Riddle of Steel

Passion, precision and power. Technical yet emotive, few bands can execute such raw feelings and exacting prowess into highly-refined music and still have it rock like the eleven songs on Python, Riddle of Steel's debut full-length. While musical touchstones include early-Yes, King Crimson, 31Knots, Shiner, Haymarket Riot, Quicksand, Fugazi (arty-side) and Sonic Youth (Sister-era noise breaks), St. Louis, Missouri's Riddle of Steel is neither bound by nor in debt to these influences. Python excites; these intricate song structures and inventive melodies and rhythms stir the soul, leaving the listener both spent and inspired.

"The group packs a powerful, compact blast of energy into their music. The guitars are loud and raw, yet technical, allowing room for creative movement." — excerpt from Copper Press article.

Former The Five Deadly Venoms bassist Jimmy Vavak started Riddle of Steel with Andrew Elstner, but it wasn't until drummer Dave Turncrantz appeared on the scene that the power trio fully arrived. After releasing a solid EP, Burn, on Ascetic, Riddle replaced Ken McCray with Turncrantz, and on Python — expertly recorded by Carl Amburn (Traindodge) at Moustetrap Studios — the solidification and maturation of the line-up is evident.

Vavak and Elstner have made lengthy strides as singers, with the former's gruff staccato becoming more melodic and Elstner's sweet tenor executed with greater confidence. Their voices ring with an emotional and physical resonance: Vavak's a kick to the sternum and Elstner's grappling for the heart. Musically, Riddle of Steel has evolved exponentially, departing Burn's solid yet somewhat similar-sounding framework for Python's involved, multi-faceted structures whilst sacrificing nary an emotion or one ounce of The Rock. Python delivers the unexpected, and thrills in its microcosmic detail (a frenetic drum fill here, a clever lyrical turn there, stellar musicianship at every turn) and macrocosmic rocking. And the latter point cannot be deemphasized. For all its progressive and indie structural and textural flourishes, it is the fulfilling payoffs — the hidden yet overarching key to successful rock music — that makes Python so fulfilling, so rewarding.