Artifex - Artifex 001

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Artifex - Artifex 001

Artist:	Artifex
Title:	Artifex 001
Label:	self produced
Length(s):	40 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2005
Month of review:	[12/2005]

Line up

Magnus Östborg - bass
Gustav Almlöf - drums
Kristofer Dahl - guitars

Tracks

1)	The Green Robot	3.40
2)	Let's Rumble	3.03
3)	The Reliable Blue Line	4.01 MP3
4)	Jack Falco	4.11
5)	Bad Joke	3.29
6)	Blazing Saddles	1.58
7)	The Fuse	3.29
8)	Xiphias	3.57
9)	The Meditating Bear	4.05
10)	Clear The Front	2.54
11)	Disarmed (bonus Track)	5.30

Summary

This Stockholm band operates in the area of complex and heavy jazzrock.

The music

The Green Robot is a rough and rowdy jazzrock track with some metal leanings. The trio plays a complex brand of progressive rock in which everbody has his place, although sonically the guitar is dominant. A very eruptive track. Let's Rumble is more of a groove oriented track, with a repetitive riff that does not manage to convince me, a bit too ordinary. Oh wait, this is a pastiche of rock 'n' roll tunes, glued together by some fusion metal material. We rock loose again on The Reliable Blue Line with a strong rhythm guitar presence, double bassdrums and tuneful melodies. Again, the band member seem to suffer from split personalities, but what is surpising is that the changes in the members seem to coincide. This way the music makes quite a few turnabouts. Even some atmospherics in here, although we end in baroque style.

Jack Falco is a bit less loud, because we have acoustic guitar here (for the opening). But then the electric guitars come droning by again and we are back with the Spastic Ink styled fusion (maybe a bit less fickle). The song also has some more thematic work, for instance, right before the Spanish guitar sets in again. Bad Joke blazes away again, with quite a bit of fiddling around. With its stop-start character it certainly is not something to dance to. The song also has some typically jazzy noodling.

Blazing Saddles brings us into country territory. Yes, nothing is sacred to these guys, not even the cows. A likeness to Forever Einstein is apparent. The Fuse is quite a bit more in my line of appreciation, with an opening that reveals a certain tension. The meandering, ToneCenter style passage that follows pleases me less though, but still, as does the seventies groove guitar in the middle.

Xiphias continues the meandering style, but also has those moments in which the band raises a certain amount of expectation. The Meditating Bear and Clear The Front are quite similar as well in conception. Disarmed is a bonus track (I am not sure what makes it have this status, maybe the presence of vocals?). Due to the vocals, the music is closer to progmetal. The vocals do however introduce a bit more melody than usual.

Conclusion

Like Spastic Ink and Forever Einstein, Artifex has a less than serious instrumental approach to music. Elements of country, jazz and rock 'n' roll are mixed into a complex and EXTREMEly varied whole in which the bandmembers change time more often than I take a breath. It makes for music that, to me, is more interesting than appealing. The guitars can be quite heavy here, approaching progmetal in quite a few places. There is relatively little melody, with plenty of room for meandering on the part of the guitar player. Heavy metal jazzrock with a sense of humour is the shortest description I can come up with.