Zebulan Pike Stream Space is the Corpse of Time
Zebulan Pike. The name sounds familiar but can't pin where I've heard it before. The music is no help. It's progressive. It's doomy. It's operatic. It's thoughtful. It meanders. It's rich and polyphonic. Zebulan Pike boasts Tom Berg on drums, Morgan Berkus and Erik Fratzke on guitar, and Erik Bolen on drums. The band has been around since 2002 and hail from Minneapolis. Space is the Corpse of Time was released in June 2011. So why is The Obelisk streaming a six month old release? For people who haven't heard it yet, like me.
Spectrum Threshold is an aural masterpiece. There are so many layers to this song it's unbelievable. It's a full symphony in eleven and a half minutes. The track bobs and weaves thru loads of musical territory. There are variations on the theme, new themes, and colourful tangents. It's the best of 70s indulgent progressive rock updated for the new millennia. It would be reductionist to say they are a jam outfit, as this song is more complex than just four dudes jamming.
Echoic Worlds reminds me of Rwake's lastest release. This track is spacey - like 2001 Space Odyssey spacey. In some spots, the guitar is just downright weird and creepy. Then the song will break off and go in a different direction, a major head fuck. It's like what the what? And you go with it just to see where you'll end up next. Then it lumbers back to life with some heavy groove doom vibe. But don't get to comfortable as Echoic Worlds takes you on a journey through many different musical worlds.
Powers of the Living/Manisfestations of the Dead is a cornucopia of sounds. There is nothing you can pin down or even want to. There is so much going on here that it at times is overwhelming. By this point in the album, the listener should just tune in and drop out. Enjoy the musical landscape as it were.
Space is the Corpse of Time is less than five minutes long. That was shocking. The song is progressive and jazzy. Then that disappears and something wicked this way comes. Not literally, of course, but the interlude brings this to mind. Even in such a short song Zebulon Pike manages to throw conventional song writing and compositions on their head.
Trigon in Force closes the album. The song is a wall of sound. It's distorted bass and evil guitars. It's almost as if a conversation is taking place between musical oddities.
Zebulon Pike's Space is the Corpse of Time is not for the casual listener. It's best used for chilling out and zoning out. Or as groovy background music.
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