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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

SH.TG.N

SH.TG.N

Review by Gary Hill

The mix of sounds on this disc is pretty crazy. It has some really heavy metal at points and Frank Zappa and Rock In Opposition at others. Add King Crimson to that list of influences and you’ll have a fairly comprehensive list. Yet it’s all mixed together in a mélange that is unique and original.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2012  Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Dead Baby
Melodic, but rather twisted, old school prog opens this. Then it shifts to something akin to metal for a time. Still, there are little bursts of Frank Zappa styled sounds mixing it up here. The mix between and ultra-heavy, extreme metal pounding and Zappa-like music is weird, but also very cool.
Deejays Should Have Low Self-Esteem
This combines that Zappa-like sound with weird RIO music and some jazz. There are some scat like vocals that are quite strange, yet this whole thing is very tasty.
Eyjafjallajokull
Red era King Crimson meets Frank Zappa on this tune. The vocals are partly sung, partly screamed and partly rapped. There is some smoking hot guitar soloing in this thing. It’s a weird one, but somehow really works well.
S***gun
This is crazed hardcore punk meets RIO and thrash metal music. It’s weird, but also pretty cool. A section later seems to combine Hawkwind with King Crimson and Zappa. There are some killer layers of sound laid over the top of the mix as it continues.
Camera Obscura
Coming in with a much more stripped down arrangement, this is mellower and quite jazz-like as it starts. Some of that Frank Zappa sound is still present, as is some RIO music. The vocals are spoken, like a poetry recitation over the top, bringing to mind the old beat poets. Electric guitar leads a metallic jam that serves as a change-up before it gives way to a return to the earlier sounds. Sceaming metal jamming takes it later. What a diverse and rather strange tune this is.
Shotgun (Afraid Of)
Freeform and RIO-like, this is one of the weirdest songs here. It does have some definite links to the same Zappa type sounds, but also feels punk like at times and there are some definite metallic moments. While this is strange stuff, there are sections that have some of the most accessible and classic riffs.
Save Us From Bloody Women
Only a little over a minute in length, this starts with a mellow keyboard based jam before turning to screaming hardcore punk. Then it resolves to more Zappa meets RIO weirdness before one more hardcore burst.
Erase Her Dad
This is arguably the most Zappa-like cut on the whole disc, but the vocals are nearly all screaming. It turns out to weird space music for a time before pounding back out into the song proper.
A Glimpse Into Eternity
The riff that opens this is more accessible than some of the others, but the weirdness quickly ensues. This is more screaming RIO music. Although the early sections aren’t a lot different than the bulk of the album, they take it out into a killer jam with some smoking hot guitar soloing later. That section is very much retro classic rock in nature. It gets shifted back towards the same weirdness later, though.
Esta Mierda No Es Democracia
Weird, noisy and heavy jamming make up this tune. It’s almost mind-numbing in some ways, yet there’s a melodic element at play, too.
J33 (I Don't Wanna See)
Imagine mixing Booker T. and the MGs with Jane’s Addiction and Frank Zappa and you’ll be hearing a sound close to that heard on the first half of this. Keep the Zappa and add in some stoner metal to the mix and you’ll be in the neighborhood of the next section. Then take that same Jane’s Addiction sound and merge with the mellower end of Vanilla Fudge and you’ll get an idea of how it sounds from there. They return to various segments as it continues.
Black Beetle
They definitely saved the best for last. This is the most perfect introduction to this band of anything here. While it’s got all the weirdness and wandering sound heard throughout, it’s easily the most accessible. Many of the familiar musical references (especially King Crimson and Frank Zappa) are present here, but this has some of the most catchy moments on the whole disc. It’s a real killer.
 
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