WYXZ

Unapologetically taking the world of brutal eclectic prog to ever more adventurous heights, the bizarrely named WYXZ continues to crank out equally nail-biting complexities with its latest release ODYX which continues the compositionally demanding mix of math rock, avant-prog, noise rock, sound collages and free improvisation. The product of the experimental wizard Ben Coniguliaro who tackles drums, guitars, bass, keys, glockenspiel and piano, this fifth album in the wacky world of WYXZ features Ben's brother Quinn Coniguliaro on bass, guitar, noise and percussion along with two guest guitarists: Matt Hollenberg (Cleric, Simulacrum, Shardik) and Alex Verbickas.

Perfectly suited to be featured on John Zorn's Tzadik Records, ODYX also finds Zorn himself as the executive producer thus bringing this high octane avant-prog with dizzying soundscapes ever closer to the top realms of innovative prog artists who dare to forge ahead and not get bogged down in safe and secure retreats into retro-ism. While not delivering anything different than what came before in the world of WYXZ, this is a case where if you absolutely crave angular frenetically charged avant-prog that goes for the brutal prog jugular never once concerned about crafting soft and cuddly melodies, then you can't go wrong with ODYX which hammers the senses with incessant brutal time signature blows like a jackhammer that never ends.

These manic displays of technicality charge forth with elements of almost everything under the sun. Funky bass lines appear in the midst of atonal guitar arpeggios, dissonant counterpoints rampage through aggressive and chaotic maelstroms of din yet rhythmically the eight tracks seem to glide effortlessly akin to New York's no wave movement of the early 80s only with the genetic heritage of avant-prog peculiarities such as Thinking Plague with the adrenaline fueled dexterity of math rock antics of acts like P.O.N, The Flying Luttenbachers or the schizoid Japanese madmen, Ruins. While aggressive assaults are the main shtick for WYXZ, the noise-drenched free improv rampages offer the variety of mind-numbing escapades of manic moments of pure noise that exists in its own world outside the context of the avant-prog / math rock assaults.

There's only so much you can really say about music like this. It must be experienced to be understood and is the epitome of complex music for complexity's sake. Perfect for the hardened progger who has heard it all and wants everything turned up several notches without the distractions of melodic constructs to interfere with the effect of otherworldliness as the album truly comes off as existing in an alternative reality. While some may find this utterly aimless and nothing but noise, i must say that that's the entire point. This is about escapism from the status quo and when pop infused hooks are required, there are plenty of artists to supply those fixes. WYXZ serves the need of crafting bizarre jagged soundscapes with the intensity of extreme metal but forges ahead through the lens of avant-prog and math rock. Definitely too weird for most but for those who crave the most extreme examples of brutality in their prog, WYXZ does not disappoint.

After the debut album the bizarre rule-breaking WYXZ could only be expected to continue the pattern of jittery avant-prog angularities fortified with extreme math rock, experimental weirdness, noise fueled abstractness and an utter inability to stay focused on any one style of avant-garde alienation for too long and such is the case with this other one of three albums that emerged in the year 2017 titled WICKMAN!

Yes, this is the style of what is now called brutal prog and this is complexity and avant-garde weirdness for its own sake so don't even come close to this one if you can't stand the most deranged aspects of progressive rock, noise collages and math rock all turned up to 11, well beyond actually! This is a maelstrom of sound that would be almost unrecognizable to those who can only tolerate cute cuddly melodies while they sip a piña colada on the beach. This is the avant-garde angularity that either dreams or nightmares are made of! Yes, you know of what i speak, hehe.

Sort of considered an EP or a short album or whatever since nobody cares about these distinctions any more, WICKMAN basically continues the bizarre weirdness of the debut and doesn't change one bit. This is still all instrumental with math rock guitar antics taking the lead but laced with avant-prog's oppositional qualities unleashed in hurricane category 5 intensity! That's exactly why i love WYXZ! This artist is utterly uncompromising and for those of us who absolutely crave the weirdest of the weird, well this is for us.

Granted if you ONLY listened to this type of music, you'd probably lose your sanity but as a journey into the freaking nut farm, this music just avant-rocks my friggin world with one uncompromising unconventional time signature attack after another and despite the brutality of it all, there are still tangible patterns to keep your attention although based on the most intense musical deviations of Henry Cow, Univers Zero and all those RIO / avant-prog masters that came before only this stuff features increased tempos, bombastic counterpoints and ridiculously irregular patterns which find ideas sputtering out and replaced with unrelated bouts of weirdness.

This is for those who have heard it all and love to go into those scary rooms where all the attributes of prog rock and noise are thrown into the cauldron and set on fire. This shorter release is unrelenting in its pursuit for the next bombastic attack of the senses and takes the listener to an underground of some of the most extreme progressive outbursts with little consideration for anything resembling compositional consistency. Brutality on steroids. Time to go break something. Arrrggghhhh!

— First review of this album —

Straight out of Paris, NY comes one of the new experimental acts off of the newly found Bachelor of Science Records in the form of the bizarre musical entity WYWZ (no idea if this is actually pronounced) with its debut eponymous release. Considering the credits say all instruments, editing and producing are handled by WYXZ i will have to assume that this is a one-man band who takes us on one wild ride as this musical roller coaster twists and turns around all kinds of corners and tackles many types of musical worlds in its trajectory, exploring different genres before moving on into something totally different.

You could call this the Mr Bungle effect but this is more bizarre, less focused and really not melodic at all. The first track 'Dead With My Bell' is a mix of heavy distorted math rock that often drops out and allows detached electronic segments to industrially drone on for a while with only small sounds creating some sort of patterned parade through its playtime. 'Kick The Compound' is even stranger as it is a sound collage of everything from animal noises and UFOs with avant-prog guitars jarring in and out of the soundscape. Shorter tracks like 'WVMVN' and 'Chaffed Arabs ((Pt'tsk')' are purely experimental electronica that modulates pitches and bends them into free improvising weirdness.

The lion's share of the album goes to 'Affordables Foreclosed' which swallows up a whole third of the album just shy of the 17 minute mark. This is one bizarre track as it opens with a squawking synth line that becomes joined by a looping piano riff and more of the avant-garde electronica as the off-kilter counterpoints slowly build but then it all fades away and the ambient haze ushers in a new freak show all together. So this track could in fact be considered many tracks all stitched together and called a single unit. As it continues it goes into new strange worlds with uniquely odd textures, some noisy, some calm and placid but all equally alienating and utterly freaky. Percussive lines emerge and disappear. Pseudo-melodies albeit brief and atonal appear and fade away. It's one avant-assembly line of freaky fecundity.

'Tossing Of Rock' is the most rocking of the album with heavy guitars, beefy bass and slamming drums although somewhat melophobic as it eschews true melodies and just skirts them by opting a avant-prog avenue instead. 'Blasphemous Blanket' follows suit in a stranger and slowed down way with free range guitars weaving around atmospheric ambience. 'Shar Edged, Rigid Ended' is more percussion driven as freaky industrial sounds dance around it before totally turning into a parade of bloops and bleeps with some sort of lounge piano music softly joining in. Of course nothing on this one stays the same for long so it goes through a series of changes before ending the album with yet another bizarre track 'Rip That Subtle' which excels in sound manipulation as it sounds like processed and reverberated sounds forced to perform against their will while industrial gurgles and angular guitars find ways to mix their possibilities.

This is my kind of avant-prog meets noise album laced with electronic experimentalism and math rock as it really takes you for an unpredictable journey through the unknown. While some would say this is woefully unfocused and even pointless, i would argue that those qualities are exactly what makes this appealing. These are not hummable tunes or even sounds you will find replicating themselves in your head. This is one of those types of albums that is seemingly random yet obviously constructed under the surface and designed to conjure up alien sonicscapes where absolutely anything is possible. While there are a gazillion experimental albums out there these days drawing on similar concepts, WYXZ is a master of taking many different ideas and having them emerge in unforeseen ways that allow the listener to not only feel startled by to become hypnotized as well. This one is pretty cool.