SOUP

4.5 stars. My first experience with this band was their "Prog Noir" album which promptly blew me away with that muscular, complex and heavy sound. A trio who take their inspiration from KING CRIMSON, in fact two KC members are part of this trio in Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto. The other member is Michael Bernier who adds Chapman stick, drums and vocals. Michael would leave after this album and Markus Reuter would replace him. It's not shown on this site but they have a self titled debut from 2009 and "Soup" is the followup from 2010. These guys have released a lot of live albums but most aren't physical releases but downloads.

Man there is so many highlights on here. Love the opener and that's what I noticed about this second release compared to later albums is that here we get a lot more vocals. And it works! That is heard right away on the funny opener called "Soup". He almost raps here, and he has an attitude and it's funny. We then get the three part tune called "Hands" which might have something to do with Bernier and Levin playing Sticks. This is uptempo and complex with so much going on. The heaviness will come and go. Vocals and it turns catchy in part 2 while the third part is more like the first. The opener is a top three so is "Scarlet Wheel" the only real straight up vocal track where he really sings. Plenty of atmosphere and percussion. The closer "Relentless" rounds out my top three. Check out the bass to start and that crisp drumming that joins in. So good. It turns heavier and we get a calm late. "Fugue" is really cool too with that Jazz Fusion flavour plus it sounds like electronics and distortion. Nasty suff!

I'm bumping this up to 5 stars because I'm such a fan of this KING CRIMSON style.