AZONIC

The songs are expansive and densely layered and the album overall is quite heavy and in parts intense, but lacks the aggression that usually comes with heavy music.

The whole album flows very well, as to be expected with this kind of experimental music, and each song sits as well on its own as it does with the rest of the album.

The thing with Prospect of the Deep Volume One is that whilst it is composed really well and is strong record for it, it’s the way that the music reaches out and holds you that makes it stand out. Azonic know how when to pull back and when to be relentless. None of what you hear sounds phoned in, artificial or pointless. The way that all the sounds come together, as well as how they are used is natural and effortless, leaving more room for the songs to carry you along with them.

Azonic have released an expansive, gripping album that is well worth the time.

Stupidity Hole (courtesy of the Stupidity Hole website)

It is noteworthy to me how many of my favorite bands these days are duos: Pinkish Black, They Say the Wind Made Them Crazy, and Wire Nest, to name just three. Paring down the instrumentation doesn't necessarily equate with lower volume, but it certainly allows the listener to hone in on sonic detail to an unprecedented degree. A good example of this phenomenon is Prospect of the Deep, Volume One, a new album by the duo Azonic, whose members also constitute two thirds of the current lineup of instrumental trio Blind Idiot God. Here, guitarist Andy Hawkins continues the exploration of the vibrato-equipped electric guitar's extreme pitch potential that he started back in 1989 with the track "Drowning" on BIG's second album, Undertow.

On the Azonic disc, Hawkins' 7-string and doubleneck guitars are matched by drummer Tim Wyskida's unique percussion array, which consists of two tympani, a concert bass drum, and a gong, to which the estimable Bill Laswell added bowed bass and triggered samples as part of his mix translation. The gargantuan sound of their high-volume improvisations, replete with long tones and pealing feedback, is both heavy and deep: the full realization of things Hendrix hinted at with "And the Gods Made Love..." and parts of the third side of Electric Ladyland, and the logical next step after Boris' Flood.

Stashdauber (courtesy of The Stash Dauber blog)

8/10

A duo comprised of Blind Idiot God's Andy Hawkins on seven string and doubleneck guitars, and Tim Wyskida (also of Blind Idiot God) holding down timpani, concert bass drum and gong, as Azonic the pair offer 3 lengthy, instrumental and highly experimental tunes that defy comparison.

"Oblivions Of The Deep" starts the listen with an ominous quality, where strategic and sparing drums are used under dense fuzz that often resembles the soundtrack of a futuristic film, and "The Argonaut's Reckoning" follows with an absorbing approach as precise guitar work unfolds with a dreamy, surreal and often haunting tone.

"Voices Of The Drowned" exits the listen, where Wyskida's gong is present amid both beauty and tension meeting at a very unique place that's simultaneously harrowing and inviting in the very capable hands of Hawkins and Wyskida.

Azonic actually released an album way back in 1994, and let's hope that there isn't another 23 year pause before the next recording, cause this sort of improvised, metallic exploration is in short supply and greatly appreciated.

Travels well with: Blind idiot God- Undertow; Unwound- The Future Of What

courtesy of the Take Effect website