It’s surprising that jazz and metal haven’t come together more often. Both genres are rejected by the mainstream, value outside-the-box thinking and are generally completely unpredictable. That’s why when you are handed a jazz metal record featuring members of Imperial Triumphant and the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, there’s no telling what you might be in for.
I’ve never tried fentanyl, but I imagine it feels something like listening to Axiom. It is less an album and more a collection of strange musical experiments. Mostly instrumental, it goes deep into the weirdness of both genres, taking its cues from the gritty, frantic city that birthed it.
Anyone will agree that NYC is a rollercoaster of a town, but rarely is it put to sound the way Kilter have pulled off. Nothing makes sense. Nothing goes where it should. Picture walking down a Manhattan alley after midnight and witnessing a murder, then noticing the victim’s body is your own. Axiom sounds like what would be going through your head at that moment.
If that sounded confusing, it’s because Kilter are too. Songs range from full-length jam sessions to bizarre interludes that are, amazingly, just as full as the full-lengths. Listen to “Detention”, a fifty-second song that follows the five-minute “From The Caves of The Quaram”. Recorded separately, they flow seamlessly, with the saxophone mixing with the smooth guitar as it builds to a distorted ending. You’ll be left wondering if what you just heard constitutes music or a mental breakdown put on record.
If you think Kilter will let up on the weird factor, you are sorely mistaken. Things get stranger and stranger as Axiom goes. “Kafkanated” wins the oddball award for its scat beat and brass section by way of Neurosis approach. If David Lynch hasn’t picked up on this, someone email him right now.
Elsewhere we have pure avant-garde jazz on “Vandermeer” and “Pitiless Garment,” improvisation on “Pluto Is Not Just Rock” and harsh vocals on “Out Of Kilter.” The last of these will end up being Kilter’s most definitive statement. The voice screeches “this is my brain on drugs” over wobbly guitar effects and still, the saxophone plays on.
There are many questions to be asked of Kilter, virtually none of which could ever be answered satisfyingly. The first is, who exactly is this record for? It has taken two of the most outlying genres of modern music and made something bewildering to both of them. Jazz fans will get more out of Axiom then metal fans, if only because they are more used to formulas turned upside down. There actually isn’t much metal (i.e. crunchy guitars, aggressive playing) on Axiom at all. That is, until the final track…
“Spherical Bastards” sound like something Full of Hell wrote after a heroin binge. It’s so loose and easy that when the music turns dark, it’s genuinely disturbing. You snap back, realize that this is a heavy record, after all, just one of the weirdest ever recorded.
Kilter have done something admirable. They’ve made something that should be unlistenable into art. Any great art worth its salt should make the viewer/listener feel uncomfortable, and Axiom does plenty of that. But after the record finishes, you’ll find yourself wanting to listen to it again. Take your time with this one. There’s a lot to digest.
Score: 7/10
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