Grant Hill - Art Rock Productions - Portville, NY

Chris Opperman's Chamber Music from Hell

It's been a few years since I've engaged in any music journalism, but when a talented composer asks me to wrap my ears around a new work and then to write about it, I generally can't resist. Chris Opperman is a gifted and creative composer and performer. I had the distinct privilege of reviewing his album, “The Lionheart,” some ten years ago, which I still recommend, especially to those interested in serious music which may be considered as iconic in the future annals of 21st century American music history. His latest release, 2020's “Chamber Music from Hell,” leads us into a new musical journey of excellence.

My first listen left me in a quandary as to how to review it. Not that the album isn't artistic, intricate, or enjoyable, because it is all those things, but rather because there are so many angles from which it can be approached. Rather than deliver a track by track breakdown, let me just say that the album needs to be enjoyed as a unit, sequentially, in order to experience its rich range of emotions, the mental imagery, and the story itself.

If you ever have seen thematic stylized concept films from the second half of the 20th century, you may notice that this album could be a soundtrack to a movie based on the underlying storyline. In a musical era dominated by simple repetitive pop music cookie cutter chordal patterns and pre-fabricated drum machine loops, it’s very refreshing to hear serious music from a serious composer. And it explores far more than just a dynamic utilization of chamber orchestra instrumentation, namely strings, piano, woodwinds, brass and percussion.

Included are dense chords, interesting voicings with lots of variety of sounds and textures, complex rhythm patterns, equally complex melodic structures, sometimes canonical interplay amongst the voices. It ventures deep into the avant garde, and other sections of the album dive into full blown progressive fusion elements with electric instruments. The contrasting styles and sounds are refreshingly rich, and deeply beautiful.

Musically, it's a collision course of ideas reminiscent of Charles Ives, William Schuman, and Frank Zappa, interspersed with experimental piano ideas that evoke Chick Corea or Tigran Hamasyan. This is not surprising as Opperman, a music professor at New Jersey's Montclair State, is himself a Berklee grad who has cavorted in performance with some of the more prominent denizens of the musical Zappasphere.

But to simply call Opperman's work derivative would be insulting, as it sounds wholly original to this listener. Yet it certainly does contain multiple and intricate eclectic stylings within the western traditions of composition. Oh, and the performances are stellar on every instrument. Bravo to the musicians, and equally so to the production team! So could this album be a film soundtrack? Yes. Is it classically influenced? Yes. Is it jazz influenced? Yes. Is it avant garde? Yes. Is it progressive music? Absolutely.

And it tells a story. I don't want to spoil it with a full narrative, but succinctly put, imagine a future world so efficient and thoroughly run by computers and their robotic machinations, that human life becomes expendable and is thus terminated by said machines in the interests of such efficiency. And the artificial intelligences remaining after the planned holocaust now inhabit an earthly realm accompanied by only plants, insects, and birds. And they are lonely.

Without humans, what purpose do they have? The AI voices appear throughout the album as a sad lament, hinting at the backstory digitally recorded into their memory banks. And they seek to reach out to discover life forms to substitute the ones they killed. And thus since they can no longer serve the interests of the humans who made them, the reason for their own existence is now forever compromised. One cannot help but feel sorrowful at this situation, which, perhaps not so ironically, reassures us of the need for humanity to survive.

The album packaging for the CD is attractively designed, and the multi-page extensive insert evokes the joy of reading the liner notes of albums from the 1970's, consistent with those traditions of progressive and classic rock. The package is part of the experience, along with Opperman's entertaining and creative story details, descriptions, and song information. And the artwork is great! As one listens, the experience of absorbing these finer visual and descriptive details expands the enjoyment.

Particularly of note is that in our current time when technocracy is run amok, where human life is increasingly devalued by trans-humanist leaning elites, where we've been forced into separation and isolation from our own in a pandemic of questionable origin and veracity, nothing is more welcome to the ears than the beautiful range of instruments and styles that have shaped our history. And in this, “Chamber Music from Hell” does not disappoint, even though the Hell described is the absence of human life. It makes one appreciate the creative beauty we still possess. Deep respect for composer Opperman in this regard. Give it a few spins as a welcome addition to your collection!