Blotted Science
The Machinations of Dementia (2007)
1. Synaptic Plasticity (5:57)
2. Laser Lobotomy (5:21)
3. Brain Fingerprinting (3:34)
4. Oscillation Cycles (1:38)
5. Activation Synthesis Theory (8:10)
6. R.E.M. (1:12)
7. Night Terror (4:51)
8. Bleeding in the Brain (4:57)
9. Vegetation (1:29)
10. Narcolepsy (2:53)
11. E.E.G. Tracings (4:04)
12. Sleep Deprivation (0:37)
13. The Insomniac (3:56)
14. Amnesia (2:24)
15. Adenosine Breakdown (3:10)
16. Adenosine Buildup (3:10)
The first thing you may notice about The Machinations of Dementia, if not the odd album title, is the song titles. "Laser Lobotomy"? "Bleeding in the Brain"? "Adenosine Buildup" and "Breakdown"? Not exactly standard song subjects, but Blotted Science is not exactly a standard band. Sort of a clichéd statement, but it's true. The band consists of the instrumental trio of Ron Jarzombek on guitars, Alex Webster on bass, and Charlie Zeleny on drums. Together, they’ve created an album only possible in the digital age: throughout the entire writing and recording of The Machinations of Dementia, none of them were ever in the same room together. It was done entirely online, by recording individual lines and passing them between each other, rewriting, recording, and sending them back. Jarzombek did all the production and mixing for the album as well, and it was released on his own label EclecticElectric. The first time they all met was after the entire album was completed and on the shelves, for a short tour of live shows. Here’s a quick video of one of their rehearsals.
The technical prowess of the members should go without saying. Jarzombek has been playing weird progressive metal in his solo band Spastic Ink for more than eleven years, while Webster was a founding member of death metal band Cannibal Corpse. Zeleny plays drums for Behold… The Arctopus. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, which it very well may not, then a quick youtube search will find gems like this, with as off-the-wall drumming as in Blotted Science. With all this technical ability the band could easily fall into the trap of constant baddabadda drum blasts and doodlydoodly guitar lines, but thanks to the songwriting ability of Jarzombek and Webster, they avoid this pitfall (most of the time).
Despite being an instrumental band, the conceptual side of their music, namely the various brain disorders listed as song titles, shows right through. The frantic, dissonant guitar runs on songs like “Synaptic Plasticity” and the low chugging riffs throughout make the music very intense, and the deep low tuned guitar (a seventh string tuned down to A standard, for anyone interested) adds a crushing heaviness to the music. Other songs like "R.E.M." and "The Insomniac" have a spacey clean guitar, which creates a dreamy atmosphere which goes perfectly with the sleep-oriented song titles. The low, jangly bass tone rumbles audibly in the background, and though it isn’t as far in front as the guitar, it has a few times to really shine. The drumming is extremely diverse, and goes between high-speed death metal blast beats and jazzy fusion rhythms at the drop of a hat, usually several times in the same song.
The musical complexity of the album is difficult to properly explain without devoting a lot of time and space to it, and for some it can detract from the enjoyment of listening to the music. Even though there’s a million things happening at once in this album, the production is nice enough that isolating a single thing isn’t too difficult. I highly recommend this album to anyone with an interest in technical or progressive music, and with enough patience to listen to it a few times. Trying to take it all in at one time is simply madness.
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