Short Reviews [Disen Gage - 2004 - "The Screw - Loose Entertainment"]

I missed out on the 2004 debut album by Disen Gage when it came out first time around, but it has now been made available again. This was the only album to feature the original line-up of Yury Alaverdyan (guitar, percussion), Konstantin Mochalov (guitar, keyboards), Nikolai Syrtsev (bass, keyboards, percussion) and Evgeny Kudryashov (drums, percussion), and it is quite different in approach to the style of the band I came across later on. The guitars are incredibly important, with a very strong King Crimson feel to proceedings (especially ‘Discipline’ era), although there are also moments when it appears that Gilmour has also been a major influence. It is far heavier and straightforward, less experimental than their more recent albums, so much so it is almost like a different band. It must be quite a shock for fans to move from this to ‘Hybrid State’ as an example, where scientists make music in the course of an experimental procedure, and directly in the lab (the band originally got together when they were students, and followed careers in chemistry). The label describes the album like this, “Moscow scientists debut offers a highly concentrated twist on instrumental rock - a musical journey that leads listeners through the entire range of emotions without even needing words.” Don’t think they’re mad professors, although it would be useful to understand just what they are doing with this highly complex and complicated music as it turns, spins and whirls, with the result that any fan of Fripp is going to love this. The rhythm section is dynamic, and it is often the bass providing the warmth as the guitar interweave and construct strange patterns. Sometimes there is crunch, at others plenty of staccato picking, but it is always intriguing, and one never knows what is going to happen next. This may be very different to the band I came to know, yet is another great example of why in my mind they are one of the top bands to come out of Russia.