Gordian Knot (band)
Encyclopedia
Gordian Knot is an American progressive rock
/metal
band directed by bass guitar
ist Sean Malone
. At times its shifting lineup has included Steve Hackett
of Genesis
, Bill Bruford
of King Crimson
and Yes
, Ron Jarzombek
from Watchtower
and Spastic Ink
as well as Jim Matheos
of Fates Warning
, several of Malone's former bandmates from Cynic
and John Myung
from Dream Theater
.
's Guitar Craft and his solo work (e.g. compare Gordian Knot's song "Grace" with Robert Fripp's "Evening Star").
Notable is their use of counterpoint, often presenting several complex intertwining layers of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic structures.
The music of Gordian Knot also relies heavily on diatonic guitar melodies although sometimes encompassing later resolved dissonances to add a jazz fusion-like flavor. The interaction between the various instruments, all played by accomplished instrumentalists, allows for communication of various melodic lines, harmonies and rhythms among guitar(s), bass and (concerning rhythms) even drums.
Also, Gordian Knot cannot be categorized without disregarding certain aspects of their music. For example, the piece "Komm, süsser Tod, komm sel'ge" is a transcription of a piece of the same name by Johann Sebastian Bach
, while some of their other pieces, most notably "Grace", have a distinct classical, even baroque Bach-like flavor, being constructed in an almost counterpoint
-like fashion by interweaving several independent diatonic melodic lines from the Chapman Stick.
Other songs, such as "Muttersprache" (German for "mother tongue") or "Code/Anticode" work with on-beat/off-beat, interplay between two guitars and/or the rhythm and melody section, incorporating jazz chords and dissonant intervals to create tension and form the basis for a mixture of jazz fusion and progressive rock/metal.
In November, 2009, Sean Malone yet again dismissed his touring band. The live Gordian Knot outfit consisted of Vickram Badalpur, John Webber, Thomas O' Meara, and Stephan Greenbank, who were all students at Florida State University
. Upon graduating, the quartet decided to leave music and begin formal working careers, leaving Malone with no alternative but to discontinue their contracts.
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
/metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
band directed by bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
ist Sean Malone
Sean Malone
Sean Malone is an American musician who plays primarily fretless bass guitar and Chapman stick. However, Malone also plays piano, keyboards, and guitar. He is most well known as a member of the progressive band Cynic.- Biography :...
. At times its shifting lineup has included Steve Hackett
Steve Hackett
Stephen Richard Hackett is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970 and left in 1977 to pursue a solo career...
of Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
, Bill Bruford
Bill Bruford
William Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
of King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
and Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
, Ron Jarzombek
Ron Jarzombek
Ron Jarzombek is an American guitarist best known for his work with Austin, Texas progressive metal trailblazers WatchTower, '90s madcap trio, Spastic Ink, technical extreme metal band Blotted Science, featuring Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster and Obscura drummer Hannes Grossmann, and most...
from Watchtower
Watchtower (band)
WatchTower is an American progressive metal band based in Austin, Texas. The band were influenced by late 1970s progressive rock and acts such as Rush and UK as well as the burgeoning New Wave of British Heavy Metal...
and Spastic Ink
Spastic Ink
Spastic Ink is a progressive technical metal band from the United States.-History:Spastic Ink was formed in 1993 by guitarist Ron Jarzombek of Watchtower after recovering from multiple hand surgeries that had sidelined him, unable to play, for a couple of years. He would be joined by brother Bobby...
as well as Jim Matheos
Jim Matheos
Jim Matheos , is the American guitarist and primary songwriter for the progressive metal band Fates Warning. As of bassist Joe DiBiase's departure in 1996, he is the band's only permanent member...
of Fates Warning
Fates Warning
Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman in Hartford, Connecticut. Fates Warning has experienced numerous line-up changes...
, several of Malone's former bandmates from Cynic
Cynic (band)
Cynic is an American progressive rock band, incorporating experimental music, alternative, metal and jazz fusion elements, founded in Miami, Florida and currently based in Los Angeles, California. Their first album, Focus, released on September 14, 1993, is widely regarded as a landmark release of...
and John Myung
John Myung
John Ro Myung is an American bassist, Chapman Stick player and a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater. He is considered a virtuoso player who is widely recognized for his technical proficiency....
from Dream Theater
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
.
Musical style
The music of Gordian Knot is a stylistic mixture of progressive rock and metal, instrumental music reminiscent of Robert FrippRobert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
's Guitar Craft and his solo work (e.g. compare Gordian Knot's song "Grace" with Robert Fripp's "Evening Star").
Notable is their use of counterpoint, often presenting several complex intertwining layers of melodic, harmonic and rhythmic structures.
The music of Gordian Knot also relies heavily on diatonic guitar melodies although sometimes encompassing later resolved dissonances to add a jazz fusion-like flavor. The interaction between the various instruments, all played by accomplished instrumentalists, allows for communication of various melodic lines, harmonies and rhythms among guitar(s), bass and (concerning rhythms) even drums.
Also, Gordian Knot cannot be categorized without disregarding certain aspects of their music. For example, the piece "Komm, süsser Tod, komm sel'ge" is a transcription of a piece of the same name by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, while some of their other pieces, most notably "Grace", have a distinct classical, even baroque Bach-like flavor, being constructed in an almost counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
-like fashion by interweaving several independent diatonic melodic lines from the Chapman Stick.
Other songs, such as "Muttersprache" (German for "mother tongue") or "Code/Anticode" work with on-beat/off-beat, interplay between two guitars and/or the rhythm and melody section, incorporating jazz chords and dissonant intervals to create tension and form the basis for a mixture of jazz fusion and progressive rock/metal.
In November, 2009, Sean Malone yet again dismissed his touring band. The live Gordian Knot outfit consisted of Vickram Badalpur, John Webber, Thomas O' Meara, and Stephan Greenbank, who were all students at Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
. Upon graduating, the quartet decided to leave music and begin formal working careers, leaving Malone with no alternative but to discontinue their contracts.
Band members
Malone recruites a different line-up each time when he is recording and playing live with Gordian Knot.Current members
- Sean MaloneSean MaloneSean Malone is an American musician who plays primarily fretless bass guitar and Chapman stick. However, Malone also plays piano, keyboards, and guitar. He is most well known as a member of the progressive band Cynic.- Biography :...
- bass, fretless bass, upright bass, Chapman Sticks (various models and tunings), guitars, keyboards, e-bow, echoplex, loops, occasional vocals.
Studio members
- Sonia Lynn - vocals
- Paul MasvidalPaul MasvidalPaul Albert Masvidal is the guitarist, singer and a founding member of the progressive band Cynic and previously led the alternative rock band Æon Spoke. Born in Puerto Rico, Masvidal grew up in Miami, Florida and currently resides in Los Angeles...
- guitar - Bob Bunin - guitars
- Jason GöbelJason GobelJason Göbel is an American musician, engineer and University lecturer.He is best known for being a member of the technical metal band Cynic and playing guitar on their album Focus.-Life and career:...
- guitars - Glenn Snelwar - guitars
- Ron JarzombekRon JarzombekRon Jarzombek is an American guitarist best known for his work with Austin, Texas progressive metal trailblazers WatchTower, '90s madcap trio, Spastic Ink, technical extreme metal band Blotted Science, featuring Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster and Obscura drummer Hannes Grossmann, and most...
- guitars - Steve HackettSteve HackettStephen Richard Hackett is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He gained prominence as a member of the British progressive rock group Genesis, which he joined in 1970 and left in 1977 to pursue a solo career...
- guitars - Adam LevyAdam LevyAdam Levy is an accomplished jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter. Levy has recorded with Norah Jones, Tracy Chapman, Sex Mob, and Amos Lee, and has released several solo albums as well. is his latest....
- guitars - Jim MatheosJim MatheosJim Matheos , is the American guitarist and primary songwriter for the progressive metal band Fates Warning. As of bassist Joe DiBiase's departure in 1996, he is the band's only permanent member...
- acoustic guitars - Trey GunnTrey GunnTrey Gunn is an American musician, known for his membership in progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003, playing Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick.-Biography:...
- warr guitar - John MyungJohn MyungJohn Ro Myung is an American bassist, Chapman Stick player and a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater. He is considered a virtuoso player who is widely recognized for his technical proficiency....
- chapman stick - Bill BrufordBill BrufordWilliam Scott "Bill" Bruford is an English drummer, percussionist, composer, producer, and record label owner. He was the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968-1972. Bruford has performed for numerous popular acts since the early 1970s, including a stint as touring...
- drums - Sean ReinertSean ReinertSean Reinert is the drummer of Cynic and Æon Spoke. He is known for his technical, original and creative drumming technique....
- drums
Discography
- Gordian KnotGordian Knot (album)Gordian Knot was the debut album of Sean Malone's progressive rock project of the same name.-Track listing:#"Galois" - Malone#"Code/Anticode" - Malone, Reinert, Gunn, Jarzombek...
(1999) - EmergentEmergent (album)Emergent is the second album by American progressive rock band Gordian Knot, and is the only album apart from Focus to contain all original members of Cynic.- Track listing :#"Arsis" – 1:59#"Muttersprache" – 6:26#"A Shaman's Whisper" – 6:33...
(2003)