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BURNING THE HARD CITYDjam KaretEclectic Prog |
From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website




Note to Lethe: I am not sure how this album can be a "backwards step" to an album that will come in three or four years later. Sure this album is not the quiet Collaborator (Boooring) . I must have a different version of this album (and with a different cover than this one above) and have not noticed problems soundwise. Of course one cannot do miracles with poorly recorded master tapes but there is nothing shameful.


"At The Mountains Of Madness" features lazy guitar melodies for 2 minutes before some great bass takes over, then they all join in.There is another change before 4 minutes as all of a sudden we have a jazz feel. Some incredible guitar follows, eventually leading us to some heavy, experimental guitar passages to the end of the song. "Province 19 : The Visage of War" is the darkest and heaviest song on the album.There is a letting up at one point but not for long as the guitars rule this song in a heavy handed way, including some blistering solos. "Feast of Ashes" is a song that displays the bands talent for spacey and atmospheric soundscapes. Some good guitar towards the end of the song, but this is for the most part a dreamy, spacey, synth laden feast.
"Grooming the Psychosis" opens with electronic sounds that are followed by a catchy melody. Some raw sounding guitar with drums being more prominant than usual. Guitars take the drivers seat for the rest of the ride. "Topanga Safari" has some fantastic guitar solos and the bass lines are way out in front. Nice. Apparently these guys are from a place called Topanga in California. "Ten Days To The Sand" has a fairly uptempo melody with more amazing guitar throughout. "Burning The Hard City" is my favourite track on this album. It opens with an eerie and haunting soundscape.The guitars and pounding drums break through this sound before being replaced 4 minutes in by FLOYD like sounds with soaring guitars leading the way. Beautiful. A guitar/drum melody sounds great before we get some screaming guitar.
I feel really privileged that I can review such an amazing band and album. And there are more coming, i'm just getting started with this bands body of work. I have to mention again that the album cover art on these re-issues are incredible !

This feeling of time elasticity is apparent in this album (no matter how you would translate the meaning of elastic time...). Long, complex compositions with changes between highly technical eclectic prog passages and relaxed, mellow tunes (in the vein of Pink Floyd) are the dominant element of ''Burning the Hard City''. Especially the two first tracks are very much guitar-oriented with intensively heavy riffs (almost heavy fusion) and complex bass work in the vein of King Crimson, which appears to be the main influence of the band.
The approach, while still prog, shifts towards a more 'dreamy', psychedelic/space sound in Feast of Ashes and Grooming the Psychosis, with the former being heavily influenced by Pink Floyd bass lines, comprising of some very beautiful melodic passages and the latter flowing in the world of Ozric Tentacles, rising in complexity as the track evolves. A relaxing rhythm section is the main feature of Topanga Safari where the a la King Crimson bass work appears again.
Ten Days to the Sand is based on a slightly-distorted guitar background with numerous guitar solos on top of it that reminded me of Hidria Spadefolk's works that date back to clear Ozric Tentacles methodologies. The title track that concludes the album follows the same pattern for its first half while from that point onwards turns (yet again) into a guitar-oriented complex prog piece with interesting fusion elements here and there.
The album definitely has its moments of brilliance which, I have to admit, are several. The virtuosity and the complexity of the music are among the positive aspects even if sometimes the band seems to be exaggerating (see At the Mountains of Madness). Also, the compositions could have been more concise and not stretch for so long, as I find myself getting bored at some (limited) instances.
The fairest rating would be 3.5 stars as I don't consider this to be essential for prog fans. However, I would highly recommend it to fans of King Crimson and Ozric Tentacles. This album represents a strange but successful mixture from the genres of psychedelic and eclectic with a touch of heavy fusion.

While I wouldn't call any of the players virtuosos, they are all competent enough to make this album an enjoyable listen.

The great opener At The Mountains of Madness is a good example. Just like many tracks on the debut it consists of two parts, but instead of fading out one part and starting a second, here they have achieved to create a coherent structure with a nice heavy bridge around minute 6.00 binding both parts together.
Province 10 is a must for all Red-era King Crimson fans. It starts with those typical solemn chromatic guitar progressions that are dead-heavy even though the distortion knob is hardly open. After 3 minutes they turn it into a short and vigorous fusion jam. They end it with the opening theme. Again a great composition.
Feast of Ashes is the first slower piece. Simply beautiful harmonies on this one. It's the sound of a very tight band with an excellent feel for timing. Topanga Safari is a bit less. The bass-line seems to come right out of one of Oldfield early works.
Grooming the Psychosis and Ten Days to the Sand are strongly recommended to all Ozric Tentacles fans out there. The pieces are not only very similar to early Ozrics, they are also every bit as good. Warning: Hypnotic, bouncy stuff! The title track begins in a great reflective Pink Floyd mood. Around minute 7 they crank it up with a Led Zeppelin'esque hard rock blues on funk jam.
Burning the Hard City is an excellent album to check out Djam Karet.
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