ASSURDO

4.5 stars. A big thankyou to Claudio from NICHELODEON who sent me this cd. I can appreciate why he's friends with Alesandro as they no doubt share that same adventerous spirit when it comes to music. GARDEN WALL is band i'm very familiar with as this is the fourth album that I own from them. I have always described them as Avant / Metal and we certainly get some of that on here, it's just surprising at how many calm passages there are on here. They are a five piece band with 12 guests helping out. I must admit I wasn't expecting a lot with this latest release only because of some poor ratings i'd seen, so imagine my surprise when I discovered this is my favourite release by them so far. This is just so darn interesting and complex. I've listened to "Assurdo" about 8 times so far and believe me i'm not even close to understanding it. Every listen is different from the last one though so i'm very impressed. I should mention that many of these tracks blend into each other.

A scream signals the start of heaviness in "Iperbole" then we get a calm after a minute. Spoken words and a beat follow then it kicks in hard after 3 1/2 minutes as the tempo picks up. Another calm before 5 minutes with spoken words to end it. "Butterfly Song" has a relaxed beat with atmosphere and violin. Sampled words are repeated. A change 2 minutes in then the vocals follow. The earlier soundscape is reprised. A change after 4 1/2 minutes as it turns brighter then it kicks back in after 6 1/2 minutes with rough but distant vocals. A calm less than a minute later as spoken words and atmosphere end it. "Trasfiguratofunky" has these words "all by yourself" that are repeated over and over then it kicks in but settles back as these words continue. A funky rhythm comes in with vocals. It's experimental with percussion later. "Negative" has a strange intro then guitar and spoken words come in. We get female vocal melodies then those spoken male words return as she continues. It picks up before 4 1/2 minutes with vocals then settles before 6 minutes. "Just Cannot Forget" is haunting with bass clarinet and atmosphere. A change as dissonant horns come in around 2 minutes.

"Flash" has spoken words and sounds that echo and there's other spoken words too. It kicks in with a scream at 2 minutes then settles back before 3 1/2 minutes as a pleasant guitar and drum piece takes over. It kicks in one more time. "Clamores Horrendous Ad Sidera Tollit" opens with experimental sounds and vocals with pulsating keys and cymbals then drums. The vocals are insane. In contrast the music after 2 minutes is beautiful. It kicks into gear after 4 minutes with abrasive vocals then settles a minute later. Creepy spoken words follow then an experimental section comes in and blends into "Vacuum Fluctuation". It turns insane before 2 minutes with vocals then settles back with violin and percussion leading.The guitar lights it up 5 minutes in. Theatrical spoken vocals follow and we get more violin before 7 minutes. "Re- Awakening" opens with gentle guitar and flute, then a beat with creepy vocals comes in after a minute.There's a cool rhythm here. It kicks in with guitar after 3 minutes. So good.There's flute and a mellow soundscape 4 minutes in then it kicks back in with yelling a minute later. It's mellow to end it. "Isterectomia" ends the album. It begins with flute and classical sounds as spoken vocals come and go. It turns darker after 1 1/2 minutes and then we get an eerie calm before 3 minutes. Vocals are back then an instrumental section with flute. We get an insane ending to this song and album.

I highly recommend this album. If you don't mind some added metal to your adventerous music then you'll love this.