Seven That Spells: Future Retro Spasm (Beta-Lactam Ring, 7/6/10)
Seven That Spells: “Olympos”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Seven_That_Spells_Olympos.mp3|titles=Seven That Spells: “Olympos”]Based in Zagreb, Croatia, Seven That Spells plays a powerhouse fusion of psychedelic rock, math and jazz influences, and full-tilt drumming assaults. The group, originally a power trio, is led by guitarist/keyboardist Niko Potočnjak but has undergone radical changes in its lineup over its relatively brief tenure, and its last album, Cosmoerotic Dialogue with Lucifer, was a noisy, progressive, multi-drummer attack on the senses.
Future Retro Spasm features the return of saxophonist Lovro Zlopaša (who appeared on Black Om Rising in 2008), but this time around, he steals the spotlight. His sax lines, often interwoven with each other, are the album’s driving melodic force, and their interplay with Potočnjak’s acid-soaked riffs is spectacular.