TEETH OF THE SEA

"I'd Rather, Jack" (4:55) starts off the album with programmed drums, percussion and other crazy noises in a moderately fast beat, with other glitchy sounds like voices and such. The addition of the trumpet gives the music a more organic sound and works well with the music. Later, the synth comes in a provides some melodic relief, and this is followed with a heavy guitar solo. When the trumpet comes back in, it works in contrast to the dirty guitar sounds. All the while, the constant beat plays in the background, but with everything else going on, you never realize that they are programmed again until the end. "Hiraeth" (7:07) is much slower and pensive, again the percussion is programmed, but the trumpet takes the melody right away, and you can almost picture someone playing it on a dark street corner. Later, the trumpet gets layered with synths, giving it a metallic sound. A slow guitar with a surf rock attitude comes in and is followed by a muted trumpet. A sudden heavy beat and chunky guitar suddenly comes in around the 4 minute mark, and the entire mood is changed. What results is a unique and intriguing sound as things intensify, and everything has a dark and dirty feel to it.

"Burn of the Shieling" (4:40) begins with a minimal feel, with the trumpet doing a repeating riff and keys joining in creating a dark chorus. The trumpet finally comes in at full volume and low frequency synths keep things on the dark side. Layers build and the song gets more emotional as it crescendos to the end. "Fortean Steed" (3:59) is eerie and atmospheric as synth effects swirl and the dark guitar plucks out a pensive riff. Distant vocals sing wordlessly and softly in harmonized layers, and the volume builds on the vocals as everything else remains in the background and fades to warbly chimes. "VISITOR" (8:21) goes for a electronic feel with fast moving synth loops. These layers continue with a melody that slowly emerges to the forefront, a choral effect whose slowness counteracts against the fast moving loops. Things continue to build layer upon layer. At 3 minutes, the guitar starts to disturb everything with unsettling sounds and textures, and percussion finally kicks in just before the 4 minute mark. All through this, the synth loop continues along repetitively. Trumpet comes in later pushing things along. More layers of all instruments get added in and intensity kicks up several notches as melodic and dissonant sounds mix together. It all reaches a climax at 6 minutes, with a surprisingly victorious feeling which continues until the end.

"Her Wraith" (6:38) begins with far off chimes, and soon synths and keys bring in pensive sounds and riffs. Dark voices speak deep in the mix whispering undecipherable words. The trumpet plays along pensively. Bass and drums come in well into the 3rd minute, but things stay slow and pensive. The trumpet eventually comes through at full volume providing a nice melody against the mysterious background. "Wraiths in the Wall" (0:26)is a quick, swirling track with processed sounds winding around each other, which quickly goes into the next track "Our Love Can Destroy This Whole Fucking World" (3:36). This one takes a looping synth riff and expands on it. A whining and sustained guitar adds a layer of unsettling darkness to it all while fluttering percussion ebbs and flows. "Gladiators Ready" (7:09) ends the album with pounding drums, churning guitar and a dark keyboard melody. This slowly builds for a while, then adds another layer of dark guitar texture to build intensity. This pick up in volume and tempo as it continues with subtle changes in tone, and it builds and builds in pitch until it reaches its apex and then reinforces the main melody of the keyboards.

This entire album has a very nice and unique sound that I really enjoy. It mixes electronics, post rock influences and psychedelic sounds to create something almost new and different. It all ends up sounding interesting and fascinating, with splashes of jazz provided by the trumpet. It all works very well together as these three musicians buitld something that sound more like a much larger ensemble. The music is enjoyable and surprisingly fresh, though at times it can become a little repetitive, but what the band does during these times is alternate sounds and textures to keep things moving. Overall, however, the album is very enjoyable and innovative. Fair warning, however, the music on the album isn't the psychedelic/space rock in a retro sense, it has more of an electronic vibe to it, but retains that organic sound with the dirty guitar and the trumpet. It all works together quite well.

"Leder" is a short intro track with robotic vocals with a dark atmosphere. It's easy to tell that these guys are into Sci- Fi movies and novels. "Reaper" is one of my favourites. A repetitive beat that sounds like a drum machine starts us off as other sounds come and go. A keyboard melody helps out but there's a lot going on here as this song plays out. It settles into a groove after 3 1/2 minutes with synths, a beat and more. The guitar comes in around 5 1/2 minutes and proceeds to light it up. "The Servant" has these spoken works that are done in a psychedelic manner as a beat and trumpet help out. The spoken words come and go. Such a cool sounding piece. "Black Stategy" has two different beats as inventive sounds come and go including voices. A change after 3 minutes when an electronic melody kicks in over top along with spacey synths. Guitar before 4 1/2 minutes as that beat continues as the flavour changes all around it.

"Pleiades Underground/ Inexorable Master" has a spacey intro as the piano is slowly played. It turns heavy before 3 minutes including some doom-like guitar. "Siren Spectre" is such a spacey track and it has this dark vibe as it drifts in and out. Beautiful. Trumpet before around 6 minutes followed by a heavy beat. "Put Me On Your Shoulders So I Can See The Rats" has this electronic humming and another strange sounds as spoken words come in. Piano and clapping late. Crazy stuff. "All Human Is Error" has a repetitive beat as experimental sounds come and go throughout. Love it! "Responder" is another favourite of mine. We get spacey electronics as the trumpet joins in early along with drums. A calm before 4 1/2 minutes then a catchy beat kicks in. I'm reminded of NEU! for some reason.

It's so good to hear something a little different and it's all done so well. These guys aren't short on ideas and I for one really appreciate the innovation.

You read that correctly. Teeth of the Sea are labeled as psychedelic rock, but in reality they are more like an electronic post rock or post metal. There certainly is a psychedelic element here as lots of spacey keyboard atmospheres appear. On the other hand, we also get some really high-tuned guitar work that is so emotional and so hypnotizing. It always comes in at the right moment to hit that emotional trigger in your brain. Most of the soundscape here is electronic, however. But, this band also makes excellent use of horns. They are used in a way I've never heard, and I just love it. The horns become a foundational aspect of the music quite often, as they form grooves and melodies with ease.

As I mentioned, Teeth of the Sea have much in common with post rock. This means that many of the song structures are long, slow, arcing affairs that climax near the end with breath-taking results. This plodding pace can certainly be a weakness at times, or so I thought. What I've really discovered here is that Teeth of the Sea knows what they are doing. Everything on this album is perfectly placed, and superbly crafted. This band performs this climactic structural style with a finesse and a grace that I'm not sure I've heard elsewhere. Layers upon layers of sound converge, ebbing and flowing to the rhythm. And that's what "Master" is really all about, isn't it? It's about rhythm, melody, and vibe all set to a soundscape describing the uselessness of humanity. Touching, right?

So, with the sci-fi themes, the amazing cover art, and the sweeping auras of sound; Teeth of the Sea have created a masterpiece that is all their own. Their electronic style is part of a genre that rarely agrees with me, but this band has managed to create an album that appeals to me in every way.

I, probably like most people, had never heard of Teeth of the Sea. I've since checked out their back catalogue. Pretty solid and certainly more conventional psychedelic stuff and I'll be sure to give it the attention it deserves once my devotion to Master has subsided.

So what is Master? Well for starters, I am not sure whether it is a concept album or not. It is largely instrumental and what vocals there are, are often distorted or highly esoteric. Not surprising given the nature of the genre. There are a few passages repeated throughout, but in large part each track is perfectly capable of standing on its own. That said however, the wall the pieces fit together as a whole suggest a much greater thematic relationship. I'd agree that it is one on that basis.

Master is my first brush with seriously industrial music and I've found myself liking in considerably more that I imagined I would. The tone of the album is incredibly dark, the beats are rhythmic and mechanistic and everything is cold. What little brightness there is comes from the trumpet, but that too is distorted, tarnished and faded into the mix. The trumpet itself is actually a mainstay of the band, not a tack on. I was surprised. It seems to me a very curious fixture for an industrial album, but it works. Overall, I would compare the style of Master to that of Welcome to the Machine (my favourite track), by Pink Floyd. Save for the up tempo and adroit delivery. The menace is there though, right down to machine sounds, I'll be it with a little more horsepower.

I liked this album from the heavily distorted vocal German introduction to the final fade out. Teeth of the Sea's previous work is much less electronic than Master. They managed to find an excellent heterogeneous mix here though. Along the way the band manages to cross the vast distances between death metal and club music and somehow make it feel coherent. My favourite track is the closer, Responder, which errs on the electronic side, but it is the most upbeat (relatively speaking) track and it clears the air after the weight of Master very nicely.

I would be totally remiss giving this album anything less than five out of five, so I will do just that. I recommend it highly to psychedelic fans and fans of dark ambient music. Metal fans should also enjoy this, but not in the same way you would Iron Maiden. Really though, this impressively diverse and immaculately assembled album is truly essential in my mind. Highly recommend, and timely, if you are looking to go high concept this Halloween.

While fading into the following Hypnoticon Viva I'm quite sure this has been recorded in one go - synth and guitar arrangements are brilliant, a lively bass on top of it ... this reminds me of Tribe Of Cro. The Island Is completes the song triple and they change to a relaxed gliding mood with Pink Floyd guitars and ambient sound patterns in the back. The trumpet serves a jazzy note, comparable to Alien Planetscapes. As for the compositional aspect not a challenge really but nicely put in any case. According to my taste TEETH Of THE SEA deliver an essential space prog EP here - genre fans can easily go for this.