Reductio ad Absurdum is the new E.P. from Instrumental (adj.). It’s been a few years since their last release. Here’s a review.

Reductio ad Absurdum is a release that is more on the technical side of things, but the focus rarely is on their skills as a musician, instead focusing much more on how the music flows and sways between each segment, as well as the overall atmosphere.

There’s a bit of math and structure in each song, but its never to the point of sounding rigid leaving a fair bit of room for passages to sound a bit more chaotic and energetic to balance out the calmer, quieter passages when the need arises.

The way that each section transitions into each other is smooth despite a fusion of a number of different styles, the progressions never feel jarring; instead they feel natural.

Each instrument is balanced with each other quite well which allows the rhythm to be much more of a driving force for each song. This also allows a greater ease for the members to play off of each other which in turn allows the compositions to be much stronger and tight.

Whilst some moments could be considered a bit more absurd than others, Reductio ad Absurdum never goes too far into extremes. It sounds like a band putting their skills together to create something where the songs are the focus rather than the technical ability of the members.

The E.P. is an excellent slice of instrumental music that has great balance. It doesn’t feel its brief length, has a fair bit going on and doesn’t overwhelm. If there is a downside, it is that it isn’t an album’s worth of material.

Reductio ad Absurdum can be heard here.