Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue by Kayo Dot (CD, Jan-2006, Robotic Empire Records)

Having released this album on my label, I'm proud to share this review: Boston, Massachusetts' eight-piece "avant-metal" outfit KAYO DOT follow up their much-heralded 2003 debut (on John Zorn's Tzadik label) with their Robotic Empire debut, "Dowsing Anemone with Copper Tongue". These five tracks (spanning 60+ minutes) delve into the myriad depths that heavy music can attain, but reach far beyond into the vast realms of ambience.

This isn't typical track-by-track genre-bending as much as it is a complete orchestral work, calling upon elements of jazz, metal, noise, and ambience to guide you through their haunting sonic landscapes and picturesque movements. Often bleak and at times quite unsettling, KAYO DOT further amazes by dismissing conventional structures in the styles they have already mastered, looking forward and taking extreme music to places it's only imagined possible.