The Guilty Brothers Experience

TGBE

Written by: DR on 19/12/2010 17:27:33

The Guilty Brothers Experience kick their debut album off with a Middle Eastern opening, the kind of music you might vaguely associate with a snake charmer. This wouldn't be unusual if TGBE were from the Middle East - they're not, they're from Belguim. From that moment you'd be a fool to expect anything ordinary as this quintet have no such word in their vocabulary.

On "A Strange Valley of Exile" they loosely continue the Middle Eastern vibe which eventually melts into noisy psychedelia, but there are other tracks such as "Fermeture" and highlight "Musical Chairs II (After The Rain)" that allows them to explore soundscapes over the course of eight minutes before closing with a dramatic ending led by the vocals of Jason Gé. There are twelve tracks here, with the overall album length coming close to an hour. It's a challenging listen to say the least, especially to someone (like me) who has little experience of this genre. Influences from the likes of Pink Floyd, Faith No More and The Mars Volta are present, it's therefore largely centred around the experimental guitar-work of Anton Chagrin and Sal Jean Satin.

There are three songs that clock over eight minutes long, "Overskies Telegram (Including The March of Death)" being the longest, courtesy of what at times feels a bit like a jam session, as though the guitar-duo are improvising this as they go along; they start out fuzzy and heavy enough, but decide to descend into uber-indulgence. "A Song of Hate And Hope" is another fine vocal performance that fans of The Mars Volta might appreciate.

"Journey into the center of a psychedelic world..." they propose to you. Although you may find the sudden shifts in tempo, the over-the-top vocals and the guitars ranging from distorted to melancholic an intimidating listen, give their world a chance to grow on you, and you won't regret the journey into it.

7

Download: Hesitation of Icarus, Overskies Telegram (Including The March of Death)
For The Fans of: The Mars Volta
Listen: Myspace

Release Date April 2010
Domino Media

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