Haakon's Fault - Pilgrimage

Haakon's Fault - Pilgrimage
2009, Haakon's Fault

New York City nouveau hipsters Haakon's Fault bring a wealth of musical visions and styles to the table. Pouring Rock, Metal, Jazz and Funk into a musically progressive blend, Haakon's Fault might be making some of the most exciting music on the New York City scene. Their debut EP, Pilgrimage, finds Haakon's Fault mining the musical world for gems and sewing it all together with the mastery of an old-time jazz master, all set against the ruddy, soulful voice of Harry McNamara.

Pilgrimage opens with the title track, a song about finding spiritual meaning in a physical world. The construction and arrangement of this track is brilliant. Star Gazing leads with guitar work inspired by early Yes and opens into a delicious bit of 1970's style Funk/Jazz. This performance is flawless, from the instrumentation to lead vocal to harmonies. Even the Rick Wakeman-esque synth that kicks in half way through the song is wracked with perfection. Siren is perhaps the most aggressively progressive track on Pilgrimage; it's interesting musically but I didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of the CD. Eulogic mixes mellow Rock, Soul, Funk and Jazz in delicious song about the legacies we leave behind. Guitarist Mike Serman gets to show off a bit as well, laying down some serious fretwork throughout the song. Pilgrimage returns home with Glory, a song about the draw that life on the road has for some. There's serious jazz construction involved in the composition of Glory, easily the most complex and thrilling song on the disc.

Haakon's Fault spins Progressive Rock back towards its roots in Jazz on Pilgrimage, putting together five songs that are far and away superior to the material being generated currently in neo-prog, mathcore and other loosely related genres. I suspect the live shows are where Haakon's Fault is at their best, but as musical introductions go its hard to beat Pilgrimage.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Haakon's Fault at www.myspace.com/haakonsfault. You can download Pilgrimage from Bandcamp. No word on physical copies of the CD to date, although if you message the band through MySpace they may help you out!

Review: Night Artery - Capsize Your Surroundings EP

Night Artery - Capsize Your Surroundings E.P.
2008, Cinematical Records

Melbourne, Australia's Night Artery is a story of personal perseverance: Personal because Night Artery is one man, Ross Arundale; Perseverance because it took Arundale time and lots of sledgehammer swings to find not only his true voice but also the means to get it out there. Spending two years working on the railway might seem like a romantic, adventurous life, but Arundale can tell you how hard the work is. His reward was enough money put away to buy all of the instruments and equipment he needed to build his own studio. Then he just needed a year to learn to play them all. Capsize Your Surroundings is not only the name of Arundale's first E.P. as Night Artery, but it also describes the way he's lived his life until now. If you don't like your circumstances, change them.

Capsize Your Surroundings opens with An Act Ill-Informed Of Returns, which starts with a gorgeous faux-orchestra moving into a mellow verse followed by an almost frenetic chorus. The song takes on a Progressive Rock bent as Arundale turns the song every which way on the way to the next verse. I really enjoyed this tune and can't seem to get it out of my head. Cinematic Shards On The Permanent Way is a jaunty rock song that again has some Prog leanings. The changes in song structure throughout make for highly interesting listening. Nerve Endings is more of a classic rock radio ballad in acoustic setting. It's extremely well written and performed. Glass Corners opens with riffs reminiscent of old Yes songs and turns into an almost U2-like grand ballad that falls into apoplectic Yes chord progressions at the end. Glass Corners is Arundale's most impassioned vocal performance on the album and is my personal favorite. The unlisted bonus track is a pretty two-and-a-half minute piano piece that deserves to be heard.

Night Artery is an unusual project. Ross Arundale is an extremely talented composer and performer. He's obviously very motivated to bring his music to the world, and its hard to see how he will not be a great success. Capsize Your Surroundings is a daring, brash and wonderfully successful debut. The mix of progressive leanings with almost classical compositional style and old-fashioned singer-songwriter balladeering makes for a wonderful combination. The only complaint along the way is the shortness of the album. We here at Wildy's World will be hoping for more from Night Artery soon.

Rating: 5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Night Artery at www.myspace.com/nightartery or http://www.nightartery.com/, where you can purchase a copy of the Capsize Your Surroundings EP. Downloads are available through iTunes.