Metallic Taste of Blood: Metallic Taste of Blood (2012)

Glenn Astarita

Senior Contributor since 1997

Longtime contributor to AAJ and Downbeat, Jazz Review, EjazzNews, Radio DirectX.

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Published: December 13, 2012

Metallic Taste of Blood: Metallic Taste of Blood

The album title could automatically allude to an outing by a hardcore death-metal band, yet Metallic Taste of Blood's diverse lineup touches on this quotient of loudly intense fare to coincide with other voluminous, enterprising factors. Here, guitarist/producer Eraldo Bernocchi teams with Porcupine Tree bassist Colin Edwin, keyboardist Jamie Saft (John Zorn, Bad Brains, Black Shabbis) and drummer Balazs Pandi (Merzbow, Venetian Snares). Fabricated on art-punk rock, supercharged dub, fuzzed-out metal, ethereal sound-shaping, and components that span multiple genres, the ensemble sculpts a distinctive voice, often sprinkled with unorthodox detours and slants.

The glistening audio engineering processes serve as an additive to the production. A dash of echo here, some reverb there amid highly amped bass lines intersperse with wistful electronics overlays and more. On "Schizopolis," the unit merges head-banging power riffs while Saft jockeys for position via his electronically treated harpsichord sounds to round out an avant-garde shaded spin on psychedelia. Then Saft launches "Glass Chewer" with an echo-laden classical piano opus, spiced with haunting effects atop the rhythm section's portentous grooves and Bernocchi's tremolo-induced guitar licks. The band touches on vintage King Crimson stylizations with bulletproof armor while also rocketing into the netherworld

The plot thickens with the scrunching and resonating dub vibe on "King Cockroach," as the group also merges broad synth passages with free jazz-like irony on the multihued "Twitch," where Saft's digi-strings and radiant textures ride above a pumped-up cadence. These artists occupy a forbidden zone of sorts, while tripping the night fantastic and possessing more than just a few deviously stylized tricks up their respective sleeves.

Track Listing: Sectile; Schizopolis; Glass Chewer; Bipolar; Maladaptive; King Cockroach; Crystals and Wounds; Fist Full Of Flies; Twitch; Transverse.

Personnel: Eraldo Bernocchi: guitars; Colin Edwin: bass; Jamie Saft: piano, keyboards; Balazs Pandi: drums.

Record Label: RareNoiseRecords