Diagonal released a self-titled album in 2008. Then after a gap and line-up changes, the new Diagonal emerged. This Brighton-based prog band is responsible for “The Second Mechanism” and let me tell you, it is as full of ideas and prog experimentation as it gets. If this interests you, please let me tell you more.

At times this mostly instrumental work is like a Prog jam session. In sound and structure, Diagonal are not far from Astra with whom they’ve toured and have a Pink Floydish ability to create pictures with their music, but there’s less dreaminess and more psychedelia here. The rather mentally disturbing riff line which I would associate with Astra is there too. But above all it’s exciting, flows and we’re treated to a panoply of moods. Each of the five lengthy tracks has something to tell us.

Saxophony combines with funky rhythms, haziness, dark and mysterious Prog meanderings and Hawkwind-like sounds on “Hulks”. The 1970s meets up with 2012 throughout this imaginative album. “Voyage/Paralysis” is typically exciting. Strange sounds come out at us from everywhere. There’s a strong jazz fantasy element but it’s always fluid. The music is briefly that of the imaginary theme from an edgy US cop series. This album does not stand still. The fusion of ideas is seamless. I loved “These Yellow Sands”. Mellow and wispy Middle Eastern rhythms were transmitted to my mind. It’s subtle. The drum patterns are rich and urgent. Bass sections mix with that prog finery. It’s exotic yet very 70s with its whistling lullabies. The development is breathtaking. Diagonal know how to stretch boundaries and amidst the utter prog, “These Yellow Sands” is like the expression of a story without words.

“Mitochondria” is slightly different from the others in its classical distortions. Flowery rhythms and doomy trumpets contribute to the jolly eccentricity of it. The saxophone takes us again to exotic places. We explore the landscapes and scenes. This is no journey from A to B, yet we’re on the move. Psychedelic colour and those rushing sounds of Hawkwind expand the scene some more. “Capsizing” ends the album. Not dissimilar to “These Yellow Sands” in its musical atmospheres, it is mellow, yet there’s a certain threat about it. The saxophone features again. It’s breathless and of course exotic as it surges forward, implanting fresh pictures all the time in our imagination’s response to this musical feast. The sound of lapping water turns electronic as the adventure ends.

No prog stone is left unturned on this album. “The Second Mechanism” is created in such a way that however deep the prog, it never stops churning out its riot of ideas. I saw Diagonal play with Astra in 2010 and had to be reminded that I struggled with this “degree-level prog”, as I called it then. I was in the minority in failing to fully appreciate Diagonal. It’s different now. Vivid images were presenting themselves when I heard this sophisticated album. On the strength of “The Second Mechanism”, if Diagonal were to come my way tomorrow, I’d be first in the queue.

 (9/10 Andrew Doherty)

diagonal.bandcamp.com