KNIFEWORLD

A Knifeworld EP has more than enough going on to feel like a LP. The energy level is constantly so high, and the melodies always so varied and polyphonic, that there's a lot to take in. And yet, it's amazing how easy a pill Knifeworld is to swallow. Knifeworld's main guy, main broseph, Kavus Torabi, manages to (like his close affiliate Tim Smith) to write addicting and catchy pop tunes whose complexity can make any musicians arms fall off. The melodies that weave together so beautifully and epically that in away that's almost instantly recognizable. It seems that in particular with this EP, Kavus and the fellows have really struck gold big time. It is with this EP that Knifeworld really sounds like a band, and one of the better sounding bands. The musicianship is just off the charts. Kavus's manic arpeggios, Khyam Allami's masterful control of the time signatures, Craig Fortnam's excellent melodic bass work, and really just... everything. It is all executed so professionally, and mixed great, all clean and fresh and psychedelic in the way that it messes with your mind. Honestly it gets me excited writing about it.

So it all starts with the huge whirlwind which is "Pilot Her". This bizarre love song, I think, is one of the single catchiest coolest songs I've heard in my life. The two chord harmony is done with crunchy guitars, and sharp blasts of Hammond. It is beautiful and rather nervous... particularly with the great falsetto background vocals. The great C part towards the end, with the fantastic bouncy bassoon is such a gigantic wall of psychedelia, is practically perfect. Kavus and Melanie Woods vocals work beautifully together.

The next song "Dear Lord, No Deal" (took me soooo long to get the word play here), is an immediately more laid back affair. Kavus starts singing with an acoustic guitar, and I just kinda wish there was a bit more umph (for lack of a better onomatopoeia) off the bat, but luckily the song picks it up rather quickly with cool harpsichord transitions and great musicianship. Emmett Elvin's keyboard skills are to be commended here.

The real beast here, however, is the 14 minute full on psychedelic swashbuckling epic that is "HMS Washout". The initial 8 or so minutes are rather calm, a long dreamy part with great trumpet work and dreamy synths. The seagulls in the background disappear when this epic violin and guitar led melody in god know what time signature comes in. Khyam Allami (my Iraqi brother!) really, just destroys it on the drums in that part. Rolling toms and great fills and everything. And this is all just a crescendo to the wonderful, endless, downright hypnotic, looping finish. With Kavus singing "saw their arms away" over and over again it's all a bit pirate-themed. The horns hear are just so epic, and Khyam once again takes the weird time signatures and plays with it like nothing. Kavus's guitar lines add along with the synths, the horns, and even Craig Fortnam's bass, give the song the insane polyphony that makes Knifeworld unique. The song is a beautiful well made epic, simple as that.

Really, Knifeworld is one of the most exciting bands in the world. Seamlessly combining prog, metal, pop, RIO, add genre name here, Knifeworld successfully creates a sound which is just exciting, erratic, joyous and addicting.

Please, just release another full length already.

Knifeworld from the start, which for me was the Buried Alone: Tales Of Crushing Defeat, was a band I was going to be keeping an eye on. I was ready already for the next album, but this is the second intermediate EP and the better of the two, but not by too much.

I may be repeating myself but it's like the spirit of Gentle Giant in their prime had been floating around in space and landed on the Knifeworld.

So, when I found out there was streaming about for the main track of this EP, I was clicking around and accidentally launched two instances out of sync. I was thinking hmm. I don't know if I really like this as much. Fortunately about a minute in I realized what I had done, oops. It doesn't really lend itself too well to being listened to in that fashion. May have been summoning up evil spirits or something. Well, there's a video for this and once again, if only MTV still played videos?"I may have to borrow your tarot tomorrow." Not sure if I've entirely figured out what this song is about. I am certain it's about five minutes and twenty eight seconds.

In A Foreign Way, nice and bouncy. Video available for this one but not as fancy as the first.

The Prime Of Our Decline is the icing on this cupcake. Deliciously complex, if any track will convince you to keep an eye on these guys and gals, none will. A wild seven and a half minute ride.

A full length album is in the works. I'll be there.

The unique style of Knifeworld is present here as well.Two very short tracks with demanding musicianship, frenetic grooves, changing themes, distorted vocals and rich instrumentation will be the introduction to this short CD.Both ''Pilot Her'' and the eponymous track do not extend the 3-min. mark but are trademarks of the band's sound, groovy and professional Art Rock with somewhat pompous vocals and jazzy overtones among others.These will give their place to the 14-min. ''HMS Washout'', which is a nice amalgam of Torabi's inspirations.The familiar sound of the previous tracks is again present on the opening minutes but the middle part is dedicated to some weird RIO/light Post-Rock music with calm guitars and sharp saxes on the forefront, while the track will capture a great GENTLE GIANT/MANEIGE feeling on the way to its end with fiery strings, organs and a furious rhythm section along with multiple vocal parts.

Do not get bothered if you do not find one of the numbered CD's of this short release, as the album is available for download on several digital music stores.Recommended for fans of adventurous Crossover Prog/Art Rock.

Torabi has never been shy or secretive about his influences, and the keen-eared well-versed prog fan will doubtless catch sonic glimpses of Magma, Henry Cow, King Crimson, Cardiacs, The Muffins and a hundred other bands besides, but this EP more than anything that's come before it, makes it abundantly clear that the only band Knifeworld really sounds like is Knifeworld.

Yes, Kavus and co. are reaching back into the murky depths of prog and psychedelia's past but not in order to copy wholeslae a particular band or style of music - the influences manifest as flourishes, nods and winks and a vague fuzzy vibe. For all their unashamed then-ness, there's something defiantly NOW about Knifeworld. These three songs are brimming over with passion, urgency and a flurry of ideas, each tumbling over and into the next in a mad rush to overwhelm your mind and transport you on some mad, psychedelic journey, with or without any chemical aid.

And deep within that seething, bubbling melting pot of musical ideas lurk hooks and melodies so insidiously catchy that you'll be humming them for months. What might seem baffling and overwhelming on first listen quickly opens out into some of the most joyful, life-affirming, powerful and intense music you're likely to hear this or any other year.

They came very very close with last year's "Dear Lord, No Deal" EP, but with "Clairvoyant Fortnight" it seems Knifeworld have finally come of age.

Knifeworld may not have gotten very much press here at PA, but they are a group definitely deserving of more attention than they've yet received. To date, they've released a full length album and two EPs, with a sound which draws some comparisons to other groups (for me, I hear some Cardiacs in the horn parts especially). They don't lean on the influences, though, instead letting their own music shine through with a high energy, fun-loving sound. Somewhat punky, somewhat proggy, always enjoyable.

This album presents two sides of the band to the listener; the first side, which is the first two tracks, is the more accessible, sticking with shorter song formats and catchy music engineered to ensnare the senses. The final track on the EP, making up the bulk of its length, shows their less conventional style, the track goes through several styles over its fourteen minutes. Slower, stripped-down sections shift into higher gears, with more speed and more instruments, and sometimes the track has a very lush, almost dreamlike quality. As was mentioned in the previous review, the fade-out loop at the end of the track is rather long, but personally I don't feel that it detracts from the value of the music.

Kavus and crew have created quite a good EP with Dear Lord, No Deal. They're still a young group, though their musical talents are clear. I'm looking forward to more material from Knifeworld, though Kavus is keeping himself busy playing with other groups (check out his contributions to Bob Drake's newest album) along with writing material for future Knifeworld releases. Four stars for this release, and recommendations to check out all of their material.

The big names will always grab the attention but don't let the lesser knowns pass you by. What we have here is to a big extent a Torabi solo project, with Kavus on most of the instruments and playing a major vocal role, but the supporting musicians really bring the album all together, especially the extra vocalists and Kyam Allami's drum work. In addition to the extra vocalists, there's wind instrumentation including recorder, saxophone, clarinet, flute by Sarah Measures. As I write a few notes about these musicians, I realize I really don't know anything much about them, but I hope to hear more from them in the future. This is my first encounter with any of them and I'm really enjoying what I'm hearing.

As to describing the music, there's a lot of variety and only bits that I can relate to some of the great progressive music of days of old. I don't see them as being overly imitative of the great stuff that was done in the past while not turning their back on it. It's a nicely balanced mixture of heavy, the less heavy, and the occasional light moments, but overall there's a wonderful intensity to it all. Mid period Gentle Giant and Kayak come to mind. For Kayak particularly the frenetic style used for the song Pissed Up On Brake Fluid. For Gentle Giant, it's definitely in the wind instruments, but also in the complexity of the music (not to say that Kayak couldn't get complex). The lyrics are by and large bleak when you read them to the music. The album comes across as more upbeat if you listen to it first without doing that. My favorite song is the ending piece Me To The Future Of You. You get some really moving duet vocals, it has a good length to it and wraps up the album nicely.

I'd also like to put in a kind word for putting this album out in a nicely designed cardboard sleeve with a lyric booklet. I hate "jewel" cases.