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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Necromonkey

Show Me Where It Hertz

Review by Gary Hill

Electronic music, space rock and much more merge here. This is such a great album start to finish. It’s clearly not prog in the traditional sense, but then again it does land close to thinks like Synergy and Kraftwerk a lot of the time. Call it what you like, but it’s a strong release.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2015  Volume 6 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review
Entering the Sub Levels of Necroplex

Fast paced electronics starts this and it moves from there. As percussion joins a stripped back arrangement, it makes me think of a weird beat poetry backdrop somehow. Something like electronic dance music rises up to take control. The hint of some vocals is whispered across the top after a time. As the piece continues to evolve, it gradually shifts toward space rock and psychedelia. Then it drops down to more pure electronics again. From there it intensifies. It gets quite lush as it continues. It drops later to a weird section with some synthesized vocals. It grows out from there. An intensified jam that is built on that backdrop serves to fill up the remaining time of the song. At eleven minutes in length, this is the epic of the set, although by less than a minute. 

Everybody Likes Hornets But Nobody Likes Hornet Egg
As much as I liked the opener, this is even more powerful. It opens with keyboards and as the arrangement gets more lush, some awesome melodic elements develop. They build it out with both electronic and space rock type stuff. It drops to just percussion sounds after a while, though. A noisier electronic element rises from there to take it to its end.
The Rage Within the Clouds
At almost ten and a half minutes in length, this is the second lengthiest piece here. It comes in with some dramatic keyboard textures and builds out from there. It’s electronic and lush with something a bit like Tangerine Dream in place. There is a bit of a symphonic element at play. Parts of this are closer to electronic dance music. Still, the symphonic element is never far away. Around the three minute mark it shifts to a section that really makes me think of Kraftwerk. That gets intensified as this builds forward. The electronics that take over later remind me of Synergy. That carries it to the end, fading down to close it.
The Electric Rectum Electoral
An electronic groove that again calls to mind Kraftwerk starts this. The cut works out from there into some noisier, more left of center music. This is challenging, but also compelling. It’s a powerful cut, really. It drops to a strictly percussive, electronic dance jam for a short time, but then rises back upward. It drops back again, but to a mellower melodic movement. As it rises back up, I’m somehow reminded just a bit of some of John Carpenter’s music. There is a real rocking vibe as it moves forward. Then it gets into more Synergy like territory again. It gets powered up from there. That takes it to the mellow outro. .
Like Fun You Are
Weird little noisy bleeps and blasts are heard here. It has a very random kind of sound, but some more constant bits of keyboards underneath threaten to bring it into more mainstream territory. There is a real industrial, machine based vibe here. It’s somehow ominous and builds to more computerized sounds with hints of the symphonic. It coalesces and intensifies as the momentum increases. It eventually exchanges the industrial for synthetic keyboard laden beauty. That gets sped up and a bit crazed further down the musical road. It gets very fast by the time it’s done.
The Current Beneath the Squarewave
Electronics with a bit of a dance vibe open this. The cut builds out from there, getting quite intense and a bit crazed. This builds out to something a bit like Synergy and runs through from there. It’s an effective cut and a good closer.
 
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