Entropy Override began as an attempt to reverse-engineer Frank Zappa’s last, monumental Synclavier opus Civilization: Phaze III, and spilled out to encompass excursions into ancient Greek and Roman music, free jazz/improv, post-metal, and experimental electronics. The natural (if unintentional) result is a radical concoction bearing the hallmarks of thorough-going avant-garde progressive rock. The group converged for only a week in the summer of 2019 and developed an immediate rapport—although Zolder Ellipsis is the province of Tom Aldrich’s music, each member of the band is a composer in his own right, leading to a sort of mediated group composition that transcends the bounds of any one person’s pencil and paper.
Thematically, the song titles (as well as the album title) and the overall vibe confront different types of automation—symbolized by robots (artificial mechanization) on the one hand, and zombies (reflexive obsession) on the other—and the idea that such closed behavioral cycles could somehow be broken, either from without or within. Entropy Override is the sound of the needle jumping the groove.
"Tom Aldrich is a frank guy, whose drastic soundscape I could not imagine at first. … Zolder Ellipsis... this portable madness can be recommended for fans of various progressive rock subgenres, like Experimental/Post-Metal, Avant-Prog, Krautrock, Electronic, not art-rock. Good."
ZOLDER ELLIPSIS:
- Tom Aldrich (keyboards, piano, organ)
- Sean Moran (guitar)
- Chad Langford (electric and acoustic bass)
- Thèo Lanau (drums)
- Ivo Bol (sampler and electronics)
