Review Text
In the album Soul Doctrine, composer Zack Browning employs Chinese magic squares, feng shui, astrology, and historical quotes to construct a spiritual world of melodic patterns and harmonic spirals- all interwoven with a corporeal world of rock-inspired, driving rhythms. Time appears frozen, restructured, and propelled forward by applying esoteric workings to the birth dates of performers, musical visionaries, and dates of political events. But the effect on the listener is to entangle them joyfully in vigorous syncopations of vibrant musical material. In the title track, 'Soul Doctrine,' a pulsating piano pushes the distorted electric guitar and fiery flute into a powerful and emotional journey consisting of dynamic turns and colorful collisions inspired by the sixteenth century music of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. The rich sound world of 'Silent Crackdown' reflects the tragic events of the 228 Incident in Taiwan and the compelling music played at Taiwanese funerals to awaken the dead. In Flute Soldier, a magic square from 1514 provides for a percussive palette of punchy melodic loops. 'Unafraid' combines quotes from Handel, the Holocaust, and Bob Marley with pounding rock rhythms to make a powerful statement about survival. 'Rock Furious' wraps up the album with a loud and relentless rush of pop-inspired riffs derived from the performers' ruling planets.
