The comet is coming. Its collision with our planet is imminent. Who will be able to save our good old Earth? Fortunately, once again, we can count on Shabaka Hutchings, Dan Leavers, and Max Hallet. Once dressed in their antigravity suits, these three British heroes transform into King Shabaka, Danalogue, and Betamax. The first one is armed with a saxophone that spits flames, the second one causes earthquakes thanks to his hyper-drums and the last one controls an army of infrasonic wave synthesizers. Together, they create music that breaks down the boundaries between jazz and electronica.
To combat the threat of the comet, this tireless trio presents Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam, their third full-length album. From Code, the electrifying opening track, the band pushes the energy pedal to the limit. As the electro component of this hybrid music is more assumed than ever, the synths are more present and more imaginative than before. King Shabaka sends luminous trills thanks to his saxophone, which he uses as a rhythmic rather than melodic weapon. Betamax, as for him, strikes on his skins in an insistent way, and shows himself implacable.
Then, in order to hypnotize the celestial body which is heading straight for the blue planet, the three fighters curb the ardour of their attacks on more atmospheric pieces such as “Lucid Dreamer” and “Frequency of Feeling Expansion.” We are then entitled to splendid psychedelic flights in the middle of the nebulas. The piece of resistance of the album is, however, “Angel of Darkness,” a seven minutes long river-piece whose tension goes increasing, until the cosmic apotheosis. After “Mystik,” the last track on the program, the three galactic warriors can exclaim: mission accomplished! The comet has deviated from its deadly trajectory to dance with its fellow creatures in another galaxy.
