Spastic Ink was an aptly named brainchild of guitarist extraordinaire and WatchTower alum Ron Jarzombek in the late 90's and early 2000's. Their music and performance goes beyond impressive. Some adjectives that leap to mind: angular, frenetic, ironic, complex, jarring... spastic. It's truly unique music, simultaneously heavy and light. That any human, let alone an ensemble, could play it is mind boggling, and the musicians enlisted to record it leave little doubt of their proficiency. A brilliant example, not included below but highly recommended, is Wild Hare, an amazing adaptation of the movie Bambi, with even dialogue recreated instrumentally.
The first album, Ink Complete, was essentially a release of nearly-raw demos which, while imperfectly engineered, maybe makes it all the more impressive. The second album, though, Ink Compatible, is a thing of beauty (if, like me, you find art like that of Georges Braque beautiful). The list of contributing musicians includes some greats, but it may be even more impressive that they were able to play this stuff than that Ron was able to secure them for the album: vocalist Daniel Gildenlöw of Pain of Salvation, guitarist Marty Friedman of Megadeth and Cacophony, bassists Sean Malone of Cynic and Michael Manring of Attention Deficit, and keyboardist Jens Johansson of Yngwie Malmsteen and Stratovarius fame, as well as old WatchTower bandmate Jason McMaster and brother Bobby Jarzombek. Ron is clearly a bit of a techno geek, and all of the songs on Ink Compatible are themed around wordplay on computer programming terms and topics. Give a listen to "Aquanet", the album's opener, for a taste of this fantastic band's style and a reminiscence on the golden age of dialup internet. And imagine trying to sing or play any of the instruments on this. For those who make it to the end, you'll be treated to a funny bit where the automated intercept operator repeats her message "If you'd like to make a call..." over and over again in an increasingly annoyed tone.
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