THE TRIUMPH OF THE 16 DEADLY IMPROVS

The US outfit THE 16 DEADLY IMPROVS was formed in 1995, and after issuing its initial album the same year this endeavor went into hiatus for a number of practical reasons. Ten years later the practical obstacles were gone and the Improvs got back together. Four full-length efforts have been crafted since then, of which "The Triumph of the 16 Deadly Improvs" is the most recent one.

If the thought of encountering fairly advanced material of an improvisational nature with a firm basis in the parts of the art rock universe where psychedelic and space rock have their place, "The Triumph of the 16 Deadly Improvs" should be a rewarding experience. A few details shy of perfection for my own musical tastes, but often touching upon the brilliant on their cosmic-laced journeys. Space cadets solely longing for the next elongated epic journey to the nearest black hole might find this material to be too compressed, but other than that this is a fine specimen within this category of progressive rock.

A funny branding this New Jersey based collective is obsessed with - band name and album titles are pointing to their jamming approach without recall. Every album is a tough collection of excerpts from diverse improv sessions - each consisting of 16 songs on top of it ... by pure chance you bet. Stylistically this is hard to categorize, I hear influences from Djam Karet, King Crimson, but also references to space and avant prog are obvious. 'The Triumph Of The 16 Deadly Improvs' is atmospheric and rather dark mooded overall where the overdubbed vocals have a large share.

The melancholic Spirit Or Matter is a good example here, provided with a considerable gliding spacey touch. Torpedo lives up to its name with a funky groove then and some spooky gimmicks. And the space jam Invincible Pole Fighters even brings them close to the Oresund Space Collective. They constantly change the instruments by the way - which is another trademark. Wonderful empathic guitars on Rise Of The Septopi are alternating with a curious trance behaviour on Gargantua! - and decorated with metal riffs both Sand Palm episodes are avant prog pure.

A wondrous song collection which takes time to unveil the secrets by all means. Even a proper blues song is in supply, the zappaesque rock jam You'd Make A Lot Of Money ... or the sweet The Burrowers Beneath which gives me the feeling like drifting relaxed on orbit. Overall the attractive electric guitar work is often psych/space styled which catches my attention especially. Expect the unexpected ... maybe this is their triumph, as the album title implies with some sense of humour ... at least very entertaining if you ask me.