AFROSKULL: Monster For The Masses

Afroskull

Monster For The Masses

© 2000 Afroskull L.L.C. (694751000527)

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Afroskull's sound is a fusion of Black Sabbath inspired blues riffs, Headhunters style funk and Tower of Power fueled horn section, providing intense groove-based composition and improvisation.

tracks

1 The Attack
2 Kill Whitey
3 Layers
4 The Obstacle Course
5 Curiosity
6 Radio Alert
7 IT
8 Space Chicken
9 Television Intermission
10 Eat This
11 Theme From Afroskull
12 Beefcake

notes

9/24/03
SeaofTranquility.org
CD REVIEW - Monster For The Masses

It's not often that a CD will grab you immediately upon first listen, but this debut release from Afroskull did just that. Coining themselves "New Orleans/NYC Superfunk" sort of does their music justice, but the band is about much more than that. At times they inject heavy Black Sabbath/Deep Purple styled guitar riffs, Frank Zappa's brand of intricate, big band musicalities, the funky keyboard drenched soul of Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, and of course the revved up horn sections of both Chicago and Tower of Power. Sound like a CD you'd want to check out? But of course!

There's some truly "monstrous" sounds here, and by that I mean BIG! In fact, the back of the CD case has a shot of everyone's favorite monster, Godzilla, wrecking some havoc and spitting out a huge fire blast on an unsuspecting city. Horns play a huge role in Afroskull's music, including trumpet, alto & tenor sax, and trombone. With the exception of the song "Curiosity", all the tunes are instrumentals, and combine hard rock and funk riffs with complex arrangements unlike any other band has done in quite some time. "Kill Whitey", "Layers", and the "Obstacle Course" are all killer songs that hit you with a rockin', big band sound, and "It" features some nasty organ playing from Earl Scioneaux and sinewy bass lines from Bill Richards to go along with the heavy guitar riffs from Joe Scatassa. The guitarists' solo here is a frenzied flurry of notes reminiscent of the late great Frank Zappa himself. "Space Chicken" is pure New Orleans styled soul, with the horn section forceful and melodic, while "Eat This" is a jazzy piece featuring the tasty tenor sax work of Jason Mingledorf , some 70's styled Fender Rhodes textures from Matt Barone, and an emotional guitar solo from Scatassa. Heavy rock riffs meets jammy rock on "Theme From Afroskull" (think Tony Iommi jamming with Greg Allman), and the CD closes with the ultra funky delight of "Beefcake", which is like early Chicago with Scatassa ripping fuzz- toned, wah-wah guitar licks much like the late guitarist Terry Kath. Add in some cool Fender Rhodes and organ and you have a perfect closing to this intense recording.

I urge all fans of instrumental fusion to check this CD out. Monster for the Masses is contemporary while still paying homage to the great jazz, hard rock, and prog bands of the 70's. Highly recommended, and the follow-up is eagerly awaited in the eyes of this reviewer.

-Pete Pardo

reviews

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  • A good listen
    author: Seando

    Some cool tunes on this cd. Picture Chicago mixed with james brown(with better players of course). The horn arrangements are unique, cutting edge stuff.

  • Very, very cool!
    author: David H.

    This music gets you kickin' and keeps you kickin' for the duration. Very awesome stuff! I also love the little "radio" inserts to make it "feel" like an unfolding story.

  • Heavy & Smooth. Hard & Funky
    author: Riles

    This is the music that Shaft listens to while he's kicking some ass.

  • Atomic New Orleans!!
    author: david

    Stupendous funk with lots of corners and some cool dinosaur action, too! What more could you ask for - a sense of humor AND fine funk.

  • True power funk!
    author: K. Feilzer

    Tower of Power meets Chicago and then goes New York undergound.

  • Powerful!!! and Fun!!!
    author: Liquid

    Powerful and Fun!!! I love this CD. Afroskull does a great job of blending an obvious sense of humor with some serious kickass music. My 3 year old son loves the monster sounds.

  • Oh yeah.
    author: JTN

    This here is some tasty goodness. Damn fine musicianship lies within this pressed piece of plastic and you'd do well to get yourself a copy.

  • Holy Crap!
    author: James Ellis

    If you imagine the greatest rock/funk band plaything the soundtrack to the coolest action movie you ever saw, you get the gist of what is going on here. Its somewhere between Out Of Sign-era David Holmes, Fire-era Ohio Players, and Always on the Run-era Lenny Kravitz.

  • Afroskull - jazzy driving funk with a sharp guitar edge
    author: Timothy Lee Russell

    As a musician, I really enjoyed this album. Whoever arranged the chord charts for the horns really put in a lot of work. The horn work is intricate, executed with precision, and set off by improvised freak-outs. The backing glue: drums, bass, and guitar are all tight. Organ adds a nice touch to the "70's cop show theme" as well as other tracks. I heard about the band on http://www.airamericaradio.com -- apparently the drummer works for them. The album reminds me of different artists depending on the song: Big Hunk of Cheese, Curtis Mayfield, 70's cop show composers, etc...Monster for the Masses is primarily an instrumental album, has a jam band feel, and is quite fun to listen to.

  • This is the SH&T
    author: John

    This is quite possibly some of the funkiest music recorded since the seventies. Top notch musicians getting nasty like nobody has in a long time.

  • Funkiest horn band to come along
    author: bob wren

    I first heard this as bump music for Cory Johnson's sports show on WWL. I was going to call in to find out who it was when they said it was Afroskull. I had to have it. Great jam from start to finish. Excellent rhythm section laying down the groove throughout. Horns play well both solo and as an ensemble. As a friend of mine said after he heard this CD, wouldn't you love to jam with a band like that. Yeah, bro, I would.

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