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JAZZ METAL SPECIAL

The Origin And Evolution Of Jazz Metal

Story online since: 26.05.2009 / 21:52:37

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Avant-garde metal draws on many outside genres for influence. Be it Ambient, Folk, Classical composition or any other genre, AGM as it is lovingly known has always blurred boundaries between previously unconnected styles, and perhaps it has fused no other genres more than it has Metal and Jazz. Many metal bands have incorporated Jazz into their metal and vice versa, so I decided to write an article outlining some of the major player in the field and help other's understanding of where it all started. So with the help of my other avantgarde-metal brethren, I present to you my take on the history of Jazz Metal and where it has taken the genre today.

Emergent Practitioners

Jazz Metal didn't really kick off as its own genre until the late eighties/early nineties, which saw the surfacing of three bands which would lay down the foundations for most future releases in the genre.

One group which can be said to have really established the whole movement is the Floridian Death/Thrash band Atheist, who in 1989 showed hints of Jazz influence in their debut album "Piece of Time”. Two years on, they released a landmark Jazz Metal album in the form of their follow-up effort; "Unquestionable Presence”. Here, they refined their sound and experimented more with jazzy chord progressions and eclectic time signatures, possibly creating what could really be called the "first” real Jazz Metal album.

In 1993, two other bands seemed to catch on to this idea and released Jazz Metal albums of their own. A Death Metal band also from Atheist's state of Florida known as "Cynic” surprised everyone when, after just a two year gap between their 1991 demo and their debut, "Focus”, they transformed themselves into a whole different beast, incorporating Jazz Fusion, Prog and even some Psychedelia into their sound and taking the genre to places that it had never before been.

Over in Europe, Dutch Death/Thrash metallers Pestilence also decided to have their hand at this concept and released their fourth album "Spheres”. Fans were sceptical about the new elements and many of the original followers of the band cite it as their worst album, but Jazz Metal enthusiasts lapped it up and it is still referred to as one of the great albums in the genre.

Back in Florida again, Atheist released their third full-length, "Elements” to the public. This album included even deeper Fusion influence and marked another stage in their evolution.

Remarkably, each of the three bands split-up after their 1993 albums and each re-united to record new material in 2008 (although Atheist had a reunion tour back in 2006).

Another band who helped develop the genre were in Brooklyn based New Yorkers, Candiria, who began to dip into pools of hardcore, ambient, hip-hop and jazz to create a cohesive and heavy sound. All the players of the band have some sort of jazz background, especially drummer Ken Schalk, that helped push the group's already intriguing songwriting and structure into looser realms - Many of their albums feature fully improvised pieces, and their structured songs change and blend genres fluidly, but always with a mind for jazz syncopation and how it could be applied to hardcore and metal.

Modern Jazz Metal

From it's humble beginnings, Jazz Metal began to mature as more bands began to experiment with their sound and stretch the genre every which way. Some leant more towards Fusion, some to Metal and some created a perfect blend of the two. Many important bands have spawned over the years – too many to list conclusively – so here are a bunch you should check out.

(Demos are not counted in the "First Jazz Metal release” heading)

Cynic

Genre: Progressive Fusion/Metal

First Jazz Metal release: 1993

Hey, haven't these guys already been talked about? Yes, but this time I'm referring to their 2008 album "Traced In Air”. Cynic's new album was awaited with bated breath by multitudes of "Focus” fans, and they definitely didn't disappoint. The sound on this release is much more mellow and Jazz oriented than "Focus” and is a classic in the genre.

Albums to buy:

Focus (1993)

Traced In Air (2008)

Meshuggah

Genre: Jazzy Industrial Trash

First Jazz Metal release: 1995

For years Meshuggah has been pummeling audiences with a highly rhythmic, industrialized thrash that continues to be reduced and distilled into its most refined form. In this process, the band has experimented with layered polyrhythms to rival the most complex Indian tala, sometimes making every member, including vocalist Jens Kidman, a part of the rhythm section. It doesn't hurt that lead axe Fredrik Thordendal has a serious Allan Holdsworth fetish, emulating the great jazz fusion guitarist in his tone and his use of odd tweaks in his solos, though Thordendal soars over a churning, many-headed industrial mass.

Albums to buy:

Destroy Erase Improve (1995)

Nothing (2002)

ObZen (2008)

Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects

Genre: Industrial Jazz/Thrash Metal

First Jazz Metal release: 1997

Unfortunately, this project produced only one disc, Sol Niger Within, featuring Fredrik Thordendal and Thomas Haake of Meshuggah, as well as a number of session musicians rounding out on bass, synth, drums and sax. Within, Thordendal philosophically explores the idea of alien abduction/psychedelic hallucination in one long composition that features plenty of guitar-solos-turned-harmonic-adventures, some full and partial improvisation within sections, and the meanest primal screams since Yoko Ono, against a backdrop of the serpentine rhythmic assault Meshuggah fans have come to love. What makes this album so great is that it feels like a thorough blend of jazz and metal - you could at times mistake this lineup for the players on Bill Bruford's One of a Kind, it has such a solid jazz-rock stomp in the syncopation and the soloing - and yet the vocals are harsh, the solos are near-atonal and the harmonies FIRMLY resist convention. You don't need to be a Meshuggah completist to seek this disc out.

Albums to buy:

Sol Niger Within v. 3.33 (1997) (reissue with slight restructuring and bonus tracks)

Gordian

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