Consume Red

Ground Zero/Project Consume, of which this is the first volume, is an extension of leader Otomo Yoshihide's Sampling Virus project (also documented on his solo effort The Night Before the Death of the Sampling Virus). From the deliberately provocative opening gesture of sampling the Korean sacred musician Kim Suk Chul, Ground Zero slowly interrupts the hojok with random sounding chaos. About a third of the way through, the sampling is joined with accompaniment by percussion and shamisen (a Japanese stringed instrument). Around the midway point, sax and drums burst on the scene, settling into a driving rock rhythm. This rock steadiness is displaced near the end, as the hojok disappears in a barrage of excess from the full band. The shimmering finale fulfills the transcendence promised by the opening sacred music. Although many observers feel this is Ground Zero's masterpiece, newcomers to the group would be better advised to start with Null and Void or Plays Standards. ~ Caleb Deupree