Maserati - Rehumanizer

  by Dave Goodwin

published: 25 / 11 / 2015

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Review

I am not a big fan of instrumental albums, but Georgia post-rock group Maserati have changed my train of thought. They released their debut EP in 2001, and they have been churning out solid material ever since. As I was - let's say - blinkered, I missed most it, hearing fleeting album tracks but not really delving onto them. In 2004, drummer Phil Horan left the group along with guitarist Matt Cherry who was temporarily replaced by Tristan Wraight. In early 2005, Matt Cherry re-joined the band and Jerry Fuchs stepped in on drums, and the group went down a psychedelic and space rock-influenced path. Signing to Temporary Residence in 2007, they released the full-length 'Inventions for the New Season', issuing a 12" featuring remixes of songs a year later. Then in 2009 in Brooklyn, disaster struck when Fuchs, then bjust 34, fell to his death down an elevator shaft. It took two years after this for Maserati to bring out their next offering, 'Pyramid of the Sun', which included most of Fuchs’ final work. The band then went on a lengthy tour throughout Europe and the U.S. after releasing the album 'Maserati VII' in 2012, their first record with drummer Mike Albanese. Maserati started life as a guitar-heavy post-rock outfit with Krautrock tendencies, and by the time they had released 'Inventions for the New Season' they had progressed to a spacier, more electric, psychedelic sound. In 2009 they collaborated with big synth group Zombi, which totally changed their sound and direction forever, a sound that is typified on 'No Cave', the opening track on 'Humaniser', which combines a soaring synth and murderous bass line. 'Montes Jura', the second track, is a little darker and more akin to their former days. The highlight for me though is stuck neatly in the middle. 'End of Man' uses vocals as does 'Living Cell' but the former has a more robotic feel. The closing pair of tracks, 'Rehumanizer I' and 'Rehumanizer II', are both one hundred mile an hour Maserati at their best. 'Rehumanizer' is like an unreleased Sci-Fi soundtrack to, say, 'Star Wars' or 'Battlestar Galactica', but it has that explosive and fiery post-Millennium drive that so many bands seem to omit, opting instead for something more stripped back. This is explosive and fiery and much better for it too. The CD version appears in a colourful gatefold card sleeve which has an alien being on the front that looks like an item you would pick out of the glove box of a supercar. Despite being someone who usually veers away form instrumental music, I love this and it will in the shortlist of my Top 10 for this year.

Track Listing:-

1 No Cave
2 Living Cell
3 Montes Jura
4 End of Man
5 Rehumanizer I
6 Rehumanizer II

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/MASERATIBAND/
https://twitter.com/maserati_band

Label Links:-

http://temporaryresidence.com/
https://www.facebook.com/temporaryresi
https://twitter.com/tempresltd
https://www.youtube.com/user/temporary
https://plus.google.com/+temporaryresi