Music

[Review] Chimp Spanner ‘All Roads Lead Here EP’

Published

12 years ago

January 24, 2012

Paul Ortiz, a.k.a. Chimp Spanner, may be one of the most respected names in the djent community. And thanks to the recent rise in popularity of this genre, his work is reaching a wider audience with every passing moment. And it’s no wonder why. After all, by mixing djent-riffage with atmospheric electronic synth pads and technically fascinating guitar work, it’s music well worth checking out. But is that the case with his upcoming six track EP, All Roads Lead Here? Does this mixture work in creating a sonic landscape or does the final product come off as a cheesy mess?

The album opens with Dark Age Of Technology, which beings by fading in thick guitars and syncopated drums before tightening everything under a cloud-like synth pad and delicate guitar phrasing. The song almost sways between heavy and atmospheric, the only image that seems to convey this image is of a hammock in a tropical setting. Strange, yes, but this is what I saw during the majority of this song and, oddly enough, for the rest of the album. Something about this EP is very sunny and cheery in my mind.

The second track, Engrams, for me had the most atmosphere and mood. Slightly creepy, yet oddly comforting, this track, though not indicative of the rest of the album, was my personal favorite. It reminded me of the feelings I get while playing the Silent Hill games.

The production of the album is nearly spot on, although it can get just a tad bassy here and there. Overall though, this EP sounds fantastic and has enough tones and variations going on to make it a very enjoyable experience.

The main draw of the album is the three parter, Möbius. Beginning with a delayed tapping lick and angelic synth pads, the first part brings on crushing riffs followed by a very cool synth dissonant descending chord progression that only lasts a few seconds but is still worth noting. The second part has a slightly more sinister approach in the music while the third part mixes the best of both previous parts.

The final track, Cloud City, is nothing short of djent jazz, full of bluesy pentatonic licks and thumping slap and pop bass. It would be the perfect track to play to your jazz/blues inclined friends who don’t understand how the metal genre and the jazz genre have a vast amount of intersection.

The Final Word: All Roads Lead Here is a very enjoyable EP, though it’s very easy for it to feel like one unending track with no discernable separation. I can’t wait to hear what the next full length from Chimp Spanner is going to sound like.

JonathanBarkan

Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

Click to comment

Music

“He Walks By Night” – Listen to a Brand New John Carpenter Song NOW!

Published

3 weeks ago

April 9, 2024

John Squires

It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.

“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…