SOT — King Of Saltz (review)

SOT — King Of Saltz album cover Album · 2011 · Jazz Related Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
js
SOT’s “Kind of Saltz” has got to be one of the more creative and technically proficient instrumental rock records to come along in a while. SOT is a relatively new band made up of veteran performers, Skjalg Reithaug on guitar, Anders Hunstad on drums and Lars Andreas Haug on tuba. The tuba may seem like novelty schtick, but it works surprisingly well. The big horn has a strong bass presence and more sustain than a bass guitar giving the band an orchestrated texture. Haug also occasionally adds trombone or trumpet as well. The mixing of electric and acoustic instruments always sounds nice and is especially helpful on music this technical where an all electric sound would make the music too cold. SOT plays a modern style of music where styles and genres fly by as quickly as the musical phrases they present. Some trace this type of ADHD arrangement back to Frank Zappa, but SOT has a more modern edge derived from John Zorn, Mr Bungle, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez as well as countless avant-garde tech-metal bands.

Humor plays a big part in the SOT sound, which is nice considering how technically challenging the music is. Although little on here really sounds like Spike Jones, still sometimes this band invokes the spirit of a metalized version of Spike’s cartoony silliness. Although most of the songs on here feature very intense rapid fire changes of mood, occasionally they change things up and will present short songs that stay in one style. “Bartof” is bizarre country exotica polka with a melody that keeps evolving in a very clever arrangement. “End of Saltz” sounds like a Gil Evans orchestrated psychedelic blues.

If you enjoy this sort of stylistically schizophrenic technical instrumental rock, SOT will not disappoint. They are extremely advanced composers and performers who put a lot of life and humor into an approach to music that can sound cold in the wrong hands.
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