ASSURDO

Out of Italy comes this daringly experimental metal album from Garden Wall. But calling it 'metal' is as ill-fitting as the next genre you'd wish to throw at it. This album covers a lot of ground and can be quite hard to get into as it constantly changes course, mutating it's sound as soon as you think you're getting comfortable with it.

We kick off with the Avant Metal track 'Iperbole', one that crosses genres more frequently then I get cups of coffee in the morning. Some extreme vocals feature during the dissonant sections, I don't like them much on this album but they aren't a dominating element in the overall sound so they don't spoil the experience. The Italian spoken words and the spacey use of synths link this a bit to the RPI scene, an impression that gets stronger during the softer sections such as the gentle opening of 'Butterfly Song'. But beware, the album has little ado with what you'd expect from RPI. The aptly named 'Trasfiguratofunky' couldn't be more different and leaps from industrial metal and Crimsonian avant prog all the way to sleazy fusion funk. Fun but a bit gadget-y in my opinion.

The elegant trip-hop of meets nu.jazz of 'Negative' is more up my alley, and if the previous tracks reminded me of MR.BUNGLE, then this one reminds me of that other Mike PATTON project PEEPING TOM. For sure the spirit of mr PATTON is all over the place here. The noisy 'Just Cannot Forget' bridges into a similarly dreamy 'Flash', dreamy, at least till they increase the metal factor again. A nice blues-proggy guitar solo makes the track - if possible - even more schizoid. From then on the album remains in the psychotic mindset of MR BUNGLE's first album, and while I enjoy every individual part, I miss something that makes the pieces of this puzzle fall into place. Maybe the eclectic mannerisms are a bit too far-fetched for their own good?

I would recommend this album to Avant Prog fans rather then metal fans. There may be quite some metal in here - there are even some harsh/extreme metal type vocals - but the band drops the metal element more frequently then indulging in it. I don't know any other works from this band but this album sure warrants further investigation. 3.5 stars.