ViOS - SlaveForm

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  ViOS - SLAVEFORM

  LABEL: LYDIAN IMPULSE

  RELEASE DATE: MAY 27th 2024

  “…music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable…”
  - Leonard Bernstein

  Steve Lewis, the former guitarist with UK progressive extreme metal band, Der Untermensch, whose star burned briefly and brightly in the mid-‘90s with the critically acclaimed album The Man In The Planet, has unveiled the first release from his latest project, ViOS. While retaining the challenging, independent and exploratory nature of his previous endeavours, ViOS sees Steve striding out into fresh new musical territories, drawing upon an array of diverse, dynamic influences and blending them into cohesive, enthralling soundscapes. Operating without words, Steve has created three sonic, sensory experiences, figuratively painting in deft strokes of mood and emotion, working with a palette of countless hues and shades. Collectively these stories without words, these non-verbal expressions of emotions and ideas, these stimuli for the imagination are known as SlaveForm…

  Just three songs…it may not sound like a lot, but ‘just’ isn’t really a word that can be applied to the music of Steve Lewis’ ViOS. We move from the thick, heavy guitar riff of ‘Druj’ to the calming, rolling bass signatures and tumbling riffs of ‘Abort’ and finally to the discordant dark energy of ‘Saturation’…and along the way there is so much more, so many intriguing juxtapositions, so many uplifting, surprising twists, so many secrets hiding in plain sight that catch the ear differently with each listen. There are waves of happiness, troubling whispers of paranoia, dislocated human voices, the warmth of summer, cold mechanistic precision and guitar chord progressions that bring to mind the 21st century work of Iron Maiden! And within each song there is some dazzling, fluid lead guitar work – jazzy, progressive, ascending in beguiling spirals – that work as keys, unlocking new levels inside the music. In ‘Druj’ the great grinding gears of the riff seem to stutter and lock, a break in the program, until the guitar leaps out of the enmeshed mechanism, freeing and transforming the song. SlaveForm possesses as many voices as people who choose to wander its pathways of circuitry and sunlight. It will speak to everyone differently, a unique story for every listener, no two experiences the same.

  Mastered at the Grammy nominated studio, The Carvery (Aphex Twin, Method Man etc), the clarity of sound on SlaveForm is immaculate, allowing each of its distinctive sonic elements to play their part in this complex audio drama. Released on May 27th this EP offers an opportunity for musical exploration, for a cleansing of the palette and a freshening of the mind. Wander from the path and chase the ghosts that dance in the corner of your eye, you never know what you might find…

  Spotify Hyperfollow link here.

  Genre: Progressive Instrumental Metal
  For fans of: Russian Circles| Cloudkicker | GGFH | Liquid Tension Experiment

  Line-up:
  All music performed by Steve Lewis

  

  ViOS - Druj

  ARTIST LINKS »