Sausage
Riddles Are Abound Tonight

Les Claypool! Who else has injected new life into a genre considered in decline or even "dead" like rock in the past decade? Perhaps very few have made a similar contribution... His work with Primus, one of the most important bands of the '90s, not only produced a notable number of undeniably high-level works but also created a new musical blend of funk, alt metal, and psychedelia...

The Sausage is a project born from the desire to reconcile the original lineup, so the two musicians (guitarist and drummer that is) seem a bit pitiable because they can't even take a little credit for the composition since LaLonde and Alexander were already present in "Suck on this" (the very first album).

This unique piece, "Riddle are abounds tonight", to be frank, is a notch below the standard to which this gentleman has accustomed us. Reading the date (1994), one would expect a nice link between "Pork Soda" and "Tales F.T.P". What a pity. Also, because our dear Les, an artist with a capital A, never yields and never neglects his grotesque, creative, and tragicomic vein, which always expresses itself magnificently in his sharp croak and (even if a bit subdued on this occasion) his acrobatic bass... It should be said, though, that Claypool's intention with this album is to recreate the sound of the early days, of which rare live performances remain.

The positive aspects of the work emerge in the first tracks. "Shattering song", the best piece and the quintessence of the whole album, manages to be an interesting combination of fusion, progressive and psychedelia, sustained, especially in the second part, by a guitar that releases exotic vibrations on an obsessive base, in a swirling and hypnotic crescendo... masterpiece... On "Prelude to fear", the most metal track of the bunch, at least half of the pieces between "Antipop" and "Brown album" will be based. Meanwhile, the funk sounds of "Sailing T.S.O.C." return in "Riddles are abounds tonight", where the unstoppable and disdainful slap alternates with the verse, recreating the verse-noise-verse structure so dear to our hearts. "Here is the man" is yet another mix of different genres (and that's what we want, right?) this time an unprecedented dub 'n' noise, although a strange and repetitive compositional poverty is already noticeable.

The second part of the album (excluding "Themporary phase"), unfortunately, gives in to prolixity (not constant, but quite present at times), unusual if it had been by Primus, which does not hold up to the first tracks. At times, it seems like a continuous and endless medley, dragged along solely and exclusively by Claypool's bass lines, now dub and now fusion... the guitar is absurdly flat, the drums almost non-existent. It's the confirmation of a work released a bit too hastily (and it's understandable! I want to see who can release 10 albums in 15 years without the slightest drop in style, given the niche genre and quite complex compositionally).

Rating 3.5/5 rounded up to 4 because I have a morbid affection for mister Les, and giving only a passing grade to an individual who opened my eyes to so much good music is something nonsensical as well as ignoble (in any case, the score is seven out of ten). Cheers.