Cloon - Demo

Year of Release: 2004
Label: n/a
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 19:18:00

It is by no means my intention to review demo CDs or burned CDs at all, although I have to make an exception here. As all of you know and hopefully also appreciate, we reviewers do not get paid one single cent for writing our asses off. We're so mad about 'our' music that we don't need to get paid, but the only thing that compensates for the many hours of hard labour is to get sent the actual album instead of a burned copy. With the huge amount of new material being released all over the globe, there is so much material to review that we no longer have the time to also review demos (well, I don't have for sure). As said, however, I want to make an exception here, as it concerns a Belgian band delivering music that has difficulty surviving without a little help.

In a lot of cases, the collaboration between drummer and bass player is very important within the structure of the band. Knowing that Servaas and Philippe have been playing together since 1992, no doubt the foundation for Cloon is a very solid one. Together with guitarist Maarten, these youngsters have been making instrumental music ranging from jazz down to metal since 1999. Together with frontman Tom the band feels secure enough to deliver their own compositions, which contain the sweat of Tool, the funkyness of Primus, the inimitable genius of Frank Zappa and the complexity of King Crimson. Maybe the word "progressive" sounds too old for these guys and too "cliché" for the media who try to help these guys get out of anonymity. Those of you who were fortunate enough to witness the wit and splendour of The Same several years ago will also find a similar originality within Cloon. There's fusion, there's jazz and there's prog all melted into one little ball of lava too hot to handle.

Every band that comes up with a song entitled "A Donut The Size Of A Wheel" must get the opportunity to display their goods. After all, with such a title, they illustrate they are a "hungry" band! From an instrumental point of view this band cooks, whilst frontman Tom not really sings but recites his stuff in a very theatrical way. In "Be Amazing" he tries to be as convincing as a Jehovah's Witness. Where structure is concerned, my absolute favourite has to be "The 'Save The World In One Day' Show" which speeds up then slows down then speeds up again. Here the guitar searches in the Andy Summers toybox to underline the band's "organized anarchy!" Cloon most certainly won't reach millions of people with their music but their raw energy will definitely be welcomed by loads of young people looking for a great time out. I can only hope that they stay a foursome and don't let a keyboard player turn their music into something too fancy. Raw energy is the band's trademark and it should stay that way.

Tracklisting:
Judas / A Donut The Size Of A Wheel / Be Amazing / The "Save The World In One Day" Show

Musicians:
Philippe De Vuyst - bass
Servaas Steurbaut - drums Maarten Flamand?- guitars
Tom Claus?- vocals

Discography:
demo (2004)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin BE

Added: April 4th 2005
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.cloon.be
Hits: 2812
Language: english