j a c k

Kopecky had established their basic sound with the release of their first, self-titled album. Serpentine Kaleidoscope, their sophomore effort, shows them developing their darker metal side. Even looking at the album art before hearing a note of music, I get an idea that things aren't going to be as sunny this time around. As the guitar comes growling in, my suspicions are confirmed. The riffs are crispy and crunchy, the drums pounding, the cymbals sizzling, the bass mocking, and they keyboards condemning. The compositions have stretched out a lot since the first album. Riffs come and go as quickly as I can digest them, constantly shifting, sometimes subtly, sometimes jerkily, but it flows well, and it always makes sense in context. Embedded in all the tricky riffage there's an exotic sense of melody that Kopecky does so well. The longer tracks have an epic feel, taking the listener on various musical journeys into the darker side of the imagination. There are a couple of noise experiments (the delightfully schizophrenic "These White Walls" chanting, and the crushingly apocalyptic "Wings of Asphyxia") which annoyed me at first, but have grown on me after listening to this more. It's all part of the big picture - as nightmarishly twisted as the album's title implies. review by Jack Hesse — 7-27-00 —

g a r y v

Kopecky's second outing essentially continues the formula presented on their eponymous debut. It is significantly heavier and darker than its predecessor, and many will lament the diminished presence of the sitar, which only makes a single appearance. I was a little uneasy at first because the opener, "Magic Room," struck me as a bit disjointed. But any apprehensions I harbored were promptly obliterated by the fiery second cut, "Smoke of Her Burning". My favorite, it features snaking in-your-face fretless bass and Joe's characteristic staccato yet fluid guitar riffage. As usual the band stays with a heavy groove long enough for you to taste it, then whirls off capriciously. An unexpected piece, "These White Walls" is kind of a joke. In response to the inability of many Wisconsin clubgoers to deal with an all-instrumental band, Kopecky produced this a cappella orgy of psychotic and demonic voices chanting or screaming "these white walls" in various rhythms. Not what your average clubgoer had in mind! The result is a frightening picture of insanity – but one that you have to be in the right mood to listen to. Perhaps establishing a tradition beginning with their first album, this CD presents another great moody poem set to music. The spacy, sitar-drenched sounds supporting "I Was Home and I Wept" is like an unsettling version of the Beatles' "Within You Without You". The powerful "Wings of Asphyxia" breaks up the similarity of some of the remaining tracks, evoking a strong aural image of a god hammering on the dome of the sky, generating huge explosions of violent sound. Each explosion is followed by the glassy twinkling of shards of the sky falling to the earth. There's never any real "melody", and it closes in a cacophonous blaze as the end of the world nears. For the newcomer I recommend the remarkable debut first. But if you end up hooked by the unique Kopecky sound, you're guaranteed to love Serpentine as well. And see them live if possible; their tightness is so breathtaking you'd think these guys were brothers. review by Gary Varney — undated —

b r a n d o n

I hate saying stuff like this, but Serpentine Kaleidoscope is essentially a more mature version of Kopecky. The compositions have gotten much more interesting, the tone has gotten darker, and the band has tentatively begun exploring more unconventional forms. I think this album is more unified than the rather fragmented-feeling debut; all the pieces here share a common mood, and they're almost uniformly interesting. I particularly like the bone-crushing "Smoke of Her Burning" and the grand "Bartholomew's Kite", which juxtaposes sweeping symphonic statements with clean, precise guitar picking. The most exciting piece on the album in terms of the band's potential, though, is "Wings of Asphyxia", which sounds like a metal band attempting to channel Univers Zero, or maybe a more strident 70's King Crimson improv. Oh, the piece itself isn't really all that interesting, but it's great to see Kopecky trying different things, and I think if they stay on this sort of course - playing around with atmospheric pieces that eschew conventional rhythm and melody for the most part - they could really be on to something cool. Here's hoping. This is a far better album than its predecessor, I think. And although Kopecky's formula will definitely start wearing thin if they continue using it for another full album, they've churned out a pretty good slab of dark heavy prog in Serpentine Kaleidoscope. review by Brandon Wu — undated —