Dylan Ryan / Sand: Circa

Following up the well-received Sky Bleached (2012, Cuneiform Records), drummer Dylan Ryan and his trio continue their full-blown aerial assault on conventional power trio mechanisms. Think of spaced out jazz rock with asymmetrical doses of Black Sabbath, avant- garde breakouts, and brooding rhythmic tirades, culminated with the art of improvisation. Guitarist Timothy Young's (Wayne Horvitz, David Sylvian) sustain driven single note lines, howling plaintive cries and grizzly crunch chords ride atop Ryan and bassist Devon Hoff's forceful manifesto, modeled with pumping pulses and driving rock grooves.

Works such as "Visionary Fantasy" feature devastating thematic overtures, sketched out by Young's psycho wah-wah lines and thrusting fuzoid chord clusters. Yet this trio offers much more than your customary soloing extravaganzas, as Young uses volume control techniques to evoke variable atmospherics and dreamscapes. In other spots the musicians incorporate acid rock stylizations that are retrofitted for current, off-kilter extremist persuasions. Each piece stands on its own. For example, "Slow Sculpture" gets into high-gear via the drummer's profound Afrobeat and cowbell hits atop Hoff's thumping ostinato notes as Young's improvisational acumen comes to the forefront. Here, the guitarist leisurely tells a story by taking his time to develop a groove amid jazzy voicings and symmetrical rhythmic patterns.

On the final track "Raw Rattle," the trio is a blast furnace with a driving rock opus, where the old and the new enjoy a fruitful coexistence resulting in a heated haze of Young's zinging harmonics and psychedelics. Hence, Ryan's compositions interlink a pointer towards the glory days of rock guitar trios with an ultra- modern fabrication that yields gratifying outcomes.

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