Nuclear Distortion
I had been craving some new material from Cerebric Turmoil so it was a surprise when I read that this band shared their bassist and guitarist. Fringe metal albums like this one that fuse with jazz are interesting and I'm probably not the only one that could draw similarties to Meshuggah. I'm always on the hunt for hard jazz-improv-meets-metal albums and feel that these genres could use more exploration and this band sounds like they have more to say.
“’The Encounter’ is a genrebending 30-minute-track merging the stylistic depths of odd metered metal and jazz/fusion.”
“Intercepting Pattern started as a side-project when Marte’s and Clemens’ band Cerebric Turmoil went on hiatus in 2016. Having played in various metal bands before, we were kind of drawn to modern jazz and fusion records at the time and wanted to challenge ourselves with a more complex and improvisational approach to music. Of course, being the metal kids that we are, we couldn´t totally hide from our roots, but overall we tried to emphasize extended harmonic concepts and recurring rhythmic motives common to a Jazz/Fusion context.
After months of sharing ideas between ourselves and also our friend and producer Tom, Marte composed a rough ‘skeleton’ of the track that featured the basic rhythmic patterns and chord changes as a building block for further soloing and improvisation.
Lille Gruber, one of our “metal-friends” that also has a soft spot for jazz related music, was asked to join on drums for the recording session. After we practiced the material together for a couple of months, the drums were tracked at Tonbrauerei in Berlin in two days, January 2018. For the fusion-parts especially, Lille went for long improvised takes over the chord changes of the different sections and then we picked a favorite. Those drum tracks then formed the basis for Marte and Clemens to overdub guitars, synthesizer and bass - prewritten for the metal parts, (semi-)improvised in the fusion sections.
We decided to add the specific vocal concept only after the music was basically finished so we had a clear picture to build lyrics upon. Dan´s vocal style seemed to fit the final concept very well and we asked him to session the job. Which he did at Tom´s homestudio (FountainheadHQ) in Berlin in summer 2019? The project was finalized, mixed and mastered at FountainheadHQ in Feb 2020.
It only occurred to us to cut the track into pieces for the purpose of a digital release. We recommend to listen to the whole album as a single song, as this is how it was intended.”
credits
released September 4, 2020
Recording Lineup:
Marte Auer – guitars, synths (Cerebric Turmoil)
Clemens Engert – bass (Cerebric Turmoil, Infecting The Swarm, session for Orphalis)
Lille Gruber – drums (Defeated Sanity, session for Ingurgitating Oblivion et al.)
Daniel Sander – vocals (Stone Dust Engine, session for Fountainhead & Strength Of Will)
Jimmy Pitts – guest solo on keys at 22:40 (on Fuga Finalis) (Eternity's End, Eynomia, NorthTale, NYN, The Fractured Dimension)
Produced, mixed & mastered by Tom ‘Fountainhead’ Geldschläger at FountainheadHQ
Drums recorded by Thies Neu at Tonbrauerei Berlin
Cover Artwork by Niklas Sundin (Mitochondrial Sun, Dark Tranquillity)
Band logo by Benno Meijer (Viral Designs)
Heaviest thing I’ve heard all year along with Altarage. Okay I’ve been listening to this record for the past two weeks and it just gets better and better. Dissonant grooves galore Jacob Ballance
A new compilation series featuring cat-loving metal bands from every state donating their tracks for local animal welfare organizations. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 12, 2018
This wild 35-track all-metal benefit album features Mare Cognitum, Panopticon, and more reinventing songs by Tori Amos & others. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 3, 2020
Wack to think they somehow went up from here. Just... damn...
its not gonna rip your face off, but its every bit as punchey and hard-hitting as the stuff coming straight out the minds of archspire.
And man them solos. im a real goon when it comes to that stuff, can't dig them, but, its fucking gooey right here, tickling all my brain parts in the perfect way. MyNameIsRedundant