Reviews Of The Fractal CD - "Continuum"
Where To Buy
Reviews
| Reviewer | Rob |
| Source | CDBaby |
| Link To Original | http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/fractal |
| Review | The non-Prog Rocker's Perspective |
| My tastes tend towards improvisational jazz and rock, like Miles and the Dead, as opposed to highly structured Prog, such as King Crimson and Frank Zappa; but Fractal is crisp, slick, and a lot of fun. The generous length of the CD allows the listener to become immersed in their musical world the same way Bitches Brew, any Dick’s Picks, or Beethoven’s 9th does in their respective artists’ worlds. It is a stimulating place to spend some time, and I highly recommend the visit. | |
| Reviewer | Brian |
| Source | CDBaby |
| Link To Original | http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/fractal |
| Review | Crimheads take notice! |
| This is all original, heavy-to-spacey progressive rock influenced very much by King Crimson. In fact the cover art and text is full of sly allusions to that band--from the "Red" tribute cover photo to song titles like Fractional (FraKctured?), Prominence (Providence?) and Earthbound (!). But what's important is these guys are really good instrumentalists and composers and their music stands very well on its own merit. There is much subtlety and intricacy here, along with some great stonking odd-time-signature RIFFS to get the adrenaline pumping! This is a band with intelligence, talent and taste. They've made a strong and diverse album here, which should appeal to all enthusiasts of the harder side of progressive rock and fusion. | |
| Reviewer | Gustav Fomalhault |
| Source | CDBaby |
| Link To Original | http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/fractal |
| Review | This could be King Crimson in '75 - Great CD |
| The construKtions on this cd are of mega proportions. A homage to Crimson which works yet also has an individual feel. This probably IS Crimson in a parallel universe. It is an instrumental album. Come on guys, next time lets have some lyrics! You can do it! | |
| Reviewer |
Valentine |
| Source |
CDBaby |
| Link To Original |
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/fractal |
| Review |
the music is too good for my listening habits |
| This music is far to [sic]
heavy, way too wild for my conservative cowboy-music taste. It is
bizarre and I am afraid of new sensory experiences. The rhythms - I
can't dance to it. It makes me want to murder my wife. (Ed - A classic!) |
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| Reviewer |
Jeff Hodges, Denton, TX - 16th February 2004 |
| Source |
Amazon |
| Link To Original |
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/fractal |
| Review |
Accept comparisons |
| One
can hardly blame Fractal for "doing the King Crimson thing" almost to a
fault. The members met through Elephant Talk, the names of their songs
are all nods to King Crimson music, and the album cover is obviously
Red-inspired. They wear this influence on their sleeve, and cleverly
enough, this allows them to get away with being pretty much flat-out
derivative of Crimson's recent work. In fact, as their name implies,
they would not be out of place as one of the late '90's "fractal"
ProjeKCts that King Crimson briefly evolved into. So we should get this out of the way: If you like instrumental King Crimson, you will at the very least find Continuum interesting, if not darned good. For a trio that doesn't actually have any Crimson members in it, Fractal does a respectable job of capturing most of the thickness and complexity of that body of work. They soundscape. They play in crazy meters. They can be heavy. They are emotional and darkly passionate. They got chops galore. However, Continuum is not without flaw. On an all-instrumental album like this one, sound should a major consideration. Overall, the guitars and synths sound great, but the boxy electric drum sounds stand in the way of an otherwise airtight production. King Crimson's drummers have all used them to some extent throughout that band's career, but in all cases all the drums were allowed to sound electric. It seems like Fractal's drummer is playing a whole set of electrics like they were acoustic, and that the recording would be better served by an acoustic set with some electric expansion. Case in point: the use of electric cymbals. There are far too many subtle nuances to the sound of ringing metal for me to ever really be convinced that a triggered sample is superior or more responsive, and there are some potentially emotional moments on Continuum that are held back by unconvincing cymbal sounds. I am also very curious about Fractal's live component. Fractal is obviously made up of high-caliber musicians, but I would be interested to see how these arrangements are performed. There is a lot of vertical depth and complexity that would be difficult for a trio to perform. If they are as true to these recordings as King Crimson's are to theirs, Fractal is indeed worthy of respect. The lowdown: I dislike mentioning another band's name in a review more than the band I am reviewing, but for God's sake, if you are going to copy a group and do it well, King Crimson is a very respectable goal. All in all, Continuum is a good listen, and I am slightly envious that these guys did manage to find each other and make music like this. I wonder if they need a Stick player..... |
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| Reviewer |
Marc |
| Source |
ProGGnossis |
| Link To Original |
http://www.proggnosis.com/MUSIC_DBCDInfo.asp?txtCDID=12087# |
| Review |
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| The
guys from Fractal cannot be described as hypocrites. Almost
everything about this band (name, album cover, music, website) refers
to King Crimson. Having had the chance to listen to Continuum a few
times in the last few weeks, I am (surprisingly) quite impressed by the
music I have heard. In general I am not the one to be attracted by what is usually called "clone bands" (in a pejorative way). I even had trouble getting into Marillion in the eighties because I felt they sounded to much like Genesis. I have changed my mind since. The first two tracks on Continuum are obviously inspired by KC, but do not actually sound like something Fripp and his friends could have put out. For example on "Coda - Reflexion" there is a looping piano line you would never associate with Crimsom. Starting with "Prominence" the illusion does become almost perfect, and this goes on for the rest of the album. In fact Fractal 's music could easily be mistaken for some lost instrumental recordings from the Three of a Perfect Pair sessions. The music on Continuum is very good. Nic Roozeboom does a great Fripp on guitars. Paul Strong has the combination of delicate touch, speed and creativeness you would expect from Bruford. Jim Mallonee is perhaps the more discreet of the three musicians, but his playing is very tasteful and he does get his moments to shine. The compositions are very good. In fact if King Crimson had put out this album I would have concluded that they had managed to rejuvenate themselves, something I will not say about their recent efforts. Is Continuum for you? If you are dead against any form of derivative music forget about it. If you are into KC and/or miss what they were doing in the eighties, buy this album at once. There are tons of samples on the band's website to make an idea of what they can offer. |
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| Reviewer |
Dainis Bushmanis |
| Source |
Web |
| Link To Original |
N/A |
| Review |
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| I've
heard Fractal MP3s from their album out last week. Too close to King
Crimson and on the same High level. Discovery of the year as Sublux or
TheAutumn Project. If Gunn went off maybe Fractal will be instead of
original KC? (Ed - After some communication with Dainis it turns out that he was kind enough to rank us #12 in his top CDs of 2003. We hope to have an e-interview with Dainis for his web-site soon.) |
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| Reviewer |
Mark Graham |
| Source |
The FraKctured Zone |
| Link To Original |
Online Diary |
| Review |
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| This is a wonderful album of many contrasting colours/flavours - my favourite track at present being the title track which is a great piece with excellent asymetric riffing and some really good sounds/textures. There's an emotional yet muted solo that immediately preceeds the very cruel, wicked ending. | |