O.R.k. - Inflamed Rides (2015)

¿Conocen a King Crimson? ¿Ubican a un tal Pat Mastelotto? Resulta que se unió a un ex Porcupine Tree (Colin Edwin) y un par de tanos para su proyecto más rockero. Nuestro amigo cabezón Lean, de gira por las tierras de Trumpeta Trump, nos presenta a O.R.k. una tremenda bandaza con un sonido moderno, potente, rockero, progresivo y con mucho gancho. Y ojo que hace pocos días esta banda sacó nuevo álbum que estoy escuchando y está fenomenal. Así es como O.R.k. hace su entrada triunfal en el blog cabezón, y ¿qué mejor que presentarlos con su propio video? Nada mejor para describir su mezla de rock alternativo, psicodelia, math-rock y prog. Y antes de que lean el comentario les adelanto: esto está super-recomendado.

Artista: O.R.k.

Álbum: Inflamed Rides
Año: 2015
Género: Rock prog alternativo
Duración: 50:46
Nacionalidad: Multinacional

Lista de Temas:
01. Jellyfish
02. Breakdown
03. Pyre
04. Funfair
05. Bed Of Stones
06. No Need
07. Vuoto
08. Dream Of Black Dust
09. Funny Games
10. Black Dust
11. The Insignificant (remix by Coldlight)

Alineación:
- Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari (Lef) / vocals, keys
- Carmelo Pipitone / guitars
- Colin Edwin / bass
- Pat Mastelotto / drums

Comenzamos proporcionando referencias espacio-tiempo a una banda que su primera mitad está formada por dos artistas reconocidos: Colin Edwin de Porcupine Tree en el bajo y Pat Mastelotto, de King Crimson en la batería, que junto con la otra mitad, que son dos italianos que no serán muy conocidos pero tienen bastante experiencia en esto de rockear en modo "buena calidad": Lef en voz y teclados, y Carmelo Pipitone en las guitarras. Así presentamos a un supergrupo que se las trae.

Luego de realizadas las presentaciones, vamos a presentar su debut musical. Muchas cosas se podrían decir de este disco, a menudo inesperadas, especialmente para gente que está acostumbrada a escuchar referencias a mùsicas de los 70s. Pero en este caso hay tantas referencias al rock de los 90s para adelante, con un sonido a medio camino entre Tool, Alice In Chains y Faith No More pero donde tampoco faltan algunas referencias a los trabajos solistas de Steven Wilson, que genera un híbrido muy interesante.
El álbum entero en realidad viaja en estas coordenadas, mostrando una coherencia básica, con una gran la producción detrás del buen trabajo de los músicos, quienes constantemente van en busca del límite, pero nunca van más allá de él para evitar aburrir al oyente con largas, complicadas e intrincadas. A través de las diez temas, O.R.k nos encamina por un profundo paisaje subconsciente, rico en caos controlado y poblado con formas arquetípicas y personajes oníricos. Si bien el nivel es muy parejo, destacan algunas canciones como "Pyre", acompañada por un impresionante video animado al estilo Wilson, y lel dinamismo de "Funfair" que promete paseos entretenidos pero de la manera más intimidante. Disco imponente, pero también abarca una belleza hipnótica, poderosa, O.R.k. es una bofetada pensativa, una escucha cautivadora de principio a fin.

Los tanos le aportan talento a la experiencia de la base rítmica, la guitarra de Carmelo Pipitone suena potente, rockera y contundente, mientras que al singular talento en la voz de Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari se le suma su versatilidad en las teclas, formando entre todos un equipo realmente admirable por su complementación. Creo que Pat ha elegido bien a sus compañeros, y se nota.

En un gran esfuerzo notorio por parte de los músicos, siendo su primer trabajo sorprendentemente compacto y agudo, esto les va a gustar a los amantes del rock en cualquiera de sus estilos siempre que tenga la mente abierta y para aquellos que, como yo, se encontraron sonidos que me remontaron a mi juventud. No voy a comentar mucho más del disco porque aún no le tengo tantas escuchas como para hacer un review interesante (busno, soy consciente que mis comentarios nunca lo son) así que les dejo la inquietud y mis recomendaciones, más algún cometario de terceros y los videos que encuentre...

La forma más fácil de describir a O.R.k .sería denominarlos como un "súper grupo" (que sí lo es), pero aun así no reflejaría el trabajo y gran producción que este proyecto ha plasmado en diez canciones.
Con el primer tema "Jelly Fish" comienzas a sentir por dónde va el disco, pero esa es la gran sorpresa de O.R.k., en cada canción encontrarás texturas y sonidos que no sólo remontan al rock progresivo, sino vivirás un viaje a lo largo de diferentes etapas del rock. Ya en el tercer tema, "Pyre", te recibe una balada, en la que guitarra y batería dominan la esencia de la canción creando una atmosfera que atrapa.
Con "Funfair" sientes la precisión y sincronía en la que se encuentran los integrantes de O.R.k., sí, estás escuchando un poco de Math Rock, para después cambiar en "Bed of Stones", donde el inicio del tema sirve como interludio, tienes un respiro que te regresa a mitad de la canción a la intensidad de la canción anterior, cerrando con un bajo glorioso que invita a seguir escuchando el disco.
"Dream of Black Dust" tiene una estructura más electrónica y deja por un momento de lado los riffs, pero se convierte en una de las mejores canciones del disco, al ser diferente se siente única, pero a la vez es parte de cada una de las canciones, no sobra, sino que es necesaria. El teclado con el que inicia "Funny Games" lo demuestra, para después convertirse en un cierre digno de rock progresivo.
Y si después de esto aun tienes dudas de darle una oportunidad a O.R.k., debes saber que los integrantes de este proyecto son Pat Mastelotto (Kim Crimson) Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari (Berserk!, Obake), Carmelo Pipitone (Marta sui Tubi) y Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree).
Inflamed Rides es un disco que debe ser escuchado principio a fin, cada tema es un complemento del anterior y una introducción del siguiente. Sin duda un disco que debe estar en la audioteca de cualquier seguidor del rock, y que desde luego puedes escuchar en nuestras barras musicales.

Código radio

It flutters past the like the butterfly it seems to be. Sensing something, it turns on its fragile wingspan and returns to the vibrantly gaudy flower. There, hovering above the anther, hums a large bumblebee going about its business. The butterfly innocently dances around for a moment or two, before suddenly descending on the unsuspecting befurred insect, and, revealing a pair of long impossibly thin and impossibly sharp titanium fangs, sinks said rapiers into the bee, tearing it apart with a joyous glee.
This short film runs on a loop within Mad Jinty McStiff’s House of Horrors, just one attraction to be found in the Fairground of the Seventh Ring, burning incessantly under the banner Inflamed Rides.
You could just leave it there, but if you want the same old lowdown, by all means read on McDuff…
This fine collaboration between two Italians, an American, and an Englishman is brought to our ears courtesy of the wonderful opportunities afforded us by modern communication methods, and is as fine an example of how those tools should be used, and not abused, as you are likely to hear this year.
This project is led by vocalist and composer Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari, or LEF as he is known, who has contributed his talents to many projects alongside the likes of Markus Stockhausen, Bill Laswell, Eivind Aarset, and other left-field notables who share a common goal of exploring the possibilities of music in its many and varied forms. Lorenzo has recorded with Pat Mastelotto before, and the Crimsoid rhythmic king also features here. The other part of the rhythm section is the currently very busy Colin Edwin, and perhaps the least known of this combo is guitarist Carmelo Pipitone. Carmelo is the guitarist in “anti-folk” band Marta sui Tubi, who sound like they need investigating.
Inflamed Rides commences stridently with two of the heavier songs on the record. Opening in a moody fashion not dissimilar to what little I have heard from Carmelo’s band, Jellyfish soon veers off into metal-ish territory, led by Colin Edwin’s fabulous rumbling riff. LEF shows he has powerful pipes that bring to mind Mike Patton in his Faith No More guise. Singing, never growling, LEF tells his o-bleak tale of possible suicide and dark soul mining.
The lyrics, most of which were written by LEF continue in deathly abstraction, well served by more rocking beats as Pat, Colin, and Carmelo are locked in unison on Breakdown. After this comparatively conventional dandruff-loosening opening salvo, the album changes tack to become a very atmospheric trip indeed, mixing doom-folk, heavy strangeitude, Gothic math rock, and horror show cinematic suspenseful tuneage with aplomb.
The deeply funky Funfair sets up in your back yard, sounding like The Bad Seeds beamed in from the wrong side of House of Mirrors. This can be taken as the title track, containing as it does the album title within a tale told from the depths of a troubled psyche. “You wanna know how dark can a night become through the magic town of sin, I wanna show” whisper-moans LEF to a mangled alt-blues trapped in a sonic web as atramentous as the subject matter of the lyric. Finally freeing itself, the tune morphs into a Goblin-esque horror soundtrack on the back of a low-mixed chugging riff, before bowing out with a declamatory “Welcome!” Candyfloss never tasted so brackish.
Elsewhere, we have hints of Porcupine Tree’s metal period, Tool, and Funny Games may be what The Blue Nile would have sounded like were they an eclectic prog band. No Need cheekily adapts part of the riff from We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, rips it to pieces up on the O.R.k. shooting gallery, turning it into a dirty lurching fluffy toy from Hell, a prize you wouldn’t want to win. Carmelo’s edgy and near-chaotic Vuoto sounds like an outtake from The Pixies first album by that band’s even more psychotic alter-ego, with the guitarist contributing some neat and feisty work.
Not all is gloom and doom, as melancholic synth trumpet heralds the introspective Dream Of Black Dust, as “…the morning light shows up and clears the path we’re walking down”, and for once the “…idiot waltz is playing so far away”. Of course, it turns out to be merely a reverie as the protagonist walks “hand in hand with a shadow, she’s my only sun, a dream of black dust”, the Black Dust later returning in swirling mists to tug at the heartstrings with its lamentations.
The album closes with The Insignificant, a radical re-working of opener Jellyfish by a chap going by the name Coldlight. Curiously, it starts off sounding like Seal with Adamski, but through a deeply dark filter. It works surprisingly well!
Unlike a visit to the fairground, which always leaves one feeling a combination of queasiness and dissatisfaction as one carries home the already careworn teddy bear that mere minutes before had looked shiny and new, Inflamed Rides is a trip to the dark side that while most assuredly unsettling is also something of a fun ride. Keep looking over your shoulder...

Roger Trenwith

If you’re looking for something unique, you’ve come to the right place. O.R.k. could be described using the often-derided term “supergroup” (its members hailing from bands as diverse as Obake, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, and Marta Sui Tubi), but its music will appeal to anyone with a taste for diverse and differentiated rock. This is not so much a novelty project as one with the potential to go any distance under its own steam.
Inflamed Rides takes in everything from Tool-esque textures (opener Jellyfish) to Rage Against The Machine-style guitar work (Breakdown); doom-laden balladry (Pyre); a sharp and bass-heavy strutter that could easily have been penned by Marilyn Manson (Funfair); eBowed guitars and off-kilter beats (Bed Of Stones); hench and harmonic-heavy riffage combined with Steve Vai-flavoured harmonic structures (Vuoto); tapped guitar and anthemic vocals (Dream Of Black Dust); intriguing blends of trip-hop and muscular prog (Funny Games); and ethereal spaciousness (closer Black Dust). The only weak spot comes in the form of No Need, which lacks the vibrant energy that permeates Inflamed Rides‘ other nine tracks – but there are plenty of highlights to pick out.
Highlight-wise, I’d go for Breakdown on the back of its massive riffs, pitch-shifter-heavy soloing, and a strong Porcupine Tree-influenced section; Vuoto for the fact that I’ve not heard guitar work like that since the days of long-defunct underground UK band Strobe 45; and Funny Games for its fascinatingly evocative and powerful vibes. However, there’s so much to love about Inflamed Rides that your highlights could easily be totally different and totally justified. Head to the Musicraiser page linked below to get stuck in.
TMMP RATING: 93%

Leon TK

We are now to the point in the history of progressive rock where we might need to add another sub-genre. For decades, we’ve had symphonic rock, progressive metal, neo-progressive, RIO, zeuhl, and so on. This is not an exhaustive list – there’s no such thing as an exhaustive list, and there have always been bands that don’t fit one of the categories, or perhaps define categories of their own, like Gentle Giant or Van der Graaf Generator. I don’t know what we should call this new sub-genre, but there are enough bands in it to make it a real thing. The quick-and-dirty description of it would be “bands that sound kind of like Porcupine Tree.” This is not to say that all of the bands of this style have actually been influenced by Steven Wilson and Company – it’s entirely possible for a band to arrive at this sound by another route, just as it would be (theoretically at least) possible for a band to play zeuhl-like music without actually having heard Magma. Some of the bands in this new category would be Kaukasus, The Pineapple Thief, Mandala, The Mercury Tree, and now O.R.k. – which by way of bassist Colin Edwin has an actual connection to Porcupine Tree. The qualities of this style include lush keyboards (usually playing big chords instead of polyphonic lines), big guitars that venture occasionally into metal territory and are frequently drop-tuned, frequent use of atmospheric effects, and melodic vocals, often delivered in a breathy tone and often massively harmonized. We can also say what is not included in the style: fusion-esque pyrotechnics, mathy meter changes, and Giant-ish polyphony. I think that’s a general enough description that a lot of variety is still possible. In some ways, the style’s origins can be traced back to certain Pink Floyd songs: “Us and Them,” “Comfortably Numb,” “Shine on You Crazy Diamond,” and so on. Like all genres (even proposed ones), all of the qualities are more tendencies than hard-and-fast rules, and the inclusion of any band in them will always be somewhat subjective. Anyway, back to O.R.k. As I mentioned, the bass player is Colin Edwin, whose resumé is pretty lengthy; the drummer is Pat Mastelotto, whose resumé is even longer. Guitarist Carmelo Pipitone and singer Lorenzo Esposito Fornasari and are less widely known. Pipitone is associated with a band called Marta Sui Tubi which I’ve never heard; Fornaseri is in the bands Obake and Owls, neither of which I’m familiar with. The four mesh well together, with no weak links in the chain and no jarring contrasts. The first track, “Jelly Fish,” has some excellent off-kilter guitar parts, injecting some welcome dashes of chaos into what is otherwise a very controlled recording. Fornaseri’s vocals often fit into the standard melodic mode, though you’ll hear a metal growl from time to time. He’s an expressive singer, able to hold his own in a band of big sounds. Mastelotto for the most part sticks with his acoustic kit, not delving into the electronics he uses so much in other settings. The tracks exhibit a good range, from quiet acoustic pieces to lurching electric riffs. Inflamed Rides is a enjoyable listen from start to finish, and a worthy entry into a genre that may or may not exist.

Jon Davis

O.R.k. – Website | Facebook 

Y para finalizar, ls dejo el video de su último disquito recién salido del horno, sencillamente alucinante...