ALBUM REVIEW: Summit – Seven Impale

SEVEN INPALE are a tough nut to crack; their infinite use of genre and mastery of their instruments means there is a wealth of things to discover within their music. It’s essentially an answer to he question ‘what if KING CRIMSON collaborated with MESHUGGAH?’. On this, their third album Summit, they climb ever higher into the world of weird and wonderful.

A smooth, DAVID BOWIE-esque vocal opening called Hunter eases you in to your trip with SEVEN IMPALE. The crooning swagger through a relaxed, confident jazz movement blows open halfway through to a psychedelic cacophony of layered vocals and sharp, tight playing. The timbre and feel completely overhauls moments later, with stomping sax duet and a very tasteful, albeit weird transition into drudging, stoner metal chug. Vocally things flip into a choir of voices that feel almost biblical. It’s an unusual combination of styles, but again, these guys know their chops and have managed to blend the two with a sense of fun and whimsy.

In a completely separate way from Hunter, Hydra tinkers pleasantly before layering into syncopated, strange pull to the time signatures that keeps things simmer interestingly. It drags from smooth and relaxed to a pulsing, decaying chug. There’s something of a new wave style to vocals and there’s oddly something of THE SPECIALS in there somehow. Perhaps it’s the keys and horns, but either way, this is a really fun tune that has multiple changes in direction before the three-minute mark. You’ll be hard pressed to find anything wrong with any of the playing, but the constant moving through various genres and styles might not be for everyone. When the dizzying ending tiptoes up and drips its spacious, lush conclusion, it does come as a little bit of a relief. Regardless, for those who will be engaged with this, it’s a smart bit of work.

Ikaros might be a little more on the chaotic jazz side, and again it’s going to be like chalk and cheese for some. FRANKLIN MINT come to mind, with an air of a more aggressive KING CRIMSON. It’s a little meaner; a buzzing, bee swarm of horns blurs in and out of each other as the drums crash through with intense anxiety. Again, you can’t knock the musicianship, but you’ll be thankful for the break into the swaying, psychedelic vocals.

There’s a little irony in some of the lyrics “it’s the end of the end“. While obviously meant in the context of the song, you have to laugh at just how much there is to go on this record. There’s not a moment that something clever isn’t happening, and objectively it’s superb, jazz-formatted, rock-infused music. What might feel like an issue is just how mammoth these songs are. Huge compositions and arrangements, while given space to breath and grow, are still just massive in their scope and scale. Something that can deter a listener is self-indulgence, and by this point, nearly 30 minutes and three songs in, it’s a little bloated. On the flipside, to play devil’s advocate, there’s an admirability in sticking to your guns and writing the music you want to. If an audience is smaller for it, then in some cases, that’s the sacrifice of complete satisfaction with your own creativity.

Oddly enough, Sisyphus has such an alarming moment early on; it’s like SEVEN INPALE are completely aware they might have to reengage you, albeit in a very extreme way. It’s super jarring and unnerving, and is either a great tactic to get people to sit up and pay attention, or the band are literally having a laugh at imagining the listener’s shock. Potentially the heaviest, jazziest song of them all, it’s almost redundant to go into any details or poetics about the whats and whys. If you’ve gotten to this point with SEVEN IMPALE, you’re either well on board or are now utterly insane.

A big clump of progressive jazz that will delight some and totally disengage others, Summit is the next level of highly competent musicians attempting to send you insane. SEVEN IMPALE won’t ever be for the masses, but they’re doing stellar in the strange corner of the music world they’ve carved for themselves.

Rating: 7/10

Summit is set for release on May 26th via Karisma Records.

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