ALBUM REVIEW: The Last Three Seconds – Voronoi

It’s always nice to come across a real gem that’s hard to pin down when looking for new music. VORONOI bring a veritable, one of a kind sound with their jazz-progressive-neoclassical debut record The Last Three Seconds. There’s an underlying theme of space and cosmic incomprehension, where things aren’t always what they first appear and time and emotion can work as one.

Breaking us in easy, Interstellar Something is instantly fun, it’s 8-bit glitch shuffle building into a layered and dynamic bounce between keys and drums. There’s already lots to unravel, plenty of tone and juxtaposition between the subtle note clashes and the in-your-face style. This is clearly going to be a love it or hate it kind of record, but there’s no denying the talent already on offer here.

Gamma Signals is a much smoother, synth filled ride; a chilled-out beat carrying a wavey signal through the pulses of ambience that sway in and out. The bass is just as textured, and once things kick in, the sense of overwhelming envelopment into the groove is superb. This is the kind of progressive boldness many bands wish they had, and it feels like we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s on to come.

After two manageable length tracks, we get into the big leagues with ten-minute giant The Nauseator. This is one for jazz fans; a straight-line piano and drums opener, it’s juicy, upbeat tones and ever-changing direction make for fast paced and enjoyable listening. The tone and style of the arrangement gently slides into a less optimistic place, maintaining a creative balance between the musical and the jarring. The anxious tension that builds by the end of the second section releases into the catharsis of fluttering keys, but you won’t stay long in this gentle moment- this is called The Nauseator after all. The hard electronic wind in the last third is a cold and mean place, breaking out into a solid groove and much darker guitar parts. The tricky time signatures and stabbing rhythm feels harsh and disorientating, yet everything holds itself together just enough for a disarmingly abrupt ending. All in all, very technically engrossing and bold playing.

A much more sombre and emotionally engaging piece is Robots As Pathos/Robots As Menace. The sorrowful themes and ideas at the front end of the track evolve, as the motion feels more self-aware, more involved with itself. The title is itself the story here, as things move into frantic, angry, almost fuzzy places as everything comes to a head. The contrasts between where this starts and ends are beautiful and aggressively poignant, a very well-crafted piece of music for sure.

Darker The Night is pretty dramatic. For example, a huge warbling orchestral synth swell is a bold start that dips down into tinkling, smooth keys with a promise of something edgy in the bass. That definitely delivers, as a smart and playful arrangement hops from clean keys to heavy, synth chords and nasty, deep guitar chugs. It’s snappy, energetic, and full of flavourful playing.

Title track The Last Three Seconds pushes into the space-operatics, with muted, extended synth chords, as a measured melody overlaps on top of it. The steady sense of pacing feels like watching atoms fire, with bright collisions as sparks of sound burst at almost random intervals. The rising movement and general sway is palpable before the dramatic final third peaks in strange and surreal ways.

A haunting start draws you into the melancholy tones and off set vibe of The Outsider And The Priest. Again, this is a lengthy track that allows every section to shine in its own way, giving bass, drums, keys and guitars plenty of room to have their moment on the floor before blending back into the greater ensemble. However, the middle five minutes might become a point of contention even for the jazz-centric listeners. It’s straight jazz piano, with a sizzle of symbol and bass action to keep it busy. While it’s certainly going to be for hardcore jazz fans, it will lose some people. However, you really can’t deny jazz musicians a little space to be self-indulgent. It’s all worth it coming to the build up in the latter part of the track, as the bass has its own moment of tricky time signature manoeuvring, before it enveloping into a greater back and forth and overlapping with the disjointed, progressive noise.

The final roundup is Home Could Be Lightyears Away, which looks to be as abstract and varied as anything else on this record. An emotional start again, but with a stark, stabbing section of hard counting before erupting into a real wave of beautiful, melancholy riffing. This final track is a real contrast to what’s come before, but just as layered and exceptional.

A totally unique record, The Last Three Seconds is definitely jazz with a heavier persuasion rather than progressive metal with jazz elements. The neoclassical foundations are sublime, the heavier sentiments are spot on and the overall feel from VORONOI on this album is smooth and consistent. To summarise, The Last Three Seconds is beautiful, expressive, textured playing with a generous helping of mind melding rhythms and emotive sonic-storytelling that weaves together a rich and rewarding listen. This is a masterful effort that is truly exceptional for a debut record.

Rating: 9/10

The Last Three Seconds is out now via Small Pond Records.

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