Moving Pieces Of The Sea

Metal music has been historically dominated by electric guitars.

The Crooked Fiddle Band make this trend look completely arbitrary and uninspired. The Sydney quartet replace the lead guitar with violin and the rhythm guitars with mandolin, bazouki and acoustic guitar.

Their line up is rounded out with an upright bass and drums, leaving the band looking like they could play anything from gypsy to Celtic folk to bluegrass.

Instead, they pound out some kind of progressive/world/seriously heavy math metal. For those intimidated by those kinds of time signatures, be sure to catch a live show first. Their performances are so energetic and unfathomably tight that it’s difficult not to have a good time.

Moving Pieces Of The Sea is the third EP from this band who really excel over short-form releases – even their album was only eight tracks long.

However, their songs are long and winding with regularly shifting tempos. While this kind of engagement with timing is pretty standard for all-instrumental bands, The Crooked Fiddle Band throw you headfirst down the math-metal rabbit hole.

EP opener ‘The Vanishing Shapes Of A Better World’ almost plays like a quick tour of the band’s style. In the space of seven minutes, it showcases fierce, perforating drums, soaring bow-work and the heaviest breakdown to ever be played by wooden instruments.

For those that aren’t already metal fans, this might not be an EP to listen to over and over again. But for anyone who is interested in blowing out their musical horizons, The Crooked Fiddle Band are pretty right on.

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