Thomas Chaillan - Spiral Orchestra - Cortaillod, Switzerland

Today’s review comes to us from Swiss guitarist/composer Thomas Chaillan, whose latest project with the Spiral Orchestra is a symphonic prog rock project made to release concept albums set in an original science fantasy universe. Check it out at https://spiralorchestra.bandcamp.com! You can also check out his original classical/orchestral/soundtrack music at https://soundcloud.com/thomaschaillan.

Review: Chamber Music from Hell

Chris Opperman has delighted us with yet another release, Chamber Music from Hell, and holy shit is it a banger of a record. An avant-garde concept album featuring a frighteningly diverse array of chamber music in surprising and delightful combinations, using orchestral samples that were artfully and tastefully programmed by Kurt Morgan, giving an incredibly realistic and fresh sounding result. Telling the dystopian tale of a future world bereft of humans where only their machines have survived them, Chamber Music from Hell, far from being a bleak experience, is a journey through Chris Opperman's vivid imagination as he takes you through a masterclass of 20th century music.

I can see the approving ghost of Messiaen in "The Fermi Paradox,” the 2nd Viennese School in "Composition V" (a wonderful aural tribute to Kandinsky), shades of Varèse in the hypnotizing percussion piece "Owl Flight", prog rock with a Zappa-esque edge in "Are We Living in a Computer Simulation?" (featuring a ridiculously magnificent solo by Mike Kennealy himself which actually summons Frank hisself in the recording) and "The Black Ball.” In many ways, Chris is in the direct continuity of Frank Zappa's legacy (while having a style and a language all of his own), and this new release is as worthy a successor to Frank Zappa's Civilization Phase III as there ever has been.

This brilliant dystopian musical tale, punctuated by atmospheric interludes and robotized vocal narrative, is then followed by what must certainly stand out as Chris's veritable compositional tour de force: The Cribbage Variations, a full blown dodecaphonic piece in fifteen sections. Here, Chris achieves something truly remarkable. While I can think of plenty of serial pieces that I thoroughly enjoy, I don't think I would describe many of them as fun or entertaining. And yet, this is exactly what Chris managed to do. A twelve-tone piece that is about as rock'n'roll and thrilling as it gets. A twelve-tone piece that actually hits you in the gut as opposed to just tickling the intellect. “The 144,000” (section XII of the piece) is to me one of the most beautiful pieces that Chris has ever written (which is batshit crazy considering how rigorous the compositional process was).

In conclusion, what else to say but congratulations to Chris for offering us this unique masterwork! It's wonderful to see that this kind of music is still being made in this day and age, and while I can't wait to hear what else Chris has in store next, I know that this record will keep my ears busy for many years to come with its aural arsenal of brilliantly executed ideas.