No Steps Left To Trace is this generation’s equivalent to The Allman Brothers At Fillmore East. And while this album sounds nothing like that classic work, PAKT ’s new opus helps to redefine what a two-guitar band is capable of in the same way that live record did back in the seventies. This expansive set of tunes gloriously blurs the lines between the guitar being used as a melodic and rhythmic instrument or an atmospheric one.
This work is filled with groove-heavy goodness and the double disc format allows the time to put it all across. Six-string sorcerer and electronic toys maven Tim Motzer transcends string and wire and adds an amazing amount of different tones. His atmospherics are divine while second guitarist Alex Skolnick just plain gets it on. From clean tone chicken picking to outer edge ripping and all points in between, he is not limited by boundaries at all.
Percy Jones is well, Percy Jones and his contributions on fretless 5 string bass and sampler are amazing. So rich, melodic and above all, supportive. Kenny Grohowski is given the daunting task of keeping up on drums and he succeeds spectacularly. The fine nuance and groove of his playing give the other players a huge field to dance on and dance they do. There are moments of heavy assertiveness and moments of chill and introspection.
There is much to love about No Steps Left To Trace. The music is otherworldly, almost astral at times and no matter how far out it gets it never loses the groove that glues things together. With four musicians of this calibre, you know something extraordinary is going to happen and it does over and over again. There are times today when it becomes a little bit too easy to get blasé about music with the level of accessibility and variety on offer but then a work like this comes around and you find yourself fully vested in the magic once again.
Rob Hudson
www.pakt-moonjune.bandcamp.com
