JAM IT! — Following the Unknown (review)

JAM IT! — Following the Unknown album cover Album · 2015 · Jazz Related Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
js
No doubt, bandcamp can be a great resource for checking out new bands, but it can be a curse for some bands posted on there because there are critics that assume bandcamp is for bands that are rookies and non-professionals, but such is not always the case. A good example of some of the high quality bands you can find on the site is Jam It!, an instrumental rock band from Russia that features virtuoso instrumentalists playing highly developed compositions with a powerful studio sound. There is nothing amateur about these guys, and if you dig current rock that draws on classic 70s progressive rock, as well as modern prog-metal, then you have come to the right place. This is rock with just enough fusion mixed in to appeal to fans of the rockier side of the jazz to rock equation.

Jam It! lists Dream Theatre, and their fusion offshoots such as Liquid Tension Experiment and Planet X, as influences, but to be fair to Jam It!, their music is a lot more lively and imaginative than those aforementioned technocrats. Some other influences you might hear include the various incarnations of King Crimson, early Yes, mid-70s Genesis and modern metal fusion in general. Although keyboardist Roman Savelyev takes a few solos, and provide massive orchestrations throughout, the star of the show is guitarist Konstatin Llin, who displays the required speed metal riffs, but also plays some nice soulful licks more in line with the classic guitaristics of Jeff Beck or Oz Noy.

Musically, Jam It! often features the sort of rapid harmonic and rhythmic changes that we normally associate with prog rock, but these guys don’t give into meaningless flash, and often show a much more soulful blues/RnB side that gives the music more depth and room to breathe. You can bet that there are other bands out there trying to mine similar material, but the big plus here is that the guys in Jam It! know how to play, how to arrange, and how to use the studio to get a fat sound. “Following the Unknown” is a great album for fans of modern instrumental prog rock, prog metal, and the heavier side of modern fusion.
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