Metal Storm logo
Plini - Impulse Voices review




Bandcamp music player
Reviewer:
8.5

54 users:
7.72
Band: Plini
Album: Impulse Voices
Release date: November 2020


01. I'll Tell You Someday
02. Papelillo
03. Perfume
04. Last Call
05. Impulse Voices
06. Pan
07. Ona / 1154
08. The Glass Bead Game

Maybe I should pay more attention to instrumental prog even when it doesn't get sampled by Doja Cat? Do we still call these djent? I don't know. All I know is that I had more fun with this than with any other prog release this year.

Plini is part of this subgenre that I don't think has properly been boxed just yet. It's kinda prog metal that is instrumental, a lot of it has djenty chugs and poly-rhythms and syncopation and all that music school mambo jambo. But it's also kinda jazzy, sometimes even funky, and most of the time it's not even metal, being something closer to math rock. But again, the instrumental kind. Hell, you don't even have to be instrumental, but since Sordid Pink's debut was disappointing and Intervals' Circadian was not, I think the instrumental ones have the upper hand this year. I still struggle to really box them, like do you box them in prog metal with Dream Theater and Haken, in djent with TesseracT and Periphery, or shred guitarists like Joe Satriani or Steve Vai, or in math rock with TTNG and Tricot. All of these fit in a way.

Now, Plini is a guitarist, so a lot of it has the emphasis on guitar playing in common to something like a Steve Vai record. But Impulse Voices doesn't sound like a Steve Vai record (even though I admittedly haven't listened to one released after 2000), with a lot of the warmer tones and bright emotions that permeate it both taking cues from something like a film soundtrack or a jazz fusion jam. Sure, the distortion and chugs that do happen ground this just enough in metallic territories to not alienate prog metal fans, but they mostly happen in the rhythm section in tandem with a lead (either another guitar, or for jazz credibility: a saxophone) that keep the tones bright and warm. Maybe that's what's so fun about it, it can be heavy, it can be jovial, it can be rocking, it can be epic, but it always stays consistent in how it plays with these moods and keeps them for going too cold.

And since I really don't listen to enough guitar-centric music of this type, I feel like I can't really offer enough context to compare Impulse Voices with, but no other record of this type I listened to lately made me feel this sad for not having dived deeper. You can tell that Plini is an amazing guitar player, and he does have moments where you can clearly tell that he could fill this album with mind-blowing shredding and everything that a 3-chord hard rock guitarist would say that "has no feeling". But Impulse Voices has so much feeling that I can't keep myself from smiling when I listen to it, and it's partly because all that technical ability is used sparingly, with more focus on how everything weaves together to sustain and entertain the fun mood of the album. And that's what makes him amazing for me: that he can use the tools at his disposal (and with his technical ability, that's a lot of tools) in precisely the way that the song would benefit from it.

All that I hope for is that the Doja Cat collaboration that hopefully isn't just in my dreams will bring Plini a bit more spotlight. Maybe then we can bring the whole gang to decide how to call this subgenre because apparently that's what keeps me up at night.






Written on 08.12.2020 by Doesn't matter that much to me if you agree with me, as long as you checked the album out.


Comments

Comments: 7   Visited by: 101 users
08.12.2020 - 22:58
Rating: 8
musclassia

Plini and Sithu Aye are definitely the currently hot instru-prog guitarists that I find make the most satisfying listen (David Maxim Micic is good too), although in general I feel like the more recent musicians in the style are less shred-heavy and more song-oriented than people like Jeff Loomis would be on their solo records
Loading...
08.12.2020 - 23:22
Rating: 9
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Written by musclassia on 08.12.2020 at 22:58

Plini and Sithu Aye are definitely the currently hot instru-prog guitarists that I find make the most satisfying listen (David Maxim Micic is good too), although in general I feel like the more recent musicians in the style are less shred-heavy and more song-oriented than people like Jeff Loomis would be on their solo records

That's the feeling I get too, and I enjoy the direction they seem to be heading in.
----
Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
Loading...
08.12.2020 - 23:36
Rating: 9
JoHn Doe

Excellent album, great flow, entertaining.
----
I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
Loading...
08.12.2020 - 23:46
Rating: 8
musclassia

Written by RaduP on 08.12.2020 at 23:22

Written by musclassia on 08.12.2020 at 22:58

Plini and Sithu Aye are definitely the currently hot instru-prog guitarists that I find make the most satisfying listen (David Maxim Micic is good too), although in general I feel like the more recent musicians in the style are less shred-heavy and more song-oriented than people like Jeff Loomis would be on their solo records

That's the feeling I get too, and I enjoy the direction they seem to be heading in.


Also, just re-read the bit about not having context to compare with - if you haven't heard any of Plini - Sweet Nothings; Sithu Aye - Set Course For Andromeda; David Maxim Micic - Who Bit The Moon; or Cloudkicker - Beacons, I'd say those are good starters to work your way in. I haven't gone too far those yet, but I dig all of them
Loading...
09.12.2020 - 05:33
Rating: 9
Uxküll

Pan is my favorite track from this album, the sax is excellent.
----
"Nullum unquam exstitit magnum igenium sine aliqua dementia [there was never great genius without some madness]."

Best of Metal A-Z: http://metalstorm.net/users/lists.php?user_id=158339
Loading...
10.12.2020 - 18:03
Rating: 8
LeKiwi
High Fist Prog
"But Impulse Voices has so much feeling that I can't keep myself from smiling when I listen to it, and it's partly because all that technical ability is used sparingly, with more focus on how everything weaves together to sustain and entertain the fun mood of the album. And that's what makes him amazing for me: that he can use the tools at his disposal (and with his technical ability, that's a lot of tools) in precisely the way that the song would benefit from it."

Couldn't have said it better myself. Enjoy these, each very different from one another, but in the same vein somewhat. 4 of the best instrumental prog albums I know:







Loading...
10.12.2020 - 18:07
Rating: 9
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Written by LeKiwi on 10.12.2020 at 18:03

Couldn't have said it better myself. Enjoy these, each very different from one another, but in the same vein somewhat. 4 of the best instrumental prog albums I know

Thank you so much!
----
Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
Loading...

Hits total: 2698 | This month: 16