Is this metal? Prog? Jazz? Sure. And then some. Markus Reuter, Asaf Sirkis and Alexander Dowerk have decided to make one hell of a noisy album. Indeed, each full-length piece is followed by a short, often abstract, musing before continuing on to something slightly more conventional.

Tonnen von Hall Ein Abdruck vom Messer im Herzen (self-released)

Reuter and Dowerk manipulate the guitars, and Sirkis plays precise percussion. Reuter added some loops for help on the low end (and in those noisy intermissions). This has all the hallmarks of an avant-jazz prog orgy.

And it is, though the band also wants to embrace the metal tradition as well. That's cool, especially given how wild the metal landscape has become over the last 10 years or so. Just about anything fits now, and that's great.

So is this. I cannot completely get my head around everything I'm hearing, but that's why you listen more than once. Will Tonnen von Hall ignite some metal revolution? Of course not. But that's beside the point. What this album does is push the envelope of many sounds that much further to a fleeting edge. Bathe in the glory and emerge recharged.

Jon Worley