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Kopecky - Serpentine Kaleidscope

Artist:	Kopecky
Title:	Serpentine Kaleidscope
Label:	Cyclops CYCL091
Length(s):	58 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2000
Month of review:	[01/2001]

Line up

Paul Kopecky - drums, percussion
Joe Kopecky - guitars, vocals
William Kopecky - fretless bass, sitar, keyboards

Tracks

1)	Magic Room	9.54
2)	Smoke Of Her Burning	4.14
3)	I Was Home And I Wept	3.57 MP3 or RealAudio
4)	Scorpion	6.14
5)	These White Walls	3.24
6)	Bartholomew's Kite	8.04
7)	Lugosi: 1931	6.19
8)	Wings Of Asphyxia	5.47
9)	Heaven's Black	10.27

Summary

As far as I know the second album of this American combo. Their previous one, Kopecky, they released themselves (I did hear somebody tell me it was also out on Mellow), but now they have found a (new) home with Cyclops to release their follow-up.

The music

The music of Kopecky is heavy, but certainly not prog-metal. The music is more avant-garde turned heavy (owing it seems to such bands as The Melvins) with plenty of breaks and meandering solo's in the music. Of this style opener Magic Room is a good example: heavy riffs, varied, but sometimes somewhat flat sounding, drumming, signature changes abound. At the end the band takes time for some brooding atmospherics. Smoke Of Her Burning has weirdly distorted bass playing, high pitched and low driving rhythm guitar playing and like the previous track a somewhat Arabic sound. The music has a fragmented air with various riffs and short melodies being alternated in seemingly arbitrary fashion. It gives the impression of being improvised music. Quickly then we are transported into the sitar music of I Was Home And I Wept, with spoken like vocals of Joe Kopecky. A dark moody piece somewhat reminiscent of Paranoise, but darker than that. The band continues in a fashion similar to the opening track in Scorpion. Free form percussion, somber atmospherics and the like make for some interesting music. However, inherit in this type of music is that you either like it or do not like it at all it seems. The interlude gives me an impression of machines working underground. In These White Walls we hear the laments of various people making for a repetive, minimal sounding piece I've come to expect from the Melvins. Chaotic and far from musical. Bartholomew's Kite is the next track and opens in Frippian style. Some nice fretless bass work zooming under the clear guitar playing, the music on this track sounds much more cleaner. Melodically the song is not really impressive with mostly scales being played. Then the song takes a turn for the better in my impression with some nice repetitive melodies. We simply move right on into Lugosi: 1931 with again some crisp and clean guitarwork and underneath some weirdly wailing sounds (the bass?). The music builds up nicely in this track and again the Arabic influences are not far off. At the end I would have appreciated a bit more power. Wings Of Asphyxia is the penultimate track opening with sinister sounds, donnerwetter and estranging electronics. Then, chaos rules. The closer Heaven's Black Amnesia is the long closer. In this dark and quite melodic track, the music of Kopecky is combined with a more spacey/psyche attitude.

Conclusion

Certainly not run-of-the-mill this is music that either grabs you or it doesn't at all. I did like many of the parts, but sometimes the music is a bit too loose. The music is not very concise and the band focuses more on the dark power that radiates from the music, the complexity of the breaks and mostly the moods that are created. Improvisationally sounding heavy progressive reminiscent of the Melvins (but complexer) and also King Crimson or Kong might be good points of references, but only as an aside. I recommend to take a listen first and buy, in case you like it, later.