The Nerve Institute: Architects Of Flesh Density

The Nerve Institute is the new project from multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Mike Judge and a quick glance at both the wordy album title and challenging song titles will immediately allude to the fact that we are not in the realms of easy listening here. Instead, if you listen very, very carefully you'll hear a faint crashing sound that I would guess is Mike throwing the kitchen sink at the project, having run out of any other possible components to add! Dense, dark, and challenging are all apt words to describe an album that is refreshingly difficult to pigeon hole. In any one song you can catch glimpses of everything from Frank Zappa to Porcupine Tree, or King Crimson to The Underground Railroad. That may sound like a heady mix and indeed it is, however after a few spins – this is far from immediate music – the results do begin to unravel a beautifully constructed album that demands your full attention.

Frantic and free-flowing may sound like contradictions and in truth that is something that Architects Of Flesh has in plentiful abundance, with crashing guitars, meeting ravaging keyboards lines, before slamming on the hand break and heading off to plaintive piano and thrumming bass. In fact even after you have put the time in to unlock this intricate and masterfully arranged music, I'm not sure you'll ever get to a stage of feeling that you know every nook and cranny of the seven tracks on show. Not content with writing and producing every nuance of these songs, Judge also performs every note and beat as well covering a gamut of instruments in the process. Even more impressively is that unlike many one man shows, the sound and delivery of the music doesn't suffer from not having a band feel. Yes, the music is indulgent, however rather than feeling sycophantic, what comes over is that these songs are voiceless stories in their own rite and rather than needing the guidance of others to fully realise their potential, this is one album that truly benefits from the undiluted, blinkers on approach that Judge has given it.

Neither a quick listen, nor an easy ride, Architects Of Flesh Density is an impressive achievement which has the ability to make you as confused as you are satisfied, whilst leaving you yearning for more.

Track Listing
1. Horror Vacui
2. Prussian Blue Persuasion
3. Tooth And Flea Korowod
4. Die Neue Moritat
5. La Jalousie
6. Hadassah Esther Cruciform
7. Bande Magnetique...At The Ossuary

Added: August 6th 2011
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Altrock
Hits: 2146
Language: english

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