Knifeworld are the brainchild of ex-Cardiacs (what a band they were – RIP Tim Smith) and current Gong member, Kavus Torabi. Very hard to pigeonhole this project, but if you think psych/Prog you wouldn’t be far off.
This is the band’s third album released in 2016 and is dedicated to Daevid Allen. They seem to operate as some type of collective as the musicians hop from one project to another. The first two tracks, High / Aflame and The Germ Inside are very kraut art rock in style, and they remind me of Gong and XTC with the arrangements and sound. There is almost an ensemble feeling to the music with the horns and woodwind section being very prominent.
This is the only album I have like this in my collection, and I have a strange fascination with this record that I can’t describe. Maybe it’s the King Crimson vibe on tracks like I Must Set Fire To Your Portrait that grabs me, or the huge meandering nature of the whole thing. It just seems to click with my brain. I don’t play this every week, but I do pull it out every month or so to give my brain a workout.
8.5/10 from The Grooveman.
