Rehumanizer

Maserati

Temporary Residence LTD., , 2015

http://www.ihaveadagger.net

REVIEW BY: Tom Haugen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 01/07/2017

If you're not up on the must-hear instrumental bands that exist today, there's a short list of outfits that are absolutely necessary to devour; Athens, Georgia veterans Maserati is at the top of that list.

For the past decade and a half, Maserati's sonic meshing of post-rock, dance rock, and psych rock have paved the way for countless similar outfits, though few – if any – have been able to replicate the sounds from guitar, bass, synth, and drums that Maserati has birthed. my_heart_sings_the_harmony_web_ad_alt_250

On their third album since the tragic and untimely death of drummer Jerry Fuchs, the six songs here boast driving guitars and building moments of futuristic space rock. Opener “No Cave,” despite being 10 minutes, alternates between synth and fuzzy, and the layered guitars never out-welcomes their stay. It's a mesmerizing version of tense rock, shifting between serene moments and intimidating riffage.

“Living Cell” follows the amazing opener and borrows from post-punk ideas, with an ominous feel and chunky bass lines. This track features vocals – a rarity in Maserati's playbook – but it complements the throbbing atmosphere splendidly. “Montes Jura” and “End Of Man” are armed with sequencers and vocoders, yielding a sci-fi soundtrack feel from decades past, with a robotic angle. While the latter brings actual robotic voices to the alien dance party, the former is pure cinematic quality genius.

The final two tunes, “Rehumanizer 1” and “Rehumanizer 2,” contribute angular guitar and dance friendly bass acrobatics; the noisier of the two, “Rehumanizer 2,” ends the album with the intrigue and mystery it began with.

At under 40 minutes, this is one of Maserati's shorter adventures, but it's certainly no less thrilling. While many speculated that the band would never regain the same impact without Jerry Fuchs' contributions, it's very apparent that some of their best work to date resides here.

Rating: A-

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