Artists Don’t Just Unite - They Coalesce

Written by: Rod Whitfield - Independent Writer | Sunday 12 September 2021

There’s been a small, niche but strong and utterly riveting scene happening around the world over the last decade or so, a highly virtuosic scene of guitar-based instrumentalists headed by the likes of PLINI, DAVID MAXIM MICIC, INTERVALS, JACUB ZYTECKI and many, many more. These artists release fun and enthralling music on a regular basis, and when two of them get together to work on something (which, luckily for we, the listeners, seems to happen often), the results can be truly spectacular.

Such is the case here.

Melbourne guitarist Rohan Stevenson, AKA I BUILT THE SKY, has put out a number of excellent releases over the past few years and made quite a name for himself across the globe. For this EP, he has gotten together with fellow Aussie guitar slinger Jake Howsam Lowe, who is one of the driving forces behind insane instrumental act THE HELIX NEBULA, as well as releasing music under his own name. The result is Coalesce, and it is indeed incredible.

The Review

This EP is four tracks of blistering fretboard wizardry, enormous grooves and soaring melody, and one ambient piece called Ataraxia, which starts with quiet piano-driven beginnings and builds sweetly into a fully orchestrated piece that sounds like it could have been lifted from the soundtrack of a movie like ET. It’s a brief but evocative piece, and it also leads very nicely into what is this humble scribe’s favourite track on the EP, the fat, thunderous, and very appropriately titled Ascendent, which closes proceedings in triumphant style. It is a track that will surely get fists pumping and adrenaline racing when they (eventually) play it live.

Overall, Coalesce has the potential to be a landmark release in the vibrant Aussie corner of this wonderful scene, and point more attention in the direction of the fabulous stuff that is being produced here.

Even the supporting cast behind the two protagonists is superb, and a massive bonus. It features members of INTERVALS, Aussie twin bass guitar-driven powerhouse THE OMINIFIC and even Australian drum god VIRGIL DONATI’s band. So the levels of technical skills apparent on this release are stratospheric.

To ‘coalesce’ means to ‘come together’, and often when ‘supergroups’, collaborations and the like come together in the broader music scene, the end result is a little underwhelming. However, while the parts here are prodigiously talented indeed, this particular coming together manages to be even greater than their sum.

The Verdict

If you love the sounds of electric guitars, bass guitars and drums in the hands of expert technicians, if you love beautifully crafted, highly cohesive and listenable instrumental heavy rock/metal tracks, if you dig anyone from STEVE VAI and JOE SATRIANI to the abovementioned instrumental artists and their kin, definitely do yourself a massive favour and check out Coalesce. You will not regret it.

This is one of the releases of 2021.

9/10

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