Looking at my long to-do list of reviews, it's time to tackle one of its oldest entries, with an album which is hardly made to be consumed on a daily basis. I even actively avoided listening to it for several weeks for two reasons:
1. I wasn't attending Prophecy Fest this year, which in itself is ok, because it's only on my live music calendar every couple of years anyway. The one main regret I had however was not to finally see Kayo Dot performing there. And I just didn't want to remind myself of that by listening to their recent album.
2. In September the (luckily rare) case of me getting sick for a longer while occured. The virus, which in hindsight could actually have been my personal corona premiere (I didn't test, because it just didn't start how I imagined that to feel), didn't hinder me listening to music in general. This album though just scared me too much - seriously not a good companion in that state.
1. I wasn't attending Prophecy Fest this year, which in itself is ok, because it's only on my live music calendar every couple of years anyway. The one main regret I had however was not to finally see Kayo Dot performing there. And I just didn't want to remind myself of that by listening to their recent album.
2. In September the (luckily rare) case of me getting sick for a longer while occured. The virus, which in hindsight could actually have been my personal corona premiere (I didn't test, because it just didn't start how I imagined that to feel), didn't hinder me listening to music in general. This album though just scared me too much - seriously not a good companion in that state.
KAYO DOT - Every Rock, Every Half-Truth Under Reason (2CD Mediabook) (2025)
Toby Driver isn't exactly known for taking the path of least resistance when it comes to his art. Most of his catalogue, be it solo, in other projects or with his main project Kayo Dot demands the listener's attention and commitment. So as a fan you're always prepared for a new release not to be easy. But especially following the nostalgic anniversary move of assembling the whole original cast of the 2003 hit album "Choirs Of The Eye" for this new recording, "Every Rock, Every Half-Truth Under Reason" immediately starts off remarkably disturbing with the demon-driven voice of lyricist Jason Byron.
And it remains an hour-long nightmare, a mental sleep paralysis theatre, in which you're exposed to unsettling poetry from a traumatized mind. You're locked in a hypnotising freeze frame of depressive psychosis, no matter if the message is uttered by Byron's dazing vocal presence or the - mostly - clearer voice of Driver, lost in the winding enormity of the up to twenty-three minutes long tracks.
Similar to the work of Sumac this album can be understood as a radical deconstruction of Extreme Metal, taking its core ideas, yet recontextualizing them in a different abstract way. Kayo Dot however take this practice much further. "Every Rock" feels almost shapeless and technically rarely shows "Metal" or even general Rock music aspects: riffs, licks, leads, melodies? Don't bother searching for those! I'm not saying, there's absolutely nothing reminiscent to them, but their occurrences - just like any tangible rhythmic ideas with actual drumming - are dwarfed by the parts of whooshing, howling, wailing and droning layers of guitars, synths, strings, wind and percussion instruments, melting together to a stream of Dark Ambient and Noise, which seldom emphasizes one single performance, yet always relies on its overwhelming total effect.
Yet if you listen closely, you will also find an impressive amount of delicate and virtuous, even proggy details hidden in this Experimental Avant-Garde horror soundtrack.
The exclusive second disc of the beautiful 2CD mediabook edition actually includes instrumental versions of three of the five tracks, and listening to a piece like "Closet Door In The Room Where She Dies" without the "distracting" vocals actually makes you listen much deeper and provides the possibility to interpret the music in different emotional contexts. It really is its own distinct - slightly easier - experience, which is equally as worthwhile as the original album versions.
As a further bonus the rather short (as in: not even seven minutes long) "Augoeides" is a relatively more regular Avant Prog song, which wouldn't quiet fit on the actual album, but probably has the closest stylistic proximity to the actual sound of "Choir Of The Eye", which the band is still celebrating with this release after all.
Speaking of that the beautiful extensive booklet doesn't only contain lyrics and credits, but also liner notes from each of the involved musicians remembering the early days of Kayo Dot - including Toby Driver's explanation of the band name's origin, which is rooted in a somewhat random personal childhood memory.
To loosen up between all the text you get several live galleries of all the different line-ups in which the band played through the years before coming full circle.
Not owning them I cannot fairly judge the other (regular digipak and vinyl) versions of "Every Rock, Every Half-Truth Under Reason", but for me it was very obvious that I had to have this variant. The book and bonus material are definitely worth it.
A strange (even for Kayo Dot standards), surely exhausting but also rewarding and ultimately brilliant work of art, which- weirdly enough still somehow Extreme Metal Blackened Doom Whatever - art!
And it remains an hour-long nightmare, a mental sleep paralysis theatre, in which you're exposed to unsettling poetry from a traumatized mind. You're locked in a hypnotising freeze frame of depressive psychosis, no matter if the message is uttered by Byron's dazing vocal presence or the - mostly - clearer voice of Driver, lost in the winding enormity of the up to twenty-three minutes long tracks.
Similar to the work of Sumac this album can be understood as a radical deconstruction of Extreme Metal, taking its core ideas, yet recontextualizing them in a different abstract way. Kayo Dot however take this practice much further. "Every Rock" feels almost shapeless and technically rarely shows "Metal" or even general Rock music aspects: riffs, licks, leads, melodies? Don't bother searching for those! I'm not saying, there's absolutely nothing reminiscent to them, but their occurrences - just like any tangible rhythmic ideas with actual drumming - are dwarfed by the parts of whooshing, howling, wailing and droning layers of guitars, synths, strings, wind and percussion instruments, melting together to a stream of Dark Ambient and Noise, which seldom emphasizes one single performance, yet always relies on its overwhelming total effect.
Yet if you listen closely, you will also find an impressive amount of delicate and virtuous, even proggy details hidden in this Experimental Avant-Garde horror soundtrack.
The exclusive second disc of the beautiful 2CD mediabook edition actually includes instrumental versions of three of the five tracks, and listening to a piece like "Closet Door In The Room Where She Dies" without the "distracting" vocals actually makes you listen much deeper and provides the possibility to interpret the music in different emotional contexts. It really is its own distinct - slightly easier - experience, which is equally as worthwhile as the original album versions.
As a further bonus the rather short (as in: not even seven minutes long) "Augoeides" is a relatively more regular Avant Prog song, which wouldn't quiet fit on the actual album, but probably has the closest stylistic proximity to the actual sound of "Choir Of The Eye", which the band is still celebrating with this release after all.
Speaking of that the beautiful extensive booklet doesn't only contain lyrics and credits, but also liner notes from each of the involved musicians remembering the early days of Kayo Dot - including Toby Driver's explanation of the band name's origin, which is rooted in a somewhat random personal childhood memory.
To loosen up between all the text you get several live galleries of all the different line-ups in which the band played through the years before coming full circle.
Not owning them I cannot fairly judge the other (regular digipak and vinyl) versions of "Every Rock, Every Half-Truth Under Reason", but for me it was very obvious that I had to have this variant. The book and bonus material are definitely worth it.
A strange (even for Kayo Dot standards), surely exhausting but also rewarding and ultimately brilliant work of art, which- weirdly enough still somehow Extreme Metal Blackened Doom Whatever - art!