Style: Jazz Fusion, Djent, Progressive Metal (instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: Arch Echo, Thank You Scientist
Review by: Doug
Country: Italy
Release date: 28 April, 2023
Trying to squeeze musical groups into unambiguous genre baskets rarely works out well. Music is not so cooperative as to have only one or a few defining traits per style, and besides, getting music fans to agree on anything is impossible. But as a professional* (*not actually professional) music reviewer, sometimes I’ve just gotta try. On the spectrum of instrumental bands combining jazz and djent, Asymmetric Universe lie much more in the basket of Arch Echo than Plini, with greater and more explicit jazz influences and less (but not none) of the rock and metal foundations. In their second EP The Sun Would Disappear As I Imagined All the Stars (yes, I will be abbreviating that for the rest of the review) the group have leaned on their jazzy features even more, lobbing solos back and forth like tennis balls and showcasing a litany of guests on all manner of wind and string instruments.
TSWDAIIAtS immediately strikes me as more dissonant and more hyperactive than the band’s previous album When Reality Disarticulates. Resting on a load-bearing background built mainly out of the percussion, keyboard, and rhythm guitar parts, this new release makes its name in the ornamentations laid on top of that core. Whether merely a melody line or an ostentatious solo from one instrument or another, you will remember this album for its ornamental flourishes, and they would not be nearly so memorable if not for the solid base on which they sit. Where many artists might sound unfocused if they attempted the same, Asymmetric Universe spend just as much effort on the supporting layers as on their own chaotic expression, and where that effort is well spent, the carefully arranged structure highlights the brilliance of the parts which lack it.
Take the opener, “Extrospection.” This track smartly takes time at its start to lay out several of the recurring ideas in the album to come, starting with a soft piano intro, diving through a heavy and hectic rhythm feature with almost as many time signatures as measures, before finally settling into a nicely layered guitar-led groove adorned with string flourishes, giving a clear accounting of the range of parts to come. Reminiscent of the interplay within classic Big Band music between soloist and backing rhythm parts, Asymmetric Universe’s base sound lays out the canvas against which the flashy features stand out all the better.
In contrast, the middle tracks “As Within, So Without” and “Kaleidoscope” never really establish a baseline groove with the aforementioned rhythm parts, and feel far more cluttered and uncoordinated without that grounded starting point. These tracks are no less joyously energetic than the first and last, but (similarly to my critique of iNFiNiEN) that eclectic, wildly open style of composition makes it challenging for the audience to find a reference point and follow along as the music develops. I still find many individual moments spread throughout the album which show satisfying, well-constructed development, and the band’s creativity is undeniable from start to finish. The space between those moments, though, lacks mental handholds with which the listener might steady themselves, instead throwing everything the band can come up with at them from every direction all at once. Those who enjoy chaos for chaos’s sake (and I suspect many jazz fans do) will likely have a better time with it than I did, but a less invested audience may just end up lost.
Featuring an abundance of bright, crisp tones all across the broad spectrum of constituent instruments and brimming with unstoppable, infectious energy, TSWDAIIAtS delights in its own free spirit and gleefully invites the rest of us to join in. Tempting though it may be at the album’s high points, it’s not quite all sunshine and rainbows; depending on your taste and tolerance, the moments where Asymmetric Universe lose their own thread detract from the peppy appeal of all the rest. With so much enthusiastic and inspiring instrumental work, though, it’s hard not to want to partake.
Recommended tracks: Extrospection, (re):emerge
You may also like: iNFiNiEN, Regressor, Marbin
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram
Label: Independent
Asymmetric Universe is:
– Federico Vese (guitars, vocals)
– Nicolò Vese (bass)
– Gabriele Bullita (drums)
With guests:
– Federico Braga (violin)
– Matteo Marzaro (violin)
– Andrea Maini (viola)
– Vittorio Piombo (cello)
– Cesare Mecca (trumpet)
– Simone Garino (saxophone)
– Claudio Vignali (piano, “Kaleidoscope”)
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