I couldn’t have imagined that I’d ever be writing about a touring guitarist for Russell Watson or Aled Jones but that’s what John Bailey is. This man has many strings to his bow, as it were, with an interest in aggressive and intelligent music, as well as literature, art and themes associated with social and emotional imbalance. It’s fair to say, I think, that Mr Bailey has a wide portfolio. For this album, which was compiled in 2020, he has enlisted seasoned and renowned keyboardist Mike Moran, and other musicians including the vocalist of grindcore band Corrupt Moral Altar, Leprous’s drummer and representatives from De Profundis, Tangaroa and others. Intriguingly this potentially rich mix, described as technical metal, is then touted as appealing to fans of Dillinger Escape Plan, Meshuggah, Converge, Mastodon, Botch and Strapping Young Lad.
If the above makes you think this might be airy-fairy, then think again. Growling, technical, occasionally atmospheric, interruption-heavy songsmanship with experimentation, discordance and jazz bits are where it’s at. I love the explanation behind the first act of chaos “The Bus Station Roof”: “the place in Preston where people go to throw themselves off when they’ve had enough”. For Preston, substitute the town of your choice. From this we go to the frantic, screaming technical vibes and soft jazzy tones and Dr Who style horror of “Full Length Biography”. It’s as if Cynthesis crossed with Ephel Duath and a bit of Darkane. Prepare to go insane, or just soak in the mania. Electronic twiddlings sounding like birds prefix the technical anarchy of “Impotent Prophet”, unsurprisingly about the failings of religion as set in a brutal death metal jazz concept. You know the one. You don’t? Well no, these musicians are having a ball out there twisting and turning and mashing with our senses. No boundaries are set. “A Projection of Me on You” is a melancholic piece of dark and pungent music of an apocalyptic doom / post metal kind. So far there’s been nothing utopian. The title song doesn’t really redress the balance, instead being a dark and sombre sirening nightmare. The meandering guitar work juxtaposes with the deep bass and roaring vocals. The atmosphere is kaleidoscopic and profound.
Brutal chaos returns with “Spirit Waves”, breaking off for a spot of heavy doom. Waves constantly come forth from the keyboardist, adding a cosmic element. “What About Me” takes us through the range of violence, anger and emotion, the latter being expressed through a wonderful jazzy bass passage and accentuated by the keyboardist’s ethereal waves. The last thing you’d expect is a piece called “Happiness” but it’s here. Happiness evidently lies in experimental technical metal interspersed with quiet jazzy interludes and prolonged chords and cries of anguish. “It’s a great word used to describe the boredom of talking to someone who only talks about themselves and their own successes in life”. The word is “Smiledyawnednodded”, taken from James Joyce’s “Ulysses” and musically represented in the form of accomplished technical metal patterns. Self-indulgent it most certainly is, but engaging it is too and impossible to ignore. Post metal weightiness returns with “Moscow Holiday”. The journey takes us to a dark and sinister world. The final delight comes in the frantically multi-faceted “It’s Not the End”. It is the end, of this album at least, but the rich mix of styles are prominent again and left me once more with plenty to think about. I floated off to the ether. My brain was buzzing. I listened to the album again without delay.
This album has a life of its own and is to be heartily applauded for this. “Stalker” comprises eleven distinct and experimental pieces. In spite of the incongruity of it all and apparently disconnect between the titles and the spewing but highly accomplished musical brain dumps, I felt I was sharing a collection of experiences. Thematically, this is about dissociation. This is appropriately reflected in the harsh and sharp turns and in the rapid transformations of mood, but in spite of all appearances, “Stalker” is grippingly imaginative and somehow coherent. This is intelligent music indeed.
(9/10 Andrew Doherty)
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