Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Custard Flux — Einsteinium Delirium
(Bandcamp no#, 2024, DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-06-01

Einsteinium Delirium Cover art

Gregory Curvey is back with the fifth Custard Flux album. Einsteinium Delirium continues on from Phosphorus, presenting ten excellent tracks that seamlessly straddle psychedelic and progressive rock. “Peace and Love” bounds out of the gate with a catchy riff in 7/4 and a memorable melody. Electric and acoustic guitars, bass, drums, and Mellotron make for a tasty treat. “Burning in the Sun” changes meter a lot, but doesn’t sound at all mathy, retaining a tinge of psychedelia without any hints of the usual suspect when it comes to odd meters, King Crimson. I’m reminded somewhat of the first Captain Beyond album, though with less of the hard-rock heaviness. This is due to both the guitar tones and the Mellotron, as well as the sunny melodies. “Kingdom Come” delves into more acoustic sounds, coming off a little like a Genesis song from the time of Trespass, at least for the first couple of minutes. In contrast to previous Custard Flux albums, the music here is mostly created with electric instruments, and the acoustic guitar is more a seasoning than the primary substance, as has been the case before. Curvy plays guitar and sings; Vito Greco (guitar, Portuguese guitar) and Timothy Prettyman (bass) return from the previous album; newcomer Nick Pruett plays drums; and Andy Thompson on Mellotron is listed as a special guest. While the theme of the album is nuclear weapons, the music doesn’t descend into depressing doom and gloom, focusing more on the hope that we can avoid using them. The tracks are intended to slip from one to the next without break, and are presented that way on the LP version. In addition, certain melodic and rhythmic themes appear numerous times on the album, creating a real sense of coherence. The album ends with the instrumental “Fat Man,” named after the type of bomb dropped on Nagasaki. This piece is infused with melancholy rather than depression or horror, though the guitar parts venture into more dissonance than is generally the case. It’s a fitting finale for one of the best albums of the year so far.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Custard Flux (Gregory Curvey)

More info
http://custardflux.bandcamp.com/album/einsteinium-delirium

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.