Short Reviews [Intervals - 2020 - ":Circadian"]

Some three years on from the last album, and guitarist Aaron Marshall is back with ‘Circadian’. As with ‘The Way Forward”, drums and percussion are provided by Nathan Bulla, but there is a new bassist in Jacob Umansky, and together the three provide some incredible instrumental mathcore with elements of djent. What makes this such an enjoyable album is the way the music is light and full of space, while there is incredibly high note density, it feels right and much more about the music than someone’s ego. There are times when all three musicians seem as one, all playing the same refrain, while at others they split away to provide contrast and depth. The guitars are multi-layered, and the songs structured and defined so they always have purpose and are never a meandering mess. There is no singer, but there is simply no room for vocals to be slotted in anywhere as this music is just so frantic and dense. Bassist on the last album was Cameron McLellan, here are many times when this makes me think of his band, Protest The Hero (still can’t believe they came all the way to NZ, what an act!) yet there are hints of Meshuggah here and there while fans of the likes of Animals As Leaders, Plini and Nick Johnston will also get a lot from this while it will also be appreciated by fans of Steve Vai as “Lock & Key” in particular would not seem out of place on ‘Passion and Warfare’. A constant issue with instrumental albums is that they can feel either boring, or too self-indulgent, but neither is the case here where we have a trio being led by a guitarist with very firm ideas and direction and the result is something that is both massively over the top and highly enjoyable at the same time.