OCTATROID

Trip Lava is the work of Joel Lee, who provides all the writing and performances on this album. It's a timeless tale of an evil king and his robot minion trying to whip some ignorant villagers into shape, only to be foiled by the enigmatic yet powerful Octatroid.

The album is entirely instrumental, the story unfolding by means of the music alone (accompanied by the CD booklet of course.) Although indexed separately, the tracks all flow into one another, making for what is essentially one long piece of music. There is definitely a psychedelic vibe going on here, but hear the album as being more in the Progressive Electronic vein rather than space rock, with keyboards and processed sounds dominating the proceedings. The live drums are a nice touch though.

There is a busy, frantic feeling present in most of the tracks, which is understandable since the story is about robots fighting, and a great deal of rhythmic complexity, yet the music is not without a quirky sense of humor. I am reminded of the work of the electronic artist "Books on Tape" in many places. There is also a fair amount of distorted feedback, used very creatively, that makes me think of Merzbow, though not nearly so abrasive or atonal.

This is quite fine freakout music, but the album as a whole suffers from a lack of diversity in sound. The energy level is set at a constant high for the duration of the record, and it demands a lot of the listener to focus on it all the way through. There are a few second of quietness in "Octatroid Must Rest" and again at the very end of the record, but that's all the respite you're going to get. This is doubly a shame since the peaceful sections are themselves very well done. I could easily listen to another five or ten minutes of "Peace Returns" and be happy about it.

That being said, this is a good record of trippy, high energy instrumental prog. Just be prepared to be a little tired by the end of it.