The members of the sophisticated instrumental trio Trigon dub their music "heavy Zen jazz," and that's fine with me. This is heady stuff: dense and delightful, spacey and sincere, technical and terse. With a history dating back to 1989, this power trio of guitar, bass and drums has gone through numerous members. The self-released 2011 features a new lineup with re-recorded older songs and new pieces. The liner notes aren't clear about which tracks are which, and the album plays like a seamless work — each song taking on various shades of darkness.
The 13-track album's intense opener "Peitscht das Kamel" transitions into the tamer "Roter Mind," which boasts a gentle beginning that belies its monstrous middle helmed by guitarist Rainer Lange. "Spacechick Strikes Back" recalls Joe Satriani at his most playful, and the ominous "Fata Morgana" ventures boldly into Middle-Eastern-inspired progressive-metal territory. The R2D2 sound effects on "Herz der Sonne" and the dance-remix tendencies on "Trommeltraum" reveal a sense of humor beneath Trigon's sinister exterior.
To make 2011 even more enticing, what if I told you Grobschnitt's Eroc mixed and mastered the whole thing?
Track Listing:
1) Peitscht das Kamel
2) Roter Mind
3) Spacechick Strikes Back
4) Tückischer Tonterror
5) Wunder
6) Tanzen
7) Zensation
8) Raff an Dörte
9) Herz der Sonne
10) Dekadenz und Korruption
11) Fata Morgana
12) Trommeltraum
13) Kamasutra Debakel