Dominique Vantomme is a Belgian pianist, keyboardist, composer, band leader, music educator and producer, and on his brand new release for MoonJune Records, titled Vegir he's paired up with legendary bassist/stick player Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, Stick Men), guitarist Michel Delville (The Wrong Object, Machine Mass, douBt), and drummer Maxime Lenssens. All-instrumental, Vegir covers a wide variety of musical styles, from jazz-fusion, to space rock, avant-garde, electronic, and a touch of prog, it's all here led by Vantomme's vast array of instruments, which include Fender Rhodes Electric Piano, Acoustic Piano, Mini Moog, and Mellotron .
"Double Down" starts things off in fine fashion, as distorted, wah-wah soaked guitar patterns collide with electric piano and layers of Moog, Levin's velvety grooves always present. The heavier "Equal Minds" follows, a noisier, more atmospheric collection of avant-garde & space rock sounds, as if Tangerine Dream and Hawkwind were locked in a studio together. Delville's ragged guitar lines lead the rest of the band into the chilling "Sizzurp", another spacey, proggy number that also features some dreamy Moog from Vantomme and lots of screaming guitar solos & heavy riffs. The hilariously titled "Playing Chess With Barney Rubble" is a locked in groove machine, Levin & Lenssens digging deep while Vantomme blazes on the Rhodes and Delville unleashes more wah-wah and whammy bar saturated acrobatics. Clocking in at over 13-minutes, "The Self Licking Ice-cream Cone" (another great title!) is one of the albums more jazzier numbers, the leader contributing some stellar electric piano lines over intricate grooves, with ample room left for Delville to deliver another a scorching guitar solo. After the shorter, haunting "Plutocracy" comes "Agent Orange", a real vehicle for Levin and his jaw dropping technique, which is so percussive in nature...he's just such a musical treasure, and has been for decades. "Emmetropia" closes things out, a dark, atmospheric gem of menacing space rock with plenty of varied Moog and Rhodes tones from the leader.
Vegir is another one of those albums that might be a solo release for Dominique Vantomme, but he shares the spotlight so well that it highlights all the musicians and makes for a highly enjoyable 'band' album. Awesome keyboards, ripping guitar work, and rock solid rhythms featuring none other than Tony Levin...doesn't get much better than that! Do not miss this one!
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
1.
Double Down 07:36
2.
Equal Minds 10:19
3.
Sizzurp 10:45
4.
Playing Chess With Barney Rubble 09:04
5.
The Self Licking Ice-cream Cone 13:08
6.
Plutocracy 04:38
7.
Agent Orange 09:46
8.
Emmetropia 09:00
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