NYC Progressive Jazz/Fusion/Eclectic/Rock, OK, genre busting trio, Zevious, have a new release entitled After The Air Raid (Cuneiform Records) and this is indeed a fun disc to listen to! Zevious consists of cousins Mike Eber on guitar, Jeff Eber on drums (also a member of the experimental Metal band DYSRHYTHMIA) and Johnny DeBase on bass and this trio deliver an awful lot of off the wall goodness on this 11 track record. These guys have melded the '70's Progressive Fusion Rock idea with a modern sensibility of ideas that should find a home with fans of Mahavishnu Orchestra to Frank Zappa to Progressive Metal fans of bands like Meshuggah.
After The Air Raid is a complex, record to say the least, twisting and turning and pushing the boundaries of what Instrumental music could be. Structurally intense, odd and seemingly backwards at times, Zevious do seem utterly mad and genius at the same time. Awesome riffing on such songs as "The Noose" instantly remind me of John McLaughlin or even Robert Fripp, with that " I bet you can't play this" type of sneer. This is some nasty and decidedly heavier stuff from the trio. While never losing their Progressive Jazz roots, Zevious has been drawing comparisons to the Swedish Metal monsters, Meshuggah. This is indeed due to Zevious' "Math Metal" philosophy, much like Meshuggah's music with the use of heavy Poly rhythm's and complicated time signatures, Zevious does much of the same but with much less of the metallic sheen that Meshuggah enforces. The tune "The Ditch" is an excellent example of that Meshuggah-esque idea to what a great technical rhythm can be. Guitarist Mike Eber delivers a lot of tasty distorted runs, as well as some equally well delivered clean, linear lines, while the super tight rhythm section of drummer Jeff Eber and bassist DeBlase, generate the direction and focus needed to fuel this power packed trio.
Zevious successfully blend the old school Prog Rock with a modern slant and focus this all together with their longest song being at just under 6 minutes long, which is quite impressive, given the climate under which most progressive, instrumental music works within. Hip and with that nod to the past, Zevious have a musically exciting album with After The Air Raid. While there are some amazing performances by each member throughout, there is no real over self indulgence that gets in the way of these collection of songs, which to me is an added bonus, it is also very refreshing and still quite distinct. This is a very creative record where musicians play their asses off and still don't come off as long winded. This is just simply a really cool record.
Track Listing
1. Where's The Captain?
2. Come Cluster
3. Mostly Skulls
4. That Ticket Exploded
5. The Noose
6. Inciting
7. Gradual Decay
8. The Ditch
9. After The Air Raid
10. The Children and the Rats
11. Glass Tables
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