Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Knifeworld
Label: Inside Out Records
Release: 2014
Runtime: 45:20
Rating: 4/5
»The Unravelling« is the second album from modern British psychedelic rockers Knifeworld and their first studio effort to come out on leading prog-rock label Inside Out. The label is known for its high standards when it comes to working with artists, since, besides the established names, they usually only take the most talented acts from the experimental music world under their wing.
This unique British octet, commanded by Iranian-born composer, lead vocalist and guitarist Kavus Torabi (Gong, Guapo), is made up of members of Cardiacs, Gong, Guapo and Chrome Hoof, which means it packs a mix of sonic elements from all those bands. In their unusual, pretty experimental approach to music, Knifeworld swear above all by a supremely eclectic blend of psychedelic rock, alternative and pop, and you can pick up an incredibly wide range of musical influences in their sound, from artists as different as Henry Cow, Black Sabbath, Gong, Syd Barrett, XTC, Steve Reich, Led Zeppelin, Magma, Todd Rundgren, Voivod and Sonic Youth, and that’s only counting the ones the folks at Inside Out themselves heard when they listened. The label even plugs these influences in Knifeworld’s music with a special sticker.
Despite such a colorful palette of influences, Knifeworld have managed to carve out a fairly distinctive musical style, which won them plenty of devoted fans very early on within today’s ‘underground’ experimental scene, where young bands that can still wow us with spontaneity and unpredictability are welcomed with open arms and, above all, open ears.
On »The Unravelling« Knifeworld stay true to their experimental mission, with no shortage of psychedelic freak-outs and fun jazzy improvisations, in which the bassoon, played by Chloe Herrington, plays a key role alongside the saxophones. »I Can Teach You How To Lose A Fight«, with Melanie Woods on lead vocals, is a fairly melodic opener by Knifeworld standards, but it gets dragged into deep experimental waters by the murky guitar and vocal improvisations that sound like they’re beaming in from another dimension. The vocal interplay between Woods and Torabi makes for gorgeous contrast and keeps the atmosphere nicely intense amid the passionate woodwind passages.
»The Unravelling« is positively bursting with adventurous eclecticism, which will delight above all those listeners with impeccable taste who put on experimental legends like Henry Cow and Gong for their usual afternoon unwind. »Don’t Land On Me« has a space-rock intro in Emmett Elvin’s territory that quickly conjures up psychedelic ambient through electronically tinged synth textures, only to be suddenly followed by a surprising switch into a pastoral, soothing section with plenty of bassoon and excellent male-female vocal harmonies.
Even when Knifeworld find themselves in the middle of the most avant-garde psychedelic improvisational stomping, they suddenly spring a surprise with unbelievably fluid transitions into melodic sections, so even people with slightly thinner nerves can listen to those moments without sweating. The top candidate for the most ‘unhinged’ experiment is definitely »The Skulls We Buried Have Regrown Their Eyes«, a real psychedelic-avant-garde merry-go-round in every sense of the word. Torabi’s irritated, paranoid vocal snarling amid the gloomy atmosphere sounds like someone howling in the grip of severe withdrawal, while the avant-garde instrumental freak-outs recall some of the ‘outbursts’ of certain RIO scene figures from the seventies.
With »The Unravelling«, a gorgeous sonic showcase of experimental insight and dramatic eclecticism, Knifeworld have proven there’s still hope for the modern British psychedelic rock scene, which has been on the brink of extinction more than once, even though, as you’d expect, in all their vehement experimenting they don’t invent any ‘new wave’, but mostly show they’ve learned plenty from the past masters of such offbeat musical expression. That’s a good enough reason to pay them a bit more attention in the future, since there’s hardly any doubt that plenty more interesting and ‘unhinged’ musical surprises will follow.
Lineup
Kavus Torabi – vocals, guitar
Melanie Woods – vocals, percussion
Emmett Elvin – keyboards
Charlie Cawood – bass
Ben Woollacott – drums
Chloe Herington – bassoon, saxophone, backing vocals
Josh Perl – saxophone, backing vocals
Nicki Maher – saxophone, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Katharine Blake – violin
Anna Tam – viola on “I’m Hiding Behind My Eyes”
Production
Kavus Torabi
Track list
1. I Can Teach You How To Lose A Fight (5:14)
2. The Orphanage (1:33)
3. Send Him Seaworthy (6:36)
4. Don’t Land On Me (8:02)
5. The Skulls We Buried Have Regrown Their Eyes (4:45)
6. Destroy The World We Love (6:05)
7. This Empty Room Once Was Alive (3:50)
8. I’m Hiding Behind My Eyes (9:15)
