Pitom: Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes (Tzadik, 2/22/11)
Pitom: “Head in the Ground”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Pitom_Head_in_the_Ground.mp3|titles=Pitom: “Head in the Ground”]Combining heavy, fuzzy rock jams with Jewish melodies, Pitom is one of many projects from guitarist, bassist, and composer Yoshie Fruchter. Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes, the quartet’s second release on Tzadik, follows the same path as its predecessor, but it does so with a bit more cohesion and restraint.
Built from the ground up with distorted bass and violin, the band’s music carries similarities to that of Skeletonbreath and Miasma & The Carousel of Headless Horses. Whether driving a song with an infectious melody, commingling with the violin in the high end, or simply taking over a track with raw ability, Fruchter knows when to go full throttle (the punk power of “An Epic Encounter”) or pull back (the dark slow jam of “A Resentful Repentance”).