Reviews 2104

Deftly named, this incendiary triumvirate has recorded several times with a previous lineup featuring ferocious Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. Chicago´s Frank Rosaly recently replaced Nilssen-Love, and his punchy polyrhythms and restless creativity amply fuel this hyper-expressive date on which Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten´s alternately motile / tethered Fender bass provides contrast to guitarist Raoul Björkenheim´s adventurous forays. Björkenheim should be better known. His outsize musical personality explodes like a Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa or John McLaughlin, with plosive throwdowns like the title track and the power riffs and flangy heavy tock pyro of "Iesnu!". In contrast, "Raitru" occupies reverberant Scandinavian pastoral terrain, Björkenheim morphing his sound into arco bass or cello. As with Hendrix, there is camp flamboyance in Björkenheim's outrageousness, he embraces feedback and overtones. "Relajo" is loud and enervating, Haker-Flaten's eventual ostinato the flywheel for a rip-snorting drum / guitar stenchout. The band filters industrial rock and grunge through the dark kaleidoscope of King Crimson, or perhaps Motorhead; then "Orita" reminds of Marc Ribot's quizzical, elliptically comedic meanderings. Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal may be an influence, but Björkenheim flouts all pigeon-holes.
Downbeat (US)

Maintaining a fast-moving and volatile knit of avant-jazz improvisation and free-rock expression they seem equally at home with streams of John McLaughlin-influenced jazz rock, turbulent bouts of disruptive friction or more spacious areas of calm. These divergent and differing approaches once again pay off here with just the right combination of liberated dissension and organized togetherness.
Rock-a-Rolla (UK)

I've seen Finnish-American electric guitarist Raoul Björkenheim's Scorch Trio (with a Norwegian rhythm tandem) called fusion, but it's much wilder than that. Björkenheim plays with the unbridled energy and freedom of Albert Ayler, but against occasionally more tonally oriented backgrounds, variously recalling the sounds and style of James Blood Ulmer, the late Sonny Sharrock, and, on “Iesnu!”, The freakier side of Bill Frisell . The quiet track “Orita” 's microtonal inflections take things deeper into avant-garde territory. Yeah, I file this in the jazz section, but the heaviness and crunching riffs are definitely going to appeal to adventurous rock fans.
The Big Takeover (US)

Scorch Trio is a long-running and mostly successful experiment in marrying improvisation to power trio hard rock ... it´s natural that Björkenheim is going to be the dominant instrumental voice at almost all times, but this isn´t an Yngwie Malmsteen album , or even a Link Wray album. Hell, on "Raitru", his use of slide sounds more like a bowed cello than Jimmy Page gone wild on "Dazed and Confused". Håker Flaten more than holds his own, contributing the thickly fuzzed-out primary riff to the Band Of Gypsys-esque title track and adding subtle, statickynoises to "Orita". Even when he´s in pure support mode, though, as on "Bambalan", he´sa perfect complement to Björkenheim´s post-Hendrixian firestorms, providing a bridge between the guitarist and Rosaly ... with the exception of the 10- minute closer "Iesnu!
Signal To Noise (US)

The Scorch Trio without Paal Nilssen-Love? Ingebrigt Håker Flaten had a quick alternative at hand with Frank Rosaly, his partner in his American projects, namely his own Quintet and the Rempis Percussion Quartet. Melaza (RCD2104) is more or less Americanized not only because of the drummer from Chicago, who operates flickr and finer mesh than PNL, the recording was made in Bill Laswell's New York studio with Robert Musso as sound engineer. The Puerto Rican titles of this sugar syrup also come from New York. However, Raoul Björkenheim's guitar runs, pumped by Flaten with fender bass, do not flow honey-sweet in all ears. Even the 'Orita' made of chain stitches consists of lice-bent guitar notes with percussive false lights. Before and after, the Scorch-typical, Jazz rock-intensive example of what a guitar can do as a welding torch. 'Estinche' raves and stings like excited hornets. 'Raitrú' buzzes and hums because Björkenheim apparently strokes his guitar as a viola da gamba. With the 10 1/2 minute '¡Esnu!' the Scorch aesthetic then culminates without coverage in the disclosure of all means. The guitar sings first, finds a pumping swing with frenziedly arpeggiated foam crowns, then hooks and chops like a stuttering motor, climbs to intense trills and breaks down again in broken lines - break. The rhythm section is feverish, Björkenheim is looking for a final statement with skewed notes with skewed notes, insists on singular notes, starts like this and leaves it at the direction - oblique. 'Estinche' raves and stings like excited hornets. 'Raitrú' buzzes and hums because Björkenheim apparently strokes his guitar as a viola da gamba. With the 10 1/2 minute '¡Esnu!' the Scorch aesthetic then culminates without coverage in the disclosure of all means. The guitar sings first, finds a pumping swing with frenziedly arpeggiated foam crowns, then hooks and chops like a stuttering motor, climbs up to intense trills and breaks down again in drawn lines - break. The rhythm section is feverish, Björkenheim is looking for a final statement with skewed notes with skewed notes, insists on singular notes, starts like this and leaves it at the direction - oblique. 'Estinche' raves and stings like excited hornets. 'Raitrú' buzzes and hums because Björkenheim apparently strokes his guitar as a viola da gamba. With the 10 1/2 minute '¡Esnu!' the Scorch aesthetic then culminates without coverage in the disclosure of all means. The guitar sings first, finds a pumping swing with frenziedly arpeggiated foam crowns, then hooks and chops like a stuttering motor, climbs up to intense trills and breaks down again in drawn lines - break. The rhythm section is feverish, Björkenheim is looking for a final statement with skewed notes with skewed notes, insists on singular notes, starts like this and leaves it at the direction - oblique. With the 10 1/2 minute '¡Esnu!' the Scorch aesthetic then culminates without coverage in the disclosure of all means. The guitar sings first, finds a pumping swing with frenziedly arpeggiated foam crowns, then hooks and chops like a stuttering motor, climbs up to intense trills and breaks down again in drawn lines - break. The rhythm section is feverish, Björkenheim is looking for a final statement with skewed notes with skewed notes, insists on singular notes, starts like this and leaves it at the direction - oblique. With the 10 1/2 minute '¡Esnu!' the Scorch aesthetic then culminates without coverage in the disclosure of all means. The guitar sings first, finds a pumping swing with frenziedly arpeggiated foam crowns, then hooks and chops like a stuttering motor, climbs up to intense trills and breaks down again in drawn lines - break. The rhythm section is feverish, Björkenheim is looking for a final statement with skewed notes with skewed notes, insists on singular notes, starts like this and leaves it at the direction - oblique.
Bad Alchemy (DE)

The fourth CD of the Scorch Trio around the Finnish guitarist Raoul Björkenheim is initially noticeable due to a change in personnel: Frank Rosaly from Chicago replaces Paal Nilsen-Love and becomes the rhythmic center of the trio. With the (Fender) bass player Flaten, the power trio celebrates a breathtaking sound: groovy, electrifying guitar solos, a driving bass in front of the never ending drum storm of Rosaly. Sometimes it is hard food that is offered there: memories of rock concerts of the early seventies awaken. However, the music is thoroughly jazzy and is characterized by complex interactions within the trio. The arrangement of the pieces offers a change between dynamic themes and more contemplative ones.
District newspaper Syke (DE)

Piggtrådestetikken he heldigvis den samme etter at Paal Nilssen-Love har sluttet. Scorch Trios nye trommeslager heter Frank Rosaly, kommer fra Chicago og er også medlem i Scorch-bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Quintet. Guitarists heter fortsatt Raoul Björkenheim, og han skyver de best stilgrepene to John McLaughlin inn i vår tid og deler frontlinje med Nels Cline. På Melaza holder Håker Flaten seg til fenderbassen, og det kler det nakne avantfusionsoundet helt ypperlig. Frank Rosaly's style mangler noe av den snertne eksplosiviteten til Nilssen-Love, men den åpner og primitiviserer det avanserte uttrykket. Sofistikert råskap og dyder som feeling og soul fremmes og forsvares. The som har øre for rølpete bravur og strengefør fornyelse, he Herved varslet. 5/6.
Aftenposten (NO)

http://www.allaboutjazz.com

http://www.themilkfactory.co.uk

http://jazzwrap.blogspot.com

http://www.allaboutjazz.com

http://dustedmagazine.com

http://www.allmusic.com

http://www.ink19.com

http://exclaim.ca

http://www.side2.no

http://blog.monsieurdelire.com

http://www.dn.se    (swedish)