Asymmetric Universe PV045

Asymmetrical Universe A Memory & What Came Progressive Voyages Review PV045

Asymmetrical Universe A Memory & What Came  Progressive Voyages Review PV045

Asymmetrical Universe are a duo of brothers Frederico and Nicolo these who share a love of Progressive Metal and Jazz Fusion , this us their first album after a couple of Ep's in 2023.

What makes this an unusual album is that despite its ferocity it has a strong degree of melody along with some Astonishing musical chops, these guys can really play up a storm as they do throughout the albums 9 blistering instrumental tracks, on some of which they are aided by Richard Henshall of Haken and Jared Yee of Sungazer! In addition they are also supported by a String Quartet along with saxophone and trumpetin tandem as well on several tracks.

The sound they make is both aggressive, fiery and fierce at points and at others you can see that they are taking Fusion in a bold new direction, it’s an interesting route that they are exploring and there is much to enjoy in this albums powerful grooves.

I would suggest that this is not for the casual listener rather it is for the more experimental of you, those that like King Crimson may find parts that you can admire here likewise progressive metal aficionado’s may likewise be taken by this music, meantime guitarists will just revel in the playing.

That these guys partake of as they truly are very talented indeed, and when the string quartet add their strings, Turning the madness into a phase of beauty before the power returns once again, It really does make both a strong and favourable impression. As is the case on Reaction – Overthrow, where these traits are exhibited to fine effect, with the next track Recovery -Thirst For Stars taking a much more restrained tone being almost pastoral in comparison.

Next track Feather On Glass returns to the much more aggressive brutalist sound after a slightly atonal opening part the crunch resumes fully, for the strings to play their melodious tones as guitarist Frederico plays some inspired jazz fusion guitar lines, the is wonderfully satisfying music, with a large degree of both inspiration and talent.

In fact the more you hear this the more you can appreciate the chances they are taking with this music, As on Dancing Through Contradictions here they use a circular riff to strong effect.

On this track not only is Frederico playing very fluently, in addition Nicolo gets to stretch out on the bass adding some heavy and yet still subtle bottom end to the track in the latter part of the track he really let’s fly with some very impressive bass lines and run in which he shadows Frederico’s fiery guitar lines again to great effect.

Opaco has yet more stunning musicianship from the brothers with Frederico’s percussive guitar interacting with Nicolo’s pounding bass lines, imagine Stanley Clarke meeting Alex Skolnick guitar and you won’t be a million miles away from what is happening here especially with excellent bass solo that is going on, it is really quite astounding how good this all sounds.

Probably my favourite track alongside Reaction-Overthrow.

The albums final track is called Those Who Stay and this one opens with piano and delicate guitar tones, before a subtle bass plays its melody and Saxophone plays sweetly, this track is slow build8ng piece with lots of rapid guitar flourishes taking place,

Horns are introduced as the sound swells in both its intensity and its pace before returning to a quieter section once again as a pounding piano motif plays then the heavy sounds converge once again as a sax plays as Frederico’s guitar takes flight once again.

The track returns to a gentle close as the album concludes.

There you have it a somewhat heavy and decidedly progressively metal influenced album that has the balls to try something different and fresh and manages to pull it off convincingly

I do actually recommend this album as it really is very different but it’s not for the faint hearted, maybe listen online first before purchasing but if you decide it’s for you, then you will play it often as it really captures the imagination

You might just be glad that you did take a chance and discover this uncompromising album from the Italian brothers.

Info here: www.asymmetricuniverse.bandcamp.com

Author John Wenlock-Smith