ABNORMAL THOUGHT PATTERNS – ‘Abnormal Thought Patterns’ (CynNormal Lab Recordings)
Although a new band in its own right, Abnormal Thought Patterns is basically Californian progressive metal maestros Zero Hour under a different name. The story goes that a couple of years ago guitarist Jason Tipton wrote and recorded the twelve-minute ‘Velocity And Acceleration’ and on hearing it his band mate and bass-playing twin brother reckoned the time had come to put together an instrumental band. With longtime friend and Zero Hour drummer Mike Guy sitting behind the kit Abnormal Thought Patterns was born, although a second guitarist, Richard Sharman, has been added for live dates.
If you already know Zero Hour, then you’ll be able to guess that listening to Abnormal Thought Patterns is no stroll in the park. Zero Hour seem to deliberately set out to challenge their audience and push boundaries, and Tipton J has continued this trend with this new outfit, laying out for this EP four songs (‘The Machine Within’, ‘Velocity and Acceleration’ Movements 1 – 4’, ‘Ulnar Nerve Damage’ and ‘Electric Sun’) which almost redefine the term progressive metal: think Steve Vai crossed with Liquid Tension Experiment written by a hyperactive mastermind who can’t seem to sit still for five minutes and you’re pretty much in the zone – fantasy meets evolution, the abstract collides with the concrete, and fretboards are worn thin with continual runs.
This is music to be analysed, to be dissected, rather than music to bounce around the room to (although please don’t let me stop you…). Enjoy it by all means,
but it’s not something you put on just for the sake of easy listening; it’s something you play to wonder at the precision and complexity of the instrumentation. The more you hear it, the more you pick up on the intricacy of the bass and guitar lines, the sophistication of the many time changes, the power and precision with which each track is performed, and you marvel at how they ever came up with such material in the first place, let alone flexed their muscles to get it all on tape. When they riff, it’s heavier than a twelve-ton truck; when they solo, it’s like being caught in a blizzard of notes; and just when you get into the groove the time signature changes to throw you completely off guard.
That’s not to say that Abnormal Thought Patterns is solely musicians’ music; no way, José. But it is challenging and thought-provoking; and it is ultimately majestic. And after saying all that, Tipton, Tipton and Guy round things off with something as intensely beautiful as ‘Electric Sun’, as fine an instrumental ballad as you’re ever likely to hear.
John Tucker © November 2011