MONKEY3

4.5 stars. I'm such a big fan of heavy instrumental music so it's no surprise I've been reaching for MONKEY3's latest "Sphere" a lot over the past few weeks. They remind me a lot of Germany's LONG DISTANCE CALLING, that heavy Post- Rock style with MONKEY3 bringing more of that Psychedelia to the table. Mostly because of the David Gilmour-like guitar. A lot of soaring leads but man can this guy let it rip, just a light show at times. But you also hear that FLOYD sound before 5 minutes on the opener with just the bass and atmosphere. Check it out after 8 minutes I mean that's Gilmour right?

Love the layers of sound on this album, the depth coming from the four members with bass, keyboards, drums and guitar. Back to that opener "Spirals" it's such a heavy trip. That native-like drumming before 7 minutes is awesome. Probably the track with the most PINK FLOYD nods and a top three out of the six here. I really like how each track starts slowly with experimental or spacey bits.

The next track "Axis" is also a top three and it's so inventive to begin with as it slowly builds. Heavy and spacey. The guitar starts to solo after 3 minutes and later is crying out. Check out the heavy riffs and mellotron-like sounds just before 6 minutes. Oh my! This! What a way to end it. "Prism" opens with sounds that echo before guitar expressions and keys roll in. Mellow. It kicks in with power at 2 minutes to an almost Doom-like sound. Slow too then it moves some before really picking up speed 4 minutes in as the guitar rips it up and the drums get busy. Intense as sounds howl. Back to the slower heavier stuff after 6 minutes and the guitar will be crying out over and over.

"Mass" is so interesting to start with those urgent pulses with slowly played piano over top. Heaviness with mellotron-like sounds take over before a minute the down-tuned guitar really brings MARS RED SKY to mind. Check out that rhythm section after 1 1/2 minutes. Kicking it now! Powerful stuff. "Ida" is the shortest at 4 1/2 minutes and it opens with spacey winds before bass joins in along with some atmosphere and guitar. It turns heavier before 2 minutes. Love that guitar solo starting before 3 minutes. I really like this one but...

My favourite and one of the best tracks of 2019 is "Ellipsis" a 14 plus minute Post-Rock/Psychedelic trip. Sounds echo and buzz as heavy beats drive it. Spacey sounds come in over top. It's after 5 minutes I'm jumping around as they amp it up a notch. Guitar is awesome! It settles right down before 7 minutes as the guitar steps aside. A slow build from here. Love that sound 8 1/2 minutes in then bang at 10 1/2 minutes they are crushing it. Vocals after 11 minutes. Does it get any better than this 12 minutes in as the guitar cuts in. A calm after 12 1/2 minutes to the end. Whew!

Man I've had this turned up very loud, especially that closer which is incredible. Gotta go 5 stars and now decide where I'm going to put it, Psychedelic or Post-Rock?

Superb Modern Instrumental Psych - Floyd does Heavy Post-Rock

Monkey3 is a band I found though PA lists by other contributors. While all of their catalog is strong, I would argue that Sphere is their master work. I have introduced this album to a number of friends and have typically described it as Pink Floyd and Russian Circles combined. (Russian Circles live that is, a phenomenal experience highly recommended for all prog fans). Keys play a prominent place, unlike most post-rock. There are plenty of heavy guitars but always they serve a central vision of atmosphere, mood, and transporting the listener to a specific mental space.

There are clear allusions in tonality to 70's space rock in the keyboards and delay guitars, but the patience and slow builds do allude to post-rock songwriting. There is a fair share of guitar soloing which starts firmly in Gilmore territory but adds some flashes of slightly shred-y elements that add to intensity and do not seem showy. The rhythmic intensity is also modern, more intense than classic era psych.

While most listeners will be familiar with the elements here, this is by far the best modern interpretation of those sounds I've heard in a long time. While there are many Floyd imitators out there, this band has used their elements and added enough modern ideas to create their own sound. Most importantly, the work connects and communicates, serving the purpose I seek most - creating a blissful evening with good headphones where one can immerse themself in a music that will take them to a unique headspace.

1. Spirals.. the killer intro; it's simple, it's predictable, but it's good; the rise with the planets, yes you have to watch the clip at the same time, 3 minutes and the obvious explosion, the orgasmic high, my andropause is starting to make itself felt??? in short giant, nothing else to write; 6 minutes and the Floydian break from their psychedelic period, we soar, we fly, we have fun in the stratosphere; a little more and we would come across the long rides of the TANGERINE DREAM, but this is not a caravan in a serene desert, it is indeed a roaring overlap between the lion and the sagittarius, it moves, it howls, it fights with notes; the finale leaves... returns to this stoner space with old keyboards and guitar that swells for a musical madness indescribable on paper! 2. Axis...sorrow yes I can't help but write it; it's organized between the titanic drums and the overloop guitar, the thing that makes you turn 180° at once; Mister Malpropre behind his keyboards throws fat, heavy, psychedelic and crazy notes at you; Boris calmly in front holds on to his guitar and distills... without moderation notes coming from.... Proxima yes it sounds redundant but what can I do? The clip on fractal images, on overlapping galaxies, on the connections of our listening cerebellum... who said it was calm, almost drowsy? A deluge of sounds to bring one to musical ecstasy and send oneself... beyond the galaxies; this divine final chorus finishes off the proguous 3. Prism ... not syncopated images, just those of a desert fest, a grand canyon, a plain, a landscape, nature; 2 minutes and bam the door to Olympus opens, the music is grandiose, majestic; we delight in falling from the clouds, ah I thought it was Olympus, in short we fall into a musical maelstrom, into a black hole merging stoner and hard from the 70s-80s here; a semblance of a growl voice surely coming from a touch of synth, ensures the train, the visual cinematic is of course on the storms, the unleashing of the climate; a title which does not leave one indifferent, which balances the emotion with a musical wall, with invasive sounds leaving no room for daydreams; here your imagination is controlled by monkey3

4. Mass with the reverberation of the first moments of Life; yes it vibrates, it tickles to the deepest of oneself; ah the heavy stoner riff which cavalcades, which swells, which swells, which... The clip takes us to the sea, under the rolls of foam, the water invades just like this frenetic solo from Boris which floods our space, which carries us away far away and brings us back at the same time... what a glass tube created musically? What a renewed space of time allowing MONKEY3 to make us leave without leaving home? Yes, their music is all that, dreamlike more than psychedelic, intimate more than expectant, borderline more than schizoid; pure beauty 5. Ida on images of flowers opening to the light of day, a slow, gently stoner ballad, that is to say an over-vitaminized post-rock version, that makes for umlauts in this column; the guitar solo warmer than on one of ANATHEMA, but just as spleen as you die; it goes up, it swells, that's it we're off again and there in just 4 minutes flat; a little disappointed with this drum roll announcing the chained end of 6. Ellipsis which returns to schizofrenetic fractals; drums and synth in direct ORESOUND SPACE COLLECTIVE style, just to make you understand that you are going to suffer; a little MONSTER MAGNET from the interludes on top, a little HAWKWIND at the back, a dose of OZRIC TENTACLES on the side and off we go; an air that seems to stagnate, to freeze, ah no it changes a little with Walter who smashes his pads; Mister almost clean floods the space with keyboard notes while Boris strikes another chord, wow, that's a repeat; in short there is only Jalil as a newcomer who puts the rhythm back in its place; break or spatial interlude, cinematic before its time, the light machine gun riff arrives, puts you on alert; yes this somewhat redundant length prepares the ground there halfway through; the riff has swelled putting the air on valve, you realize that you are moving all over the place; 11 minutes and then you can no longer control anything, the wall of sound becomes intrusive to the point that you start to cover your ears... no, it explodes like a balloon, it reverberates in a touching way, it buzzes a little, it's turned off, you are lost in the galactic immensity.

1. Xub for the adrenaline rush, slow, insidious, which sticks; for the titanic drums, for the flute, sissi, well not Romy, for the voice yes there is one; the power of the chorus.... well we're on the stoner instrumental, so the chorus is when it explodes a little more!! In short, an intense organoleptic rise made to vibrate... and not to bother like in many current groups. 2. Last Moulinao acoustic guitar and tambourine intro, then the general prog blood gets going; slowly we arrive at the break where the guitar is a bit flamenco, pleasant with the wind behind; it rises calmly to burst into an aerial, spatial finale, where the noise no longer passes 3. Driver for the title, definitely not to listen to in the car!!!! under penalty of causing a crash by pressing the accelerator pedal, a loud, immense title, in the distance a growl that we can guess, power in its pure state, the desire to dive like James DEAN did. done in his time; a title, yes the title of the side which deposits, moves; the syncopated break, the bass that sends you waves from up there, the keyboard that twirls, very fat to stick you in; astonishing, metronomic and hypnotic, no room for concession, for gentleness, here we are not here to sleep, to rest; we move with this wild finale

4. Jack for a softer, more velvety air with these drummer pads, for this intoxicating air as if coming from the time of 1001 nights; hypnotic again, psychedelic, cataclysmic and dreamlike, quite simply; MONKEY3's music cannot be written, it is dreamed, it invades you; break with a surge of airy synth notes, on the purple marshmallow, yes it's magical, and the guitar which spleens, which oozes; be careful the finale is even stronger but brings an outro return which will put you back on earth, to avoid the crash 5. Je Et Bikkje... perfect, it goes up, there are more synths, it's more psychedelic after the deluges of the other titles, it's long but at least it's reassuring, we know we'll have something to enjoy his money; prog blood flows in this track; what a riff from BLACK SABBATH yes I assume, I love it; long but diversified with these vintage sounds à la 'Flash Gordon', sounds of ... flashes and other lightning during the final attack, in short dreamlike, captivating, psychedelic... fortunately I hadn't taken a dram of my favorite whiskey... I won't be back 6. Once Upon a Time in the West for the cover, but what a cover, not just any cover; a reprise that lets itself be desired, this arpeggio invaded by wind, these chiseled notes; the wait, the desert of the steppes with this interminable wait, ah I think I see the end of Clint's cigar in the distance; Oh no, I hadn't noticed with the dust, it's Charles' harmonica that I hear... 3'45'' and the Dantesque explosion of the drums, pompous no, vibrant yes, charismatic yes, eidolic yes, phantasmatic too; this rise, this sonic power.... this prog blood which flows, which crosses your mind; we cannot remain indifferent in front of so much beauty, we can only move in front of this wall of sound, ah this guitar solo which comes to finish you, raise its notes and make you languish, drool, your eyes roll back, you are on the verge of apoplexy, you swoon, you capsize, you cum, you ah but we calm down; finally the cymbal and the bell which brings you back to the starting point with this wind, this wind; If I say sublime, I'll write it down.

Well-paced and highly engaging space/Krautrock from Lausanne (Switzerland). Though these guys have been releasing albums since 2001, this is my first encounter with them.

1. "Spirals" (11:19) four sections: the tension-filled opening three minutes which slowly, almost imperceptibly, builds until the 3:15 mark (Section 2) when a crash of bass, drums, and guitar chords unleash a hard-driving section within which Hammond and, later, guitar show some fine lead chops (though the bass work here is equally attention-grabbing), Section 3 that begins at 5:30 with some PINK FLOYD-like echoed bass solo work with intermittent flashes of aggressive guitar strums, and, at 7:45, when the final harder-driving section with its excellent PINK FLOYD-like slide guitar solo work but finishes with the flare of a WHO or PORCUPINE TREE song. Cool! One of my top three songs from the album. (18/20)

2. "Axis" (6:37) echoed electric guitar plays single note on its bass string in a PF "Run Like Hell" kind of way before echo and delayed electric guitar begins adding notes here and there. Toward the end of the first minute bluesy bass, drums and keys join in. Very space-bluesy for a few minutes until 3:50 when the two-tracked lead guitar leaps to the fore in a Hendrix-kind of way while the background sounds more like Polish heavy proggers RETROSPECTIVE. Awesome shift! Mellotron voices join in just before shift into a more melodic guitar riff enters and tries to hook us in. Return to the heavier, 'tron layered section at the six minute mark to the end. Pretty great song. Definite top three for me. (9.25/10)

3. "Prism" (9:10) two minutes of truly stark space sounds precedes the heavy sludge of slow metal music that erupts and sustains over the next two minutes. At the end of the fourth minute the motif and pacing switches, establishing a much more fast-driving groove by the end of the fifth minute within which the Hammond adds its particular embellishments before a lead electric guitar begins to establish its presence in the sixth minute. At 6:10 a slow decaying metal chord establishes an entirely new motif--one that is graced with the hair-raising DAVID GILMOUR-like guitar solo in the eighth and ninth minutes. (17.5/20)

4. "Mass" (6:30) opens like a FIELDS OF NEPHILIM song with some 1980s sounds oscillating around the soundscape. Even at 0:45 when the heavy grunge metal chords and group play enter and dominate and into the next motif with its heavily distorted PA voice and vocal Mellotron at the end of the second minute am I reminded of FIELDS OF NEPHILIM. 'tron dominates the melody line in the third minute. Flashy 1970s electric guitar solo in the fourth becomes flashier 1980s EDDIE VAN HALEN-like guitar solo by the end of said minute. Powerful and cool but nothing too original. (8.4/10)

5. "Ida" (4:22) opens with wind synth noises over which bass plays a riff in its upper registers. Joined by slow guitar strums and more spacey synth notes/washes before Indian percussion joins in at the one minute mark. At 1:45 heavily fuzzed electric guitar, synth chords, and full drum kit join in to lay down a heavier texture. Guitars begin soloing over the top, one up high more aggressively, and another behind, more controlled support. (9/10)

6. "Ellipsis" (14:13) opens with layers of spacey synth noises, blurts, and arpeggi as "Stranglehold"-like bass and drum lines set the pace. Volume pedal controlled guitars, two, move opposite one another in fast pans behind the sound scape. At 5:18 the bomb drops and we enter into a very deep and dirty section thanks to a great Piotr Grudzinski (RIVERSIDE)-like low-end electric guitar riff. Even when this riff exits its powerful echoes are felt, sustained, in the low-end work of the bass and other electric guitar strums. The "Stranglehold" feel is still there, but it's dirtier, nastier, more in an in-your-face "this is what you get!" way. Amazing! The only thing missing is a great Ian Kenny or Mariuz Duda vocal! Amazing how much is inferred, how much potential energy is visible, barely contained, waiting to burst into full onslaught! Incredible subtle build to crescendo. I'm in tears with the emotion from this! Definitely my favorite song on the album--and one of the best prog epics of the year! (29.5/30)

Total Time: 55:11

A/five stars; a rare masterpiece of progressive rock music coming from the overly pretentious Space/Psych subgenre. Definitely one of the best heavy space/psych albums I've heard in a long time!

I suppose that "psychedelic/space" is the most appropriate subgenre in which to classify Sphere, but at times it could just as fairly be called progressive metal. However you slice it, I really like this new album by the Swiss quartet Monkey3.

I'm pretty new to contemporary space rock; the only 2019 releases classified as such on progarchives that I've listened to closely are Entropía by Invernadero (Chile) and |||| by Liquido di Morte (Italy). (Other spacey albums I've enjoyed from 2019 include Transmission by US "Krautrock" group Darsombra and Drone Activity by Ulver, the Norwegian foursome listed under "post-rock.") On one hand, these albums are miles away from Pink Floyd and Hawkwind, the UK-based space-rock pioneers who emerged in the late 1960s. But on the other, I find it fascinating that aspects of the relatively obscure Ozric Tentacles,* also from the UK, but founded in the 1980s, are still discernible in modern space-rock albums. On Sphere, the Ozric influence is clearest via rhythm, specifically the cadences and the use of the rhythm section.

Like much of ||||, several of the songs on Sphere shift substantially over their durations. "Spirals," for example, is an energetic tune that moves from space-rock to nearly anthemic hard rock. If I knew more about contemporary video games, I might say that the second part of this song might work in that genre also. Similarly, "Prism" begins as sludgy atmosphere before eventually evolving into straightforward metal, à la Trans-Siberian Orchestra or Dream Theater, then slows down as a soaring guitar solo, reminiscent at times of David Gilmour, pervades. And most of "Ida" could be a backing track for a neo-prog act like IQ - - until its last minute, which is pure symphonic metal.

The strongest songs here are the opener, "Spiral," and the album-closing pair, the concise "Ida" and the Ozric-invoking "Ellipsis," the latter of which is killer stoner metal, dude.

The middle of the album isn't quite up to the level of the beginning or end, though it's not bad at all. "Axis" is a bit slower and less imaginative than "Spirals," and it sets the stage for the next two songs: the slow-moving "Prism," and "Mass" (apparently featuring Asia guitarist Bumblefoot), a bit of a slog which hardly portends the closing nineteen minutes.

Coincidentally, I consider each of the four 2019 albums I mentioned earlier (from Invernadero, Liquido di Morte, Darsombra, and Ulver) worthy of three stars. Sphere isn't wildly better, but it's clearly deserving of four stars. I'm interested to hear more from Monkey3.

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*Full disclosure: I'm not an expert of all things Hawkwind, Floyd, or Ozric; my claims are based on those group's best-known works, or, in the case of Pink Floyd, their output during their psychedelic/space phase.

'Monkey3' is a Psychedelic/Space Rock band from Switzerland that I discovered a few years back, and have been impressed with ever since. This band has been around for a while and is considered one of the best stoner bands out there by the likes of artists like John Garcia from the band 'Kyuss'. Their music is mostly instrumental, and on their album 'Sphere', released in April of 2019, this continues to be the case. The band members all go by their first names (or stage names), and the line up consists of Walter on drums, Kevin on bass, Boris on guitar, and dB on keys, with Bumblefoot guesting for a guitar solo. The album consists of 6 tracks and has a run-time of over 55 minutes.

The first track opens with 'Spirals', a track that runs for over 11 minutes. The music features a nice atmospheric synth melody against a smooth and flowing backdrop that will put you in a dreamy state, that is until the full band explodes into motion at the 3 minute mark with heavy guitars and organ, solid drumming that isn't satisfied to just stay in the background, and a rousing bass pattern. The band opens all stops when the come into play, and a killer guitar solo and progressive action carry the rack forward. Before 6 minutes, things calm down to airy effects and a pulsing bass, then echoing power chords from the guitars push things back to a steady beat. The guitar sound gets heavier as things intensify and the guitars get into the drivers seat for the rest of the track, the last minute of the track exploding into full speed.

'Axis' begins with a sawing bass and echoing guitar notes while the drums pick out a moderate rhythm. Psychedelic style sythns take the center stage as they improvise over a heavy background. At 3 minutes, a rousing guitar solo takes over and the heavy beat will make your head start bobbing as the music pushes forward. The rhythm moves to a quicker tempo and a heavier background as synths play a choral effect and take over again. The guitars go into progressive mode as the music almost makes you feel like you are standing at a live show and jumping up and down with the crowd as the excitement intensifies to a climatic ending.

'Prism' has a nice psychedelic and atmospheric beginning with nice effects and spacey keyboards putting you back into a blissful state. A sudden burst of dark energy at the 2 minute mark will wake you up soon enough. Guitars and synths work together to build this into a heavy and progressive sound. Around 4 minutes, progressive riffs kick in and build excitement. Once again, the power of the music will put you into the heavy rocker mode as the track pushes forward, only to come crashing down around 6 minutes and heavy chords against a noisy wall of guitar fuzz finally establish a melodic and slow- burn, killer guitar solo. This variety of colors and moods will make this 9 minute song fly by too quickly. Awesome!

'Mass' comes in with a music box sound and vibrating effects ebbing and flowing behind it. Heavy guitars come in out of nowhere with choral style effects from synth chords and a slow, stoner beat. The drums and screaming guitars with some interesting vocal effects build things up, go quiet as tension still builds, and then everything takes off into a multi-color wall of sound and then a crazy, wild guitar solo takes things into full speed. This is guest Bumblefoot's guitar solo mentioned earlier, and his foot may by bumbly, but his fingers have total control over his guitar. Things return to a slower beat and layers of guitars keep this one quite heavy, loud and dark. At the end, things go back to that blissfulness before fading away quickly. 'Ida' is a more straightforward track which builds off of a simpler sound, but goes into crescendo mode from beginning to end, showing the full range of the band in a shorter amount of time.

'Elipsis' is more of a traditional space rock sound that starts off it's 14 minute journey building off of a simple guitar riff backed by a steady beat and swirling effects and synths. A slow crescendo reaches its zenith when the drums suddenly go into a crazy rapid fire frenzy as the increase in intensity reaches its climax and the heavy guitars continue for a while in the steady rhythm, and then things are broken down by a progressive riff and brought back to a nice floating, trance-inducing sound around the 7 minute mark. After that climax, things float along again for a while supported by that steady beat. Once again, the guitars start to push for another climax and evil sounding vocal effects join in deep in the background. The driving beat push the guitars forward as they demand more intensity. Everything falls apart before the 13 minute mark, and the beat stops as atmospheric synths take the track to its finish.

This is an excellent album full of a lot of dynamic (especially for a space rock or stoner rock band) and it is easy to see why this band is so well revered and is also gaining more and more fans all the time. Their concerts are quite amazing and make for a memorable experience. Since this band has been around for quite some time now, they have become quite good at working together, especially when it comes to knowing how to create amazing jam sessions. I still consider them one of the best psychedelic and space rock bands out there, and there are a lot of them, who also have a strong stoner rock edge to them, and the mix results in an exciting and dynamic sound. Here is another great album for all to hear among many other great albums being released in 2019. 5 stars!

Monkey 3 is a stoner/space rock band that usually plays all instrumental music. 'Undercover' is their EP take on 6 covers. They give the songs, most of them quite popular among the progressive rock crowd, the space rock treatment. The have recruited two guest singers to help them with these covers.

It starts out with 'Numb', a cover originally from the band Archive. For those that don't know, Archive is a band that does a mostly electronic, trip-hop progressive sound. This cover is not trip-hop at all and it is all instrumental, but is a perfect example of their space rock sound with heavy guitars and lots of synth effects. A great opener, which takes a lot of liberties with the original.

'Watching You' is a cover from Kiss. This one features John Garcia from Kyuss as the lead singer. Much better than anything Kiss has ever done, this one is along the same line as Kyuss, that heavy stoner rock with a lot of great guitar. Kiss was always corporate rock to me, but this cover gives the song new life.

'One of These Days' is the excellent instrumental that opens up the album 'Meddle' for Pink Floyd. This one is a ambitious attempt, and instead of meandering so much in the beginning, it starts off quite heavy from the beginning, but the cover is surprisingly good and you'll have no problem recognizing the song. They definitely do it justice.

'Kashmir' is the Led Zeppelin track that everyone knows. It is sung by Tony Jeloncovich from M.A.N. and Transport League. It's a decent cover, but doesn't change the original much except for the fact that guitars are used in place of the strings. The vocals are heavier in this instance, and it's a decent job, but doesn't change the original or add anything to it as it did with the other tracks so far.

'Burn' is the cover of the Deep Purple song. It is kept at a slower, dream-like rhythm and is actually a great take on the song, and it is also all instrumental and alternates between heavy stoner rock and a bit softer at times. It builds off of the famous riff from the original, but keeps it at a slower, yet heavy tempo. It gets quite intense towards the middle and has a few excellent guitar solos in the middle. It is a definite improvement on the original, believe it or not.

'Once Upon a Time in the West' is a cover from Ennio Morricone, which they have done before on other EPs. This time, we get a live version of it though. It starts out sparse and pensive with a wind effect and a lone electric guitar. Finally after two minutes of this, you get a synth pattern as a base, and the guitar moans and drones in some interesting sounds, then there is a crash of a bell and drums and a slow and heavy melody starts as the guitar slowly slogs out the theme. At 4 minutes, a steady slow pace gets established as the guitar continues moaning out the theme.

The EP is a good entrance into the stoner/space rock of the band, and the covers are pretty good, with 'Kashmir' being the weakest, yet it is still decent. The band's albums are actually better since they have original material on them for the most part, but this will give you insight into their music. The band is actually quite talented and those that love the stoner style rock will love them. This EP is definitely worth looking into, but then so is all of their music. This is one of those bands that should be more popular than what they are. If you love the heavy music of Black Sabbath or other 70's hard rock, this is also right up your alley.

Perhaps more aptly labeled as heavy instrumental rock with psychedelic tendencies, Monkey3's third album essentially pieces together various hard rock riffs with some electronic sounds spiraling in and out intermittently. These eight instrumentals are not very memorable, but I suspect they're not supposed to be. I feel like there's a lack of compositional creativity here, with most of the pieces amounting to well-crafted jams.

"Camhell" Alternating between sedated, bass-led thudding to overpowering, monstrous rock, the opener is equal parts sleepiness and psychosis.

"One Zero Zero One" Melodic bass paired alongside toms introduces a moderate piece of rock music that features harmonic lead guitars.

"Black Maiden" "Black Maiden" enjoys a series of gradual builds, initially with heavy percussions and light guitar. There is again a repetitive but melodic bass providing the hypnotic foundation. Occasional bursts of energy pierce through.

"Tuco the Ugly" A light interlude, this piece has a repetitive acoustic rhythm backing sporadic guitar string bends.

"K.I." A second short piece, this one is vastly different from what came before: A positive onslaught of raging guitars and drums that pummel the listener into submission.

"Motorcycle Broer" Alternating power chords jump back and forth, giving way to a simple, lighter rhythm. It eventually erupts in a squealing lead guitar display.

"Gate 57" This moderate rock opus features a pleasing electric guitar phrase at the end.

"Through the Desert" The final piece initially makes me think of being alone in a cold desert. It eventually adopts a monotonous rhythm guitar with light synthesizer tones howling over it. All that stops to bring in a thrash-like, less hypnotic rendering. It is an extremely repetitive piece that differs in dynamics only.