THE TRONOSONIC EXPERIENCE

My favourite track on here is the 12 1/2 minute "The Shadow Of The New Praetorian" and I need to mention that Per knows how to compose some incredible music. I like the atmosphere to open as bass, drum rolls and other sounds come and go. An experimental soundscape then it kicks into gear and moves after 2 minutes. Sax is leading but 5 minutes in it's the guitar's turn to show it's stuff. And there's lots to show, check it out after 7 1/2 minutes. It all relents but it rises up again with the sax leading late.

"Beehive" has this repeated sax melody to open and close it with the guitar in the middle and I'm over simplifying it as this is 8 1/2 minutes long. "Chiaroscuro" is laid back with some lap steel and really except for the brief sax 3 minutes in this lacks the energy of that most of this album has. Other exceptions are the 23 second spacey opener and the 3 minute closer both quiet tracks.

Thankyou Apollon Records for sending me both volumes and as I said in reviewing "Vol. I" when you put the two cd covers together they form one bigger piece of art which is cool. And more importantly the music is high quality instrumental music and a fitting legacy for our departed bass player.

The two cds put together form one big piece of art. And thankyou Apollon Records for sending me these recordings. So we get this insane sax player and an equally off his rocker guitarist with those soundscapes and expressions. The guy makes a lot of noise. A new drummer who is very good and of course our leader Per on bass, he also adds electronics(as does the guitarist) and lap steel. And he's the composer of all but a couple of minutes.

The opener "Sheik Pt. I" is shown on the back cover as being 5:19 but it should be 9:19 making this a 34 1/2 minute recording. What keeps this record from being great in my opinion is the 8 1/2 minute "Totak" where we get a relaxing piece of music that trips along for too long. I mean it's a nice break perhaps from the chaos but we also get two short pieces that could have done that but they made the shortest of those the closer.

By the way "Sheik Pt. 1" is the opener and it's an awesome example along with the 7 1/2 minute "Golden Comet" at how powerful and relentless this band could be. The sax and guitar are outrageous at times plus the electronics and soundscapes give us some layers. KROKOFANT came to mind on "Golden Comet" and I have to mention "The Last Stand" that rounds out my top three as another blistering affair.

This one is a very solid 4 stars just hold on to your hat.