Ahleuchatistas
What You Will

Mixing in a boiling and stormy cauldron the hotheads of the international avant-garde, with a certain Captain Beefhead influence in the dissonant and rough taste of (apparently) arrhythmic combinations: an unconventional but coherent scheme, as clean in intent as it is dangerous in results.

The American trio (North Carolina) is a guitar-bass-drums setup. Guitar, among other things, exhilarating, clean (always), expansive, one could build some psychedelic arpeggios on it and project it into the '60s. A defined, hefty bass. Leading drums, truly the conductor of a deconstructive game, as blasphemous as it is rewarding in outcome.

Particular compositional schemes, deconstructive yet mathematically constructed, themes sometimes dictated by one instrument, sometimes by another: other instruments that follow the theme, offering modifications. What results to the ears of us mere mortals is a continuous movement of deconstruction and reconstruction of sound, on which the whole album is based (something that recalls the very free setup of the last Ephel Duath). Surprises abound, such as the non-abandonment of melody (often scorned in the continuous quest for progress and advancement, on a plane, I would add, purely sensory), which instead fits into the aforementioned de-reconstruction program (Remember Rumsfeld at Abu Grahib).

Other surprises: quick hints, sudden breaks, almost grindcore moments (Shell in Ogoniland), as if the three were full of an idea of unstable precariousness, continually enveloped in that air of threat from "want to see if I now..?" yet including slow moments (some moments almost reminiscent of post-rock...) and restarts full of energy (Maybe Orange), crescendos that bring to mind, albeit distantly, the usual post-rock (Before the Law), hints of feedback (I Used to Be Like You, But Now I am Just Like Me).

As I've said so far, and as I believe I will continue to say, it's very much on a purely conceptual, intellectual, aesthetic level. Not soundwise, not emotional.

Here's the beauty: Ahleuchatistas don't do a bad job bringing this blabla to an audible level. The result engages, drags along, has some truly extraordinary peaks, doesn't strain the ear, at least not as much as the average current math-rock product. Give it a listen: restructure your eardrums.