����� As I've been getting increasingly obsessed with the more shadowy corners of underground progressive rock, it's been leading me to some really interesting stuff that has come out on the Cuneiform label, home to what might be the darkest prog band of them all, Univers Zero. That Belgian outfit is pretty much the ultimate in creeped-out Lovecraftian art rock, but as I've been digging deeper into the label's back catalog, I've been discovering some other stuff that's also pretty sinister in tone and atmosphere. One of the few American bands that I've gotten turned on to is Wisconsin's Far Corner, a group of classically trained musicians (one of whom is also a member of the terrifically weird blackened prog outfit Haiku Funeral) who draw from the malevolent sound of Univers Zero and the darkest edges of the Rock In Opposition movement, playing a kind of heavy, erudite chamber rock that would probably also appeal to more adventurous metal fans. The band has only released two albums to date, and both are highly recommended listening if you're inclined towards those aforementioned bands/sounds, combining top notch musicianship and challenging sonic structures with a big dose of menacing ambience.

����� And here's where these guys started out. With their ornate, classical music-tinged prog and that photo of the band inside the booklet looking black-clad and somber, I immediately caught a little bit of a Heresie-esque vibe when I first checked this album out. But what becomes apparent pretty early on is that the folks in Far Corner clearly have an appreciation for metal. They crank the distortion and power as soon as opener "Silly Whim" kicks in, welding their crunchy, angular bass guitar riffs and bludgeoning fretless chords to ever-shifting rhythmic complexity, whipping up a furious prog attack that's flecked with flurries of intricate piano and urgent Hammond organ runs. That heaviness is apparent through much of the album, a metallic weight that surfaces throughout their baroque, jazz-tinged prog, but they also flesh out their sound with an interesting mix of additional instrumentation that includes cello, flute, clarinet and piano, the playing articulate and expressive, and these ten tracks can also lead into some supremely frenetic jazz-rock maneuvers. There's no shaking the influence of Univers Zero on the band's sound, but Far Corner is driven by a heavier, more muscular feel, the saturated, rumbling bass carving out huge angular riffs and rubbery, mutated jazz grooves, while the drummer erupts into volleys of metallic double bass rumble and stomping slow-mo tempos amid his wilder bouts of improvised playing. The album's centerpiece is the three-part "Something Out There"; this is where the band delves into some seriously dark territory, moving from the scattered percussion and subterranean scrapings that open the piece, to lightless passages inhabited by sparse, growling piano. Those early minimal improvisation rumblings evolve into a tense, piano-led middle section, becoming more captivating as it progresses, until it eventually turns into a spooky, dissonant wash of Bartokian ambience that resembles something out of a 70's horror film score.

����� The whole disc is loaded with killer stuff like that, blending extensive chamber-rock workouts with that ominous metallic riffage, and it all adds up to become one of my favorite releases on Cuneiform. If you're at all interested in the darker, more sinister fringes of prog rock and bands like Kayo Dot, Tarantula Hawk, latter-day Ulver, Red-era King Crimson, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Present and (of course) Universe Zero , this stuff is recommended listening.