Lead by the speedy fingers of Catherine Capozzi, Axemunkee has been grinding out their particular brew of progressive rock on the Boston music scene for sometime now. Capozzi, who made her mark on the Boston music scene in the band All The Queen’s Men, leads Axemunkee through musical gymnastics, odd time signatures, and some aggressive demonstrations of talent.
The new CD Vortex offers a lot of adventurous, exciting, and explorative instrumental music. Yet, this band is not merely showing off its chops. They have a composer’s flair for keeping things colorful, interesting, and fun. Each track has its own flavor.
Opening track “Flaming Skin” finds Capozzi riding an exotic guitar phrase over a foreign rhythm. She pays out some incise lines before a brief bit of shredding then she’s back to her other worldly fretwork. Bass player Chris Farrell plays a smoothly understated low end line that shadows Capozzi like a spotlight. Drummer Geoff Chase keeps the beat in these adventurous songs and Tamora Gooding plays electronic drums, supporting the dynamics above her with a carefully programmed pattern of hoofing sound. Joel Simches puts in his electronic beeps and tweaks in just the right places. All of the parts come together to create a sense of travel and adventure. You feel that this band is bringing you somewhere with a purpose. The journey is so exciting that you know the destination will floor you..
“Kinetic Gypsy” begins as a light tap dance of exotic acoustic notes before a sustained electric chord, feisty low end and assertive drumming crank up the intensity. This is one heck of a blend of hard rock aggression and middle eastern influenced melody and rhythms. You can picture belly dancers performing for beer drinking sheiks. Capozzi rides a down tempo section with a piercing, driving, wailing guitar phrase. She makes those notes spiral upward in a steady travel. The rhythm section kicks in and the next thing you know, the band is playing a tightly constructed orchestration of sound.
“Whacked Out Love Story” has a Spanish guitar influenced pattern of flowery gypsy notes. Like a classic piece, it moves forward in multiple sections.
The guitar driven funked up “Dirty” is loaded with driving, crisscrossing rhythms and grooves from the rhythm section. The two groove masters really bump the tune along with a pulsating sensibility. Over their grooves rides Capozzi, like she’s on a stallion hoofing through an oasis of alluring soundscapes.
Capozzi pulls a mesmerizing phrase out of her guitar on “Almost Good” by David Seville, another of her statements in sound that allow her to explore multiple dimensions of her electric guitar. She plays a nice thick set of notes and does some percussive chording. Capozzi is the kind of guitarist that other guitarists need to listen to learn new techniques and possibilities. The song soon turns into a masterwork of drum propulsions. Chase borrows from the old school style, keeping it wide open and making each smack count. “Almost Good” gets an injection of vocal styling from Reverend Bob Matros who sing-speaks the song title hypnotically.
“Minor Swing” by the late great Django Rienhardt finds Capozzi successfully experimenting with some enticing high pitched notes, using a selective interval to spice up her expressions. The guitar is sweet and understated as Capozzi lets loose with her nimble take on old fashioned swing rhythms.
A French speaking commentator on a transistor radio in haunting reflections of yesteryear introduces “Protektor,” a jaunty, groove paced number that lets Capozzi launch her wavy, spiraling guitar spikes. Subtle and sublime, guitar phrasing, bass grooving, and drum fun are all in top form, tight while also making huge motions as a trio. This one moves at cruising speed, easy but steady, like an engine that could go as fast as it chooses, but chooses to compress its energy and rock out in mid-tempo range.
“Sinister Toy” features a burning, simmering guitar that shows many layers o f texture as Capozzi peels away at her phrase. She soon turns up the heat, becoming incendiary as she tears into the melodic phrase, exploring its dynamics, colors and tones, technique, everything with perfection and on fire. An extra dose of low end fun comes from the double bass player Etienne Chenet.
Closing out the CD, “Catastrophic Twister” has a twisting, turning phrase that makes you feel you’re riding a rollercoaster. The guitar phrase, the low end pulse, and the nimble drums traipse through a sounds cape with technical finesse and the three come up with something truly fresh and creative and original.
“Vortex” is a huge artistic success for Axemunkee. Capozzi, Chase, Farrell, and Gooding and their special guests stretch their musical muscles on this disc. They have truly forged their own gripping sound.
