Band: Tom Slatter

CD Title: Murder and Parliament

Website:  https://tomslatter.bandcamp.com/

Label:  Bad Elephant Music (2017)

Rating: Intriguing

 

 

Known for his stuff in the world of Steam Punk, Tom Slatter has delivered an instrumental album called Murder and Parliament that sits outside his usual fare. This is perhaps because most of these tunes, roughly forty-five minutes worth, have been gestating on his computer hard drive for a good number of years. It was finally time to release them on to an unsuspecting public and hence this new release. I would describe the music contained here as hard-edged Art Rock with just a hint of the Avant Prog. This is busy music with a lot of notes flying hither and yon from guitars and keyboards. Being instrumental this makes sense, as without a vocalist the instruments (and the players) are free to fill in the space where lyrics would be. The instruments become the vocals in many respects creating the emotional content and here often times it’s at a hectic pace. When the music isn’t charging down a more rock-inspired path it detours into the more experimental, angular world of the Avant Prog.  Intriguing music certainly and fans of bands such as The Fierce and The Dead will find much to appreciate on this disc.