#activator

“Entrance” begins the recording with a rootsy riff from Rolin with rolled chords from Powers, gradually supplanted by metrically unstable and textural playing from Gerycz. Rolin soon incorporates raga-inflected scales and Gerycz follows with kit-fuls of fills while Powers accentuates upper partials. A gradual slowdown leads into arpeggios and repeated percussion attacks. The original riff returns, but now is savored in the new tempo and then distressed with repeating dissonant intervals from both Rolin and Powers. Bends and harmonics populate the piece’s coda.

“Sun Rays” is a short-form piece filled with chugging beats and a hummable tune. Partway through, it erupts into repeated notes and thunderous drummed punctuations. The balance is a revised version of the opening coruscated with repeated notes. Sometimes, theme-based sections and effusive improvisation are melded into a single piece. The 11-minute long title track is an example of this, with a mid-tempo riff and sustained pitches creating a thematic section that is succeeded by intensely wrought improvisation.

“Ivory '' is a durable long-form piece, probably the best music on Activator. After a melodic guitar intro, repeated intervals from the instrument plus clangorous percussion and thrumming pentatonic patterns glinting on dulcimer blend into a non-Western sounding accumulation. The next section is more placid, pitting a sustained pitch in the percussion against arpeggiations and a dulcimer drone. Then a noise-filled drone is accompanied by overtones and chimes.

The recording closes with “Stasis,” in which a repeated chord progression is treated to placid adornments. Gerycz is a fantastic power drummer, but the hand percussion that he uses here is perfect for the piece’s mood. Its gentle rattling provides a layer of non-metric activity at odds with the solid pulse of the guitar and dulcimer ostinato. “Stasis” ends without fanfare, the music simply stopping at the tail end of a progression. It is an idiosyncratic conclusion, a microcosm of the various twists, turns and surprises on Activator.