Earlier this year the man behind Arcade Messiah released his solo album “Unearth” in what was largely a song based collection of acoustic guitars and vocals backed with beautifully crafted keyboards and affects, whereas this time around John Bassett has decided to record a purely instrumental affair which takes him off in a different direction than previous recordings.
The opening track “Sun Exile” is exactly what this album is all about, Bassett putting the acoustic guitar down and coming up with some killer electric riffs as he leaves the more chilled prog-rock and indulges in some stoner rock anthems.
It’s this that shows an alternative side to Bassett as “Your Best Line of Defence” and “Traumascope” both have slow sludgy guitars and a slight evilness to them that will suit fans of the much hyped Mastodon and the more underground instrumentalists Karma to Burn, that’s of course along with the kings of evil riffs in Black Sabbath.
The middle ground reaches the more chilled out soundscape of “Aftermath”, a fitting title to what brings you down a bit from the previous tracks until you enter back into the guitar heavy “Everybody Eating Everyone Else” complete with solid drum fills and “The Most Popular Form of Escape” has a guitar intro that continues throughout the track proving the guitar solo is far from a forgotten art.
It’s then the final song in “Roman Resolution” that pays homage to John Bassett’s early days in prog-rock outfit KingBathmat who having released several albums are still close to his heart, coming in at just shy of nine minutes this is definitely one for the prog-rock enthusiasts. It’s not the heaviest on here but it certainly has a lot going on, fancy guitar work and complex time signatures to bring the album to its dramatic close.
Although it may have taken a little getting used to after John Bassett’s previous release, if you’re unaware of his back catalogue and just after some full on guitar music then Arcade Messiah does stand out in its own right making for a great listen and one you can easily revisit without dismissing as just another side-project.
I really like the albums artwork too, for it’s a simple yet effective pencil drawing of a man exposed in front of a bleak city skyline – which itself helps give you a feel for the album as musically Arcade Messiah leaves John Bassett nowhere to hide, because after all when he can create instrumentals like this why would you want him to?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dYyy-_TG_Q
Release date: December 1st 2014
