Nathan Parker Smith - Not Dark Yet (2014)

Slip Not Dark Yet into your player and STAND BACK! The Intergalactic Big Band of Doom is about to crush everything in its path.

Otherwise known as the Nathan Parker Smith Large Ensemble, this absolutely burning group is simply a thrill to listen to.

Smith is the composer and director of the group, creating music which evokes the world (or soundtrack) of say, "Adventures of Roddick" (and "Pitch Black"), "Blade Runner," "Battlestar Galactica," "I Robot" with "Aliens 3" mixed in for good measure. Deep space, darkness, power, fear and awe just pour out of the speakers.

While stylistically the release is narrow, within this genre it deeply explores the musical-emotional space it chooses to control.

Consisting of seventeen pieces, the band looks on paper like a big band, with five woodwinds, four trumpets, four trombones and a four piece rhythm section. What the music the "Large Ensemble" might labeled as is open for discussion and does not really matter; however, it is not "progressive rock," not "jazz" as most understand that term, and certainly not "death metal" or "head banging," but the old term "heavy" is perhaps apropos.

Exceptionally rehearsed and extremely tight, the band is lead by the visceral rhythm section which plays as one unit, providing the very deep vamps that drive each track. There is not one second of flab, and flying above this solid, imposing and throbbing ground is the band which provides dense blocks of sound, along with solos that cut sharp swaths within the relatively static harmonic vamp. Smith composing skills really shine here, in that the blocks of sound are very carefully crafted. While listed on the liner as solos, they sound from within, rather than in front of, what the rest of the band is doing.

While much of the music must be through-composed to keep all of the moving parts in sync, the spirit of improvisation in the form of stated theme which is then explored hovers of every track, and it is easy to imagine extended playing in a live setting.

Not Dark Yet is a triumph for Smith and the band, and it will be extremely interesting what territory is explored next. Listening to the record is one thing, but hearing this group live would be mind/ear boggling, with no doubt that a pool (pond?) of sweat will be left behind.