SPENCER ELLIOTT “SE3”

CandyRat Records, 2022

Music: Progressive Metal
Website: https://www.spencerelliott.net
Duration: 43:00 (11 tracks)
Country: U.S.A

The world of Progressive Music is booming at the moment with a lot of exciting releases coming from great talents across the globe! And, I am happy that the bands are trying to add a twist to the conventional progressive structure to make it standout and win over the competition. I know, “competition” is a bold and controversial word to use when talking about Music Industry. But, the word is out, Music business is just like any other business – if you don’t win over your competitor your music stagnates and won’t reach a lot of potential fans. Anyway, that’s a topic for another discussion. Today, I have a sensational Progressive project to talk about – Spencer Elliott!

Spencer Elliott is joined by Sean Syndor and Chris Hudson on his eponymous Progressive Instrumental Project, under which Spencer released “SE3”, spanning a total of 10 tracks. Throughout the album Spencer tries to use the complicated Progressive finger-style technique. Was it a risk worth taking, in a time when people like things stripped down to the very conventional riff-hook-chorus structure? Well, truth be told, I really enjoyed the album. I don’t know much about guitar techniques, but sonically the album had a lot of colourful elements. The songs themselves had a lot going into it.

People may brand them as a Jazz or Progressive outfit, however, when you listen to their songs you will find them using a very different and specific structure for each songs. For instance, listen to “Silver Maple” and “Elipsos” – both have varied compositions. And when you compare those with “4:20”, you will find nothing in common. Perhaps my favourite track, “4:20” starts off as. a conventional prog track but quickly changes tempo to a more Funky-Jazz track while still retaining the juicy rhythm the band likes having on all their tracks. Although I love talking about the songs, but this album can only be understood when a person listen through it.

Overall, “SE3” is a brilliant effort by the trio on a space that often requires utmost precision. On this album, the three have come together and performed in a way it is their instruments talking to each other and taking the lead rather than the musicians telling them where to go. May sound weird, but that is how I felt when I finished listening to this album. The band have released one of the tracks from this album “Silver Maple”, and are planning to unveil the album to the world on April 8.

Tracklist:

1.Torque
2. Silver Maple
3. The Tournament
4. Joystick
5. Rain Shadow
6. Elipsos
7. 4:20
8. Insignificant
9. The Wolf and the Hawk
10. There’s Something In The Airlock

Line-up:

Spencer Elliott – guitar
Sean Sydnor – bass
Chris Hudson – drums