I like the drums/sludge rock bass/skronk saxophone concept behind Free Nelson Mandoomjazz but, after two EPs and this first full-length album, I'm not sure where it has left to go.
Each track's wild swings from pared-back serenity to Bacchanalian revelry can be truly thrilling but the same musical device is used again and again by the Scottish trio. I checked with a stopwatch, and saxophonist Rebecca Sneddon spends almost exactly one-third of the running time squawking up and down the register rather than playing a clear note recognisable on any scale; and while that's the very point of her music (and her control and technique can't be faulted), these astringent adrenaline rushes don't deliver enough in themselves. Indeed, when she plays a repeated four-note pattern on The Pillars Of Dagon, it's disappointing that bassist Colin Stewart steps away from his arsenal of Black Sabbath riffs only to come up with a similar scratch-fret frenzy in reply. It's left to drummer Paul Archibald to push beyond the minimalist confines, and he emerges as the star of the show.
Alan Morrison
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