the overlying sonic insanity that Magma have the recipe down pat. Heavy, lumbering, fanatical and devastating are words that describe well the feel and mood his bass spews with controlled abandon. Esteemed colleague sinkadotentree has been largely responsible for introducing me to this suspenseful marvel, another Carmina Burana dive into the abyss of tectonic torture and a foretaste of the upcoming Magma masterpiece. As a massive suite with blending parts, this is really nothing more than one colossal slab of molten, phosphorescent and distressing prog of the zeuhl variety, slowly evolving from early sizzles into a firestorm of unprecedented proportions , marshaled by Top's Rottweiler bass, a growling menace that snarls, barks and ultimately bites hard and bloody. In many ways, I consider this heavier than certain extreme forms of metal, as the concept is way more mechanically destructive, as presented on the fifth section (Part 5), a delirious barrage of insolent vehemence that shatters any pre-conceived predictability (pop music this ain't, bubba!), schizoid guitar ramblings welding within the frenetic pounding of the drums and a relentless semi- Arabic tinge as if the desert opened into a subterranean chasm. Needless to say (and as to be expected), a heavy use of volcanic piano is entrusted in the role of hypnotizing the theme in a style that can be hard to explain in words. Part 7 reverts to some semblance of melody, with a delicate piano pressing the crashing cymbals along, displaying their cooler jazz tendencies clearly "sans equivoque", crawling back into the insistence that is their unique claim to fame, repetitive lines hammered into the psyche with no pity, imagine a hard- assed Soft Machine (I have always felt the existence of certain parallels between these two classic bands). By Part 10, things get into the whirlwind mode, swirling like fluttering ash expulsions, the voice effects and the nuclear piano bashing away like some narcotic. The infernal electric guitars begin their trash attack, shuffling, scratching and clawing assiduously. Sounds like a soundtrack for a new 'The Omen" sequel. Part 12 gets really experimental (or as I like to say, "just plain mental"), a modern binary beat pulverized into a delirious pulp that inspires lunacy. What a finale! Surely a candidate for the bizarre album of the new millennium (well never so odd for the Kobaļans!).

I am not necessarily a zeuhl fanatic (more of an admirer) but I can understand the shock that this will cause when eared by the believers. I just follow the bass patterns and go to heaven (a darker version though). 4.5 seismic quakes

tszirmay | 4/5 |

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