John Bassett
(Kingbathmat) has never disappointed me since hearing one of his projects for
the Post-Rock and Post-Metal futuristic sounds of the instrumental post-metal
project, Arcade Messiah. Since hearing the debut of sole self-titled release
back last year on the Sterohead Records label, Bassett brings the Messiah back
into the machine again with Arcade
Messiah II. And he is starting to
come full circle with the second album. And the six highlights on here, shows Bassett himself is a master.
There are
nine tracks in which one of them is a bonus track in which it’s his take of
Aphrodite’s Child’s The Four Horsemen,
which it’s released on CD and on LP format on the Fruits de Mer Records label
as a part of the 4-LP box set entitled Side
Effects. The take of the classic track from 666, which clocks in at 18-minutes, has a 21st century
flavor with an outer voyage spacey twist that resembles Radiohead’s The Bends-era. And the vocals carry the
robotic and spooky element with the Leslie Speaker vibe to create that
atmosphere.
The blaring
guitars go into the harder edges and with a melodic twist that have riffs,
rhythms, and improvisation between the reminiscent of Mastodon, Mike Oldfield,
and Tom Newman with the Red Widow. The
rising opener Moon Signal goes with a
cinematic-like scores to a whole new world. It has this nightmarish intensity
on the rhythm section while going into a relaxing ambient composition as it
ends with sending signals to an abrupt end with Gallows Way.
Via Occulta begins with a dystopian futuristic
ghost-town score in a ballad tone before seguing to head towards as they Read The Sky. It is a Progressive
Post-Metal with a cross between David Bowie, Metallica, and King Crimson into a
blender. The techniques are riveting and mammoth at the same time like John was
bringing the incredible dynamics on the instruments as if he is the captain of
the Millennium Falcon and going to get to make the jump to lightspeed.
This is my
fourth and fifth time listening to the second album of Arcade Messiah. And John
himself as I’ve mentioned earlier in my introduction, never disappoints me.
This is the finest album that John has released. With elements of the Prog,
Post-Rock, Post-Metal sounds thrown into the mix, Arcade Messiah’s II is almost as I’ve mentioned on
previous albums, the soundtrack inside your head.
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