Kineto's Transform is a self-released, bass-rich, complex piece of work, highlighted by lots of rhythmic variations, clean, robotic vocals, layered samplings, and a static drum workout. Both Forest Huggins' vocals and Rick Audet's guitars are processed heavily to bring the music an added dimension in most of the tracks, such as "World Under Pressure". There is a very prominent bass that permeates the band's songcraft that I feel fans of Tool may enjoy.
However, the music of Kineto is a lot more calculated, deliberately cold and systematic. Given the arrangements on the ambitious "Transit", vocalist Huggins must have listened to Maynard Keenan quite a bit. He also plays a lot with modality when he's singing, but the music is a different story. Repeated minor chords can become very hypnotic, especially with the boost provided by Dan Menapace's bass guitar. The song has lots of stop-start breaks, eerie chord progressions, and industrial sound effects. Speaking of industrial sounds, judging by the riffs and atonal melodies on "Theorem", Kineto is a very talented band, blending a multitude of bass arpeggios, thick samples, spoken voices, and atmospheric cymbal crashes. The diametric opposite of this song is the vocal-driven "Subject to Change", as the instrumentation takes a back seat to the vocals, but remains equally vital to the growth and progression of the song. The guitar lines are deep and the bass is a growling monster on the ambient "Caveat Emptor", a mostly instrumental track where the drum and bass dynamics stand out. The vocals are just spoken bits over meticulously written riffs and sparse drum beats. Actually, this album reminds me of the one-man project Sinaortic's Engage Your Consciousness album. Check it out if you're interested in hearing a more chaotic, jazzified version of Kineto. Not to say, this band refrains from visiting jazz areas. Give "Human Upgrade" a listen - pummeling bass, hard-to-follow drums, and avant-jazz guitar chords all unite to belie Kineto's cold music, and illustrate their more spontaneous songwriting traces.
This is not for everyone, but Kineto's Transform is a solid piece of work for those who enjoy technical music with static noises, sound effects, and creative mixing (done by the band themselves by the way).
Track Listing
- Viaduct
- Solution Perfect
- World Under Pressure
- Transit
- Theorem
- Subject to Change
- Caveat Emptor
- Togremelas
- Human Upgrade
- Pepper Spray
- Bruja
- Persistence of Vision
- The Sludge Chronicles
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