Before the release of his debut full length I thought id head back and listen to the other two mini-records of the Australian one man band Plini. "Other Things" was the first of three and its first two songs bares little if any resemblance at all to the Metal label attached to this band. This the essences of cool, mellow and excitable Jazz Rock, adventurous instrumentation that has roomy pianos, jiving base and luscious guitar leads taking turns to step up and indulge us at their fancy.
With the records longest track "Selenium Forest" we are introduced to the metallic element and in its opening moments a gorgeous guitar solo plays to the previous mood before a distortion guitar creeps its way in and the mood and tone change greatly. Playing power chords and tremolo picking its quite different from the Djent sound you might associate them with. In this temperate and heavy moment it breaks down for fraction where the lead guitar can let the light in a little with more lush melodies.
The song progresses by looping back through this motion and steadily evolving the instrumentation around it with even steel drums. It sticks to this loop feeling in search of something, which never comes and although it may be a fan favorite, for me it pales in comparison to "Other Things", a lush track of classy melodic pleasures. The records production is fair, the drums noticeably programed when giving it your ear however comes of fairly organic with snare fills and shuffles playing like a breeze. Good listen, I find it interesting how this artists is associated with the Djent Progressive Metal scene, it leans even further into the Jazz and Jazz Fusion influences than Metal.
Favorite Track: Other Things
Rating: 4/10