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Isobar — Isobar IV
(TropeAUDIO TA061, 2024, CD / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-08-17

Isobar IV Cover art

Isobar’s debut self-titled album came out in 2020, showing a band that sounded like they had been playing together for many years — and as it turns out, they had. From 2000 to 2020, bassist Jim Anderson, guitarist Malcolm Smith, and keyboardist Marc Spooner were three-fifths of the bay area band Metaphor, which released four albums during its run before parting ways with the singer and drummer; and for about  a dozen years prior to that they were (with the singer) part of a Genesis cover band specializing in the music of the Peter Gabriel era, so basically these three guys have been playing together for around 35 years, and that is indeed why they sound so cohesive. The trio decided to go forward without vocals, and on the drum kit they enlisted none other than Matthias Olsson, who has played with just about every great band in Sweden over the last thirty years — he’s not an official member of Isobar, but something of a permanent guest, as he has played on all Isobar albums to date. On Isobar IV they are also joined by violinist Trevor Lloyd on three cuts, plus saxophonist Ben Bohorquez and trumpeter Evan Weiss on one cut. Not having a singer and lyrics allows the group to focus on their instrumental presentation, and as it turns out that means ratcheting up the complexity index to a point where there is little repetition and the pieces are ever changing and constantly evolving, where a listener has no idea what’s coming around the next corner until they’ve listened to the album about twenty or thirty times. There are ten cuts here, and at this juncture they sound like nobody else. Really! Their style shifts around at will, always busy and engaging, with elements of rock, classical, jazz, and more all twisting together in a colorful embrace with power, menace, melody, and beauty each taking their respective turn at the forefront of Isobar’s sound. The only other artist I can think of that is so dedicated to such a convolution of styles and complex sounds is Happy the Man, but only HTM’s most brisk and busiest material. And Isobar has some really cool song titles too, like “Master Moot Meets the Unwashed Cousin,” “Rational Anthem,” “Startling Over,” and “Strangling Dandelions.” All fans of inspired instrumental progressive rock should waste no time and check out Isobar IV.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Isobar

More info
http://isobarmusic.com/

 

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