RISK

It's been something like 11 years since their last studio album "Endangered" and while these are all instrumental albums I like the theme with the wolves and wildlife. One of my all time favourite album covers right here plus the pictures elsewhere are just so beautiful. Some cool pictures of the band playing their instruments and I like the one of bassist William Kopecky sporting that "Paul Kopecky Memorial Concert" t-shirt. A few months ago I played "Sunset Gun" by the band KOPEKY which is the three brothers and I was reminded that drummer Joe Kopecky passed at 37 years of age from Juvenile Diabetes in 2009 I believe which is why that t-shirt is special.

As far as the music goes it's a lot to take in. I wish this was a 45 minute album but at 63 minutes it wears me down. I mean it doesn't get any better when it comes to the musicianship and the compositions but this is complex and weighty. A Classical element to this and I did think of both PRESENT and UNIVERS ZERO. So glad they use mellotron on here, it adds some warmth. There is one guest adding violin to three tracks so with the prominent cello we get plenty of strings, keyboards, drums and bass. No guitar but that's okay.

The sound quality couldn't be better and for me those early tracks really standout, in fact those first three tracks hit the spot big time. The added samples mean a lot to me as we get them on a few tracks including the start of the album's opening track "Unapproachable" which is under 2 1/2 minutes but with the samples and atmosphere I love it. Some suspense here as well. "Fork" sounds awesome and those aggressive piano runs bring PRESENT to mind as cello comes in over top. Mellotron! This is powerful and intense.

My favourite though is "Flim Flam Man" which was my favourite from the first spin. The organ sounds so RPI and I adore it. The cello comes in relaxed and that bass! Not so relaxed. The RPI organ is back around 2 minutes. Love the calm that follows and the drumming that kicks in before 3 minutes. Some dirty organ after 3 minutes. Themes are repeated and check out that bass 4 minutes in. Man! The start of "Myopia" kills with the bass and mellotron.

If I described every track I would have a short story to post here and that is in part what makes this a demanding listen for me. Again so impressed and easily 4 stars and just outside my top five for 2018 which was a very strong year for me.