| Genre : Instrumental Progressive
Taking some time off his role as a commanding bassist for the
recommended goth metal act Darkseed, Martin Motnik strikes gold with
the release of the fine experimental piece of progressive music that
is "Bass Invader".
There are so many things that are of interest about this
recording. First of all, there are contributions by legendary
drummer Gregg Bissonette (Satriani, Vai, D. Lee Roth) and that of
virtuozo lead guitarist Mattias Eklundh (Freak Kitchen, Soilwork,
Evergrey), that really spice up the music at places. Secondly, this
is an extensive "how-to for all things that BASS". You will be
overwhelmed by all the godly techniques Martin employs on this one.
Be it slapping, thumbing, tapping, chording, you name it, he plays
it in here! As for the term that we may call this whole feast, look
no further than "Lead Bass". To pull it off, he caresses a whole set
of bass guitars, namely a Ritter Roya 5-String fretless, an Ibanez
AEB-10 Acoustic bass, a Sovereign 6-String fretted and his
custom-made - be sure to check his website to see how one of this
babies is made - Ritter Roya 5-String fretted. Thirdly, the cover of
Rush classic "YYZ", is crunchy, flowing and screaming to take off
from the YYZ Toronto International Airport. To those who don't know,
the song kicks in with a musical version of letters Y,Y,Z in Morse
Code! An excellent cover choice. Lastly, it is really interesting
how you can discover a bond with some of the music. I was amazed to
realise that the Pickpocket Prelude, a joyful fugato, and the
Simpsons Theme cover brought back lost memories of old amiga games
music (Sid Meier's Pirates!, Bart vs. The Space Mutants)! If I
haven't been a computer geek for half of my life, then maybe all of
the music would have had a similar impact on me. Don't get me wrong,
all I want is to emphasize the fact that this is expressive,
engaging music that is certain to hit some chords inside you or ring
a bell.
Let the man speak about his music via his press release info.
"The 14 tracks, in many different styles, show the flexibility of
the bass guitar in an incredible way. Songs range from smooth
fretless ballads over funky slapping songs to acoustic bass pieces
or high-speed distorted picking attacks, making you believe that
this must be regular guitar - which it isn't. His complex bass
arrangements fill out every frequency range and deliver many
details, without losing focus on intuitive songs and without
overstraining the listener's attention. The songs on "Bass Invader"
are real melodies, not just solos in a row". He sure succeeds!
The regrettable choice of title apart, Mr Motnik seems that he
can do no wrong at this point of his career. Notable is also the
fact that this comes out by his home-brewed Kintom Music Records. It
should be clear that this is a highly educational release as well.
If you are a bassist, get this one as a present to yourself, it will
either make you give up bass in shame and save you the trouble or
take up more bass study and lessons to be somebody. Same goes for
all players, especially drummers, this is a gem that will let you
unearth the hidden potential of bass-playing. Besides learning and
education, this will appeal to the regular instrumental music lover
and to Spastic Ink enthusiasts such as myself.
Tracklist:
1) Bee on Speed
2) Delayed
3) Where's the Referee?
4) Disease
5) Arizona Sunset
6) Don't Forget to Floss!
7) Recepcion con champan
8) Vinyl Concerto
9) Stages of Ages
10) Pickpocket Prelude
11) King of the Monsters
12) Simpsons Theme
13) YYZ
14) Bee on Weed
Alexis Karampas |
