HARRIET TUBMAN, The Terror End of Beauty (Early Future Records, 2018)
PERSONNEL: Brandon Ross (guitar); Melvin Gibbs (bass); JT Lewis (drums); Scotty Hard (engineer)
TRACK LISTING
- Farthur Unknown
- 3000 Worlds
- The Green Book Rules
- Unseen Advance of the Aquifarian
- Prototaxite
- Drumtion
- Redemption Song
- Five Points
- The Terror End of Beauty
- Taljapur Handprint
http://harriettubman.bandcamp.com/album/the-terror-end-of-beauty
Miles Davis made some of his most groove-oriented, Afro-centric music in the 1970’s. Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid took a portion of Davis’s formula, added the occasional touch of reggae, then blazed away over the top of it all with his band Masque. New York City’s Harriet Tubman has gathered these influences, and taken them to a different plane on their latest album, The Terror at the End of Beauty.
The album is appropriately titled, featuring music that can often be described as beautifully organized chaos. Rock solid grooves meet colorful landscapes driven by high-powered guitar runs throughout the compositions. This is music for the highly adventurous.
The tone is established quickly with “Farthur Unknown.” From there, it’s best to grab something heavy and hold on for ride. The moods shift, but the intensity remains throughout.
The link between Harriet Tubman and Reid seemed to great to ignore. When he was asked if he was familiar with the band, Reid said enthusiastically, “Them’s my droogs (friends)” via Twitter.
It’s hard to imagine a better endorsement.
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