Paranoise: ISHQ (CD, 62:45); Ancient Records, 2001 E-mail: jmatus@paranoise.com Cyberhome: http://www.paranoise.com 10 words or less: Middle Eastern chants combined with heavy Rock rhythms Elaboration: The evolution of the Paranoise project has been an interesting one. Starting with their debut album Constant Fear and their sophomore effort Start a New Race which were much more in the Heavy Metal realm. Despite guest appearances by luminaries such as Percy Jones, Anthony Jackson, Lenny Pickett and Don Cherry, these first 2 albums were nothing to write home about. Their third album Private Power took them to the Middle East where they sampled indigenous chanting of the region that they combined with their unique brand of Punk Metal. ISHQ further refines the ideas and direction begun on Private Power. On ISHQ there is notably less of a Metal leaning and more varied instrumentation. The heavy Rock rhythms are still omnipresent but there is more World instrumentation in the mix including some smokin’ Violin soloing by Rohan Gregory. I have been lukewarm toward Paranoise’s past efforts but this one’s a winner. ~ L Perez
Paranoise: Private Power(CD, 65:05); Ancient Records, n/a, 2000 E-mail: n/a Cyberhome: http://www.paranoise.com 10 words or less: Politically charged Rock with ethnic inflections Elaboration: This is Paranoise's 3rd album and it bears very little resemblance to their previous 2 Metal influenced efforts. Exotic instrumentation is interspersed within the standard Rock configuration of electric Guitar, Bass and Drums. The album opens with an ethnic Middle-Eastern rhythmic chanting that is quickly augmented with a Middle-Eastern Violin melody over a Swing rhythm; quite energetic and engaging. Track 2 is one of the few songs with English lyrics and has more of a King Crimson feel to it though it's a rather simple 4/4 time. Track 3 sounds like what REM would be if they were from the Middle East. Track 4 is a Middle-Eastern version of Pearl Jam. Track 5 is in 6/8 and features... you guessed it; Middle-Eastern chanting samples. Along with the heavy Rock sound that dominates this album, Violin and Dulcimer figure prominently giving it an exotic sound overall. If my description so far has not scared you away then I feel confident in recommending this album. ~ L. Perez
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