The latest album by Scandinavian skronk-jazz outfit
Scorch Trio features a new member -- drummer
Paal Nilssen-Love has been replaced by
Frank Rosaly -- but longtime fans of the group will hear few sharp changes from the material on their first three albums. Guitarist
Raoul Björkenheim is still tearing at the strings in a way that combines free jazz and high-volume rock, while bassist
Ingebrigt Håker Flaten locks in with whoever is drumming, setting up fusion-minded yet supple grooves where necessary, but providing plenty of space on more abstract tracks like "Orita." Some pieces, like the opening "Relajo," recall
Tony Williams' Lifetime or the
Trio of Doom (a very short-lived group made up of
John McLaughlin,
Jaco Pastorius, and
Williams), while others, like the title track, sound more like the amp-frying post-blues
Jimi Hendrix was recording in the last year of his life. This music will be way too abstract and jagged for fans of plain ol' hard rock, but those who've been following
Björkenheim's career thus far will be pleased to know that the change of drummers hasn't cost the
Scorch Trio any of its intensity. ~ Phil Freeman