Список групп Progressive Metal Where's The Nine Desensitized to Insanity

Fusion. From the core of the sun, dynamic forces combine hydrogen into helium processing heat and light to give life energy to the world. ‘Where's The Nine’ have a strong sense of that same power and gives it identity and imbue in the melodic compositions with a warmth that reflects the group’s roots in rock and jazz.

Barry Connors and Dean Watson make up the duo and perform all the instruments on this instrumental CD. Both musicians are consummate technicians and moments of individual brilliance are laced throughout the album. The duo’s excellent use of dynamics is a feature of this record and employ a remarkably wide sonic palette of percussion, keyboards and guitars.

Cuts like 'A Rather Odd Tribute' shows a brand of intelligent fusion that should also hold some appeal to discerning rock listeners. The cut is adept at handling tricky time signatures as they lay down a propulsive groove. The interaction between the two members is always excellent, full of interesting and sometimes complex ideas.

Guitar, keyboard and drums dovetail together in 'Half Of Eighteen'. The result is an accessible melange of influences, with plenty to savour as snatches of melody, combine with riffs and grooves on the colourful composition.

Picking out individual tracks is difficult as the overall quality of the record is so high. 'Mood Swings' stands on out for this listener. Vividly the instrumental cut forms a more colourful, and a wider open-to-the-world perspective. Complete with more varied interactive elements and with differences by each member, the cut is transformed by merging musical communicative ideas into a masterpiece of fusion.

Many of the mainstay elements of Barry Connor’s and Dean Watson’s playing that made them fantastic musicians in the first place are still present : the blinding speed, the driving aggression, the relentless intensity, the unending contrapuntal phrasing, the constantly shifting underpinnings… and the seamless continuity. The range of composition is very eclectic and slick in compositional scope.

by Keith Fraser