Montresor: Entelechy

Montresor is an instrumental progressive rock band hailing from Melbourne, Australia. Anyone following progressive rock these days would know Australia has really upped the ante for prog these last few years as a number of bands are doing quite well and putting out some fantastic music. The band formed a few years back and released their debut Daybreak in 2011. Their latest effort Entelechy has just made its way into my CD player. The name of the album was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's Amontillado.

In the band are Bzen Byanjankar (guitar), Dan Nathanson (bass, Mellotron), Jack Osbourne (drums) and chief songwriter Cameron Pikó (guitar, ebow, sitar).

The music is very guitar heavy with some great rhythmic grooves, numerous tempo changes and angular workouts reminding me of Red era King Crimson. Often the songs vary in intensity going from heavy to light with smooth transitions and excellent musicianship. Songs like the album opening "Antarctica" with its heavy riffs and pretty guitar arpeggios and the light and heavy "Daedalus" with delicate cymbals and atmospheric ebow creating great dynamics within the band's metal framework show tremendous creativity. The ambitious "Belewga Whale" is another interesting listen going from heavy repeated chord progressions to clean, almost jazz-like guitar and chiming reggae tinged rhythms. The band changes tempos frequently and eventually the music erupts into total chaos. On "Madman" an atmospheric post rock beginning leads to furious up tempo riffs and pummeling drums. With "Paracelsus" the guitar takes on more atmospheric Eastern tones adding an exotic feel to the band's progressive/post rock sound.The guitar work throughout the album is excellent and many of the repeating riffs did a great job of reeling me into the band's enchanting musical realm. This is the musical equivalent of a post-apocalyptic world where tension and unease are the norm.

Montresor is certainly a band to keep an eye out for as they have made a bold musical statement with Entelechy, an excellent instrumental progressive rock album that deserves your unbridled attention.

Track Listing:
1. Antarctica
2. Daedalus
3. Belewga Whale
4. Supersonic
5. The Madman
6. Funkminster Bullerene
7. Paracelsus
8. The Nolan

Added: August 25th 2015
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band's Bandcamp Page
Hits: 2170
Language: english

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