The Fractured Dimension is a trio consisting of Jimmy Pitts on keyboards /piano, Jerry Twyford on bass, and Alex Arellano on drums/percussion. Pitts and Twyford were members of avant-garde dark metal band Scholomance (The End Records), and Arellano was the drummer for the progressive metal band Power of Omens (Elevate Records) . So on the basis of the above it would appear that this is a metal band with progressive tendencies. Right? Wrong! Firstly, they brought in a host of other musicians as guests to enable them to bring more diverse sounds to the table, and then decided that their debut album would be a tribute to Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin. He was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system, accorded to mysticism, that presaged twelve-tone composition and other serial music. Apparently the first major example of this is the 5th piano sonata of 1907 – now you know!
This use of atonal and extremely complex music means that this album has way more in common with free jazz than what many progheads would normally listen to. The musicianship throughout is stunning both in its’ complexity and note density. Some of the drum fills are just incredible – “The Mathematics of Divinity” is a great example of their work. Compelling and melodic, yet also totally off the wall with phased electric guitars also making their presence felt. While Jimmy is often at the forefront of what is going on, as he is usually providing the lead ‘melody’, it is the rhythm section that really makes this jump. If you are lucky enough to enjoy bands like Art Zoyd or Can then I definitely suggest that you give this a try.
