Sleight of Band
loce_the_wizard | Lilburn, GA USA | 03/23/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I first stumbled across E.S.T. several years ago and have eagerly waited for their newest releases to become available at affordable (to me) prices. Now, for the first time, I'm not sure I can wholeheartedly bless what this innovative trio is up to on their ninth release, "Viaticum." The title, which is a term for a blessing on behalf of a dying person, sets the stage for the darker tone that resonates throughout this recording. But more than the darkness, it's their technique of turning the music inside out that both compels me to keep listening to this CD but at the same time not liking it as much as I hoped I would
Magnus Ostrom's drumming and percussive treatment and Dan Berglund's bass playing (which seems to be more invested in his signature droning than on previous recordings) are more out front on several tracks than Esbjorn Svensson's piano. This inversion is one feature that creates tension in the music. Another form of inversion occurs when the band begins tracks such as The Unstable Table & Infamous Fable with a cacophonous montage which progresses into a piano solo that sounds like it was lifted from a George Winston record back to a wall of jittery sound. And a third type of inversion is how E.S.T. has made silence and space integral to their sound (and once again employed an extended silence in the final track).
The interplay among the three musicians is astounding-yet I cannot quite warm up to this recording. Sometimes, even while listening carefully, I find that I missed the transition and flow from one idea to the next or think that I've been deceived by a "sleight of band" trick or some sort. I will even admit that I'm tempted to speed up the process via fast-forwarding in a couple of places. Maybe in six months or a year, I will have a different opinion.
"
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1