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It’s the final night in Oslo, and after the foreboding Dawn Song, the three guys at the front join forces to become one drummer with many hands. There was a time in rock music when the appearance of a drum solo was more often than an excuse to go off to the toilets, while a feat of endurance, in all senses of the word, was thrust upon those in the concert hall. However, percussion vignettes such as Hell Hounds and Devil Dogs come from a different place altogether. Unconcerned with delivering the fastest paradiddle in the West, instead, there’s the delicate articulation of an undulating melody, spread across a series of graceful dynamic arcs between each of the three players. Listening to the glistening bell-tones of Banshee Leg Bell Hassle, it’s a reminder of the Hand Sonic work-outs Adrian Belew and Pat Mastelotto used to perform in the tours running up to the Power To Believe album. Like then, amid the general Sturm und Drang generated at a King Crimson, these moments allow listeners, and perhaps even the band themselves, to refresh the palate, as it were, savouring something light and delicate.
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