Keyboardist/composer Giovanni Parmeggiani kicks off the first track of Accordo dei Contrari's third album, 2014's AdC, with the unaccompanied retro-synth buzzes and echoing swoops of his MiniMoog, but after the startlingly abrupt entrance of guitarist Marco Marzo, bassist Daniele Piccinini, and drummer Cristian Franchi, Parmeggiani switches to Fender Rhodes and the Bologna, Italy-based instrumental prog-fusion quartet is off and running -- or rather skipping -- through "Nadir"'s ever-changing rhythmic variations. The band's modus operandi, introduced on the 2007 AltrOck label debut Kinesis and continued on 2011's independently released Kublai, remains intact -- if not pushed further -- on this return to AltrOck, recorded mainly live in the studio with minimal overdubbing. In the nine-and-a-half-minute "Nadir," Marzo unleashes a full-throttle solo over the band's angular 11/8 backing and then gently doubles his electric guitar with acoustic in a ghostly interlude whose mood is enhanced by Parmeggiani's tremolo-laden Rhodes, but suddenly the guitarist, Piccinini, and Franchi explode and lock into a pounding syncopated 6/8 groove accented by Parmeggiani's overdriven keys. In an arresting crescendo, the pianist shifts to powerful chords, Marzo to a repeating wah-wah riff, and Franchi to pure pummeling. Accordo dei Contrari then segue from a brief recap of earlier motifs into guitar and keyboard ostinatos over which -- in classic Soft Machine style -- Piccinini delivers Hugh Hopper-esque fuzz bass; after more driving, layered angularity, the track's looping fade suggests Mike Ratledge melded with Fripp Eno.

1		Nadir
2		Dandelion
3		Seth Zeugma
4		Dua
5		Tiglath
6		Più Limpida e Chiara di Ogni Impressione Vissuta, Pt. 2