OHMPHREY

A US product between the Jazz/Fusion act Ohm and Jam-Rockers Umphrey's McGee, Ohm-phrey started rehearsals in 2009, featuring guitarist Chris Poland and bassist Robertino Pagliari from Ohm and guitarist Jake Cinninger, keyboardist Joel Cummins and drummer Kris Myers from Umphrey's McGee.These would soon end up to the band's self-titled debut, released the same year on Magna Carta.

Reasonably ''Ohmphrey'' contains elements from both the Fusion approach of Ohm and the jamming energy of Umphrey's McGee.Crunchy guitar riffing followed by the some strong jazzy solos, swirling bass lines, complex drumming but also hypnotic passages with dreamy synths on the background.The album presents a nice balance between relaxing parts and fiery, more technical playing, where Jazz, Fusion, Heavy Rock (there is a strong RUSH flavor throughout) and Funk are well-tight together and any fans of these bands are sure to follow the project.The shorter tracks of the album are very good with some nice ideas on the solo and lead parts, surprisingly the longer ones that close the album are a bit of a dissapointment.Too improvised and loose in terms of structure with overstretched themes and grooves, these sound more like long jamming sections than fully-arranged ideas.

File next to the albums of OHM, UZEB, GAMALON, TRIBAL TECH, DJAM KARET and UMPHREY'S MCGEE.Strong and dynamic Fusion with Heavy Rock touches here and there, still I think the two very long ending jams should have been either avoided or shortened.Recommended overall.