Detailed Reviews [Uncle Gut - 2000 - "II"]

Uncle Gut is quite an original instrumental trio headed by the bass-man Mike Galway. The other band members are guitarist Mike Pizza and drummer-screamer David Grollman. Music performed by the group is powerful fusion though each of seven album tracks is periodically accompanied by Grollman’s megaphone screams. In fact he just utters rather monotonous screams through some distorter and this, to my mind, only harms the band’s remarkable music. Real amazing blend of Prog-Metal and Jazz-Fusion is played by Uncle Gut and it’s not that easy to compare it to anything heard before. Powerful guitar riffing in every composition is followed by virtuoso and interlacing purely jazz-like improvisations by both lead and bass guitarists which in their turn are backed by inventing drumming of the same school. In spite most of the tracks having rather "metallic taste" (Without Color and Trail of Doubt being the best examples) Heavy Metal fans can hardly find anything much attractive here. Unlike them those who appreciate adventurous improvising fusion and especially admirers of unexpected will surely have real fun listening to the album.

VM. December 30, 2000