Tag: chimp spanner

This is the second album from Chimp Spanner, otherwise known as Paul Ortiz, and was released on the UK label Basick Records in 2013. Paul recorded and played all instruments and did all programming himself. If technical progressive metal music is your thang, then you will love this.

A weird little intro gives way to opening monster track Supererogation. Killer grooves and beats over which Paul plays some epic guitar. Title track, At The Dreams Edge gives me that Satriani vibe with loads of guitar melody. The Mirror has deep djenty grooves and riffs. The middle section just slays with epic riffs and programmed grooves. Bar Code starts like a Super Mario game before epic djenty riffage takes over. Killer track! Blast beats aplenty start up the track Harvey Wallbanger, then some old school thrash riffage assaults your ears, it’s my favourite track. I love the short Ghosts Of The Golden City with lots of swells and ambient noises. Far From Home is quite an eerie vibe and guitar pattern that repeats until a third from the end before maximum heavy grooves ensue.

Terminus is in three parts and part one is very Blade Runner. Part two however is way more brutal with lots of dissonance added, and I love the heavy low end grooves towards the end. Part three is back to Blade Runner with added heavy grooves. Under One Sky has such a beautiful guitar melody over some serious heaviness. The album closes out with All Good Things, an ambient piece that very slowly fades into the ether.

A killer album that I play a lot. Paul isn’t the most prolific of people but he has released a couple of tracks recently over on his bandcamp page. Go check him out!!!

10/10 from The Grooveman.

Back in the mists of time in the early days of djent, and before anyone had released an album proper, there seemed to be just two bands that had gained notoriety through the internet. They were Periphery and Monuments, and at the time Mr, Spanner (or more commonly known as Paul Antonio Ortiz) was a member and played guitar of the fledgling, Monuments. He departed the band quite early as he had interests in producing.

This is his his third solo release on Basick Records, and believe me, they are all great, and this is sort of two EPs in one. I love instrumental metal music, and this fantastic piece is a great advert for the genre. Opening track, Dark Age Of Technology, is a monster track full of djenty goodness and killer playing of which Chimp played everything. The production is really good and is super clear, which can be a challenge with this type of music. Mobius parts 1, 2 and 3 is epic, and is a very technical piece but a joy to hear. I’m a sucker for this type of music and this album does not disappoint. Side 2 is 4 different mixes of the same piece, Superergation, done by Chuter, Timfy James, The Algorithm, and Tanuki. It’s cool to see how each mixer interprets the piece in their own way to be able to create four new tracks.

This gets a 9/10 from The Grooveman.