Enuma Elish

The first Enuma Elish album came out three years ago and was an intriguing synthesis of samples from around the world, horns, triggered percussion and live processing in a duo format. After a few more years of playing together, Warren Jones and Yuri Zbitnoff have found an even greater rapport that makes Leviathan much more satisfying. In general, the worldly influences have been toned down, and there is more freedom within a groove than their first album. Inevitably, when speaking of freedom within a groove, the comparisons point to electric Miles, and here they fare quite well. The title track opens the disc with an Eric Dolphy meets Bitches Brew groove with some killer harmonised bass clarinet. Jones shows great skill in ratcheting up the intensity not only in his playing but in the processing as well, getting spacier and spacier over ten minutes. If there is a new aspect to their repertoire, it’s their capability to produce heavy, grinding grooves with more than a hint of metal to the sonorities. "Demon Mask” picks up where "Leviathan” left off, but by mid-song, Zbitnoff is playing double time blues and Jones is channelling Albert Ayler. Both "Imminent Doom” and "The Arrival” sound as if they could have germinated from their involvement in the thick and rich dub-metal band Teledubgnosis. Leviathan improves on all the best aspects of their first disc. Highly recommended.