Label: Gentle Art Of Music
Release date: September 18, 2020
Production: Victor Bullok & Jan Zehrfeld
Album length: 51.17 min
Genre: Jazz/Avantgarde-Metal/Progressive Metal
Rating: 10/10
German jazz, funk and prog metal fusionists Panzerballett, led by the brilliantly mad guitarist Jan Zehrfeld, are back with a new album, “Planet Z.” It’s another treat for every music gourmet who, besides outstanding technical polish, also appreciates a sense of unbridled improvisation, honed songwriting chops and the occasional (this time purely instrumental) streak of humor.
Unlike most Panzerballett albums, which usually feature at least a minimal guest vocal contribution, “Planet Z” is a fully instrumental affair, on which the German masters of musical experimentation show off their enviable knack for eclectically stretching and building on elements of progressive metal, jazz fusion and funk, drawing on a whole range of acts from those genres, from Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Gong and Herbie Hancock to Planet X, Iron Maiden and Meshuggah. This time the Munich quintet lured in a slew of prestigious drumming names such as Virgil Donati, Marco Minnemann and Morgan Ågren, to list just the three most notorious drum wizards, who stepped into the shoes of Zehrfeld’s regular drummer Sebastian Lanser on “Planet Z” with their enviable technical chops.
As on previous albums, some of the compositions are entirely original creations, while the rest are covers of well-known pieces by other composers, like the exceptionally witty and fun take on Wagner’s classic “Ride of the Valkyries,” which Panzerballett reworked in a cunning and unique way under the original title “Walkürenritt.” It’s also by far the most German-flavored piece on “Planet Z.” The opener “Prime Time,” where Virgil Donati ‘unloads’ behind the kit, is a proper jazz rock fusion treat full of fractured rhythms, chameleon-like sax inserts and ingeniously mad guitar passages, yet it’s only the appetizer for the even stranger, eclectically spiced rest of the album. The sax is often the one that comes off as the most ‘rational’ and soothing in both production and execution, frequently calming the mostly venomously played guitar passages and cataclysmic drum transitions, which is especially obvious on the track “Who the Jack Is Migger.”
“No One Is Flying a Plane,” one of the highlights of “Planet Z,” sounds like Frank Zappa in his jazz fusion phase got stung by a hornet and, while conducting his backing jazz band and playing guitar, went berserk with furious improvising, while summoning a guitar buddy from the future who grew up listening to speed metal. “Coconut,” on which Marco Minnemann wows with his distinctive drumming technique, carries quite a few guitar and sax influences from the unforgettable King Crimson, only in a markedly more brutal way. The closer “SOS” sounds like a raging dissection of fractured rhythms that the furious guitar passages of both guitarists crash into. Zehrfeld leans on “Morse signaling” here, and the phrasing is literally dictating a call for help: “S-O-S.” So it’s no surprise that the phrasing of the song SOS bears some obvious kinship with the song Typewritter II from “Breaking Brain” (2015).
“Planet Z” combines, in a markedly fun, at times wacky and always intelligent way, some of the wildest improvisational elements of the golden age of jazz rock fusion and progressive rock with modern progressive metal, and Panzerballet toy with them like a well-oiled machine brimming with unbridled instrumental ideas. In the field of instrumental jazz rock fusion and progressive rock, “Planet Z” is without a doubt among the top contenders for the best and especially the wittiest release of 2020.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Track list:
01. Prime Time [feat. Virgil Donati]
02. Who The Jack Is Migger? [feat. Marco Minnemann]
03. Mind Your Head [feat. Morgan Ågren]
04. No One Is Flying The Plane [feat. Gergo Borlai]
05. Walkürenritt [feat. Hannes Grossmann]
06. Urchin vs. Octopus [feat. Gergo Borlai]
07. Alle meine Ändchen [feat. Andy Lind]
08. Coconut [feat. Marco Minnemann]
09. SOS [feat. Gergo Borlai]
Musicians:
Jan Zehrfeld – guitar, bass (except tracks 1 and 4)
drummers:
Virgil Donati
Marco Minnemann
Morgan Ågren
Gergo Borlai
Hannes Grossmann
Andy Lind
saxophonists:
Florian Fennes (1, 3, 5, 7)
Sam Greenfield (2, 8)
Georg Gratzer (9)
Anton Davidyants – bass on tracks 1 and 4.
Joe Doblhofer – guitar solos on tracks 1 and 2
Jan Eschke – piano on track 4 and synth solo (track 7)
Michael Lutzeier – baritone sax solo (track 4)
Wolf Wolff – spoken word on track 4
horn section on track 4:
Larry Muñoz – saxophones
Mark Oates – trumpets
