The Comet Is Coming
The Afterlife
Release Date: Dec 6, 2019
Genre(s): Experimental, Jazz, Modern Jazz, Experimental Electro, Experimental Dub, Electro-Acoustic, Spiritual Jazz, Electric Jazz
Record label: Decca
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Album Review: The Afterlife by The Comet Is Coming
Excellent, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
For the second time in 2019, England's spiritual sci-fi jazz trio the Comet Is Coming lay out their dystopian vision of earth with a provocative, hybrid evolutionary "new thing" music that melds electronica, soulful out-jazz, spidery funk, swampy dub, and prophetic poetry. Cut during the same sessions as Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery, it's not a collection of outtakes or even a sequel, but a holistic mirror image that comes from the same sphere of aesthetic investigation and font of inspiration. According to the band, "…These two records can be seen as companions that cannot exist without each other, like day and night, light and dark, creation and destruction.
Opinion: Excellent
A rriving just nine months after the London trio's mould-breaking Trust in the Life Force, and recorded at the same time, there were fears this "companion piece" would prove a mere add-on. In reality The Afterlife has its own, distinct mood, often gentler and more sombre than the techno attack of Life Force and the better for it. Still, there are ferocious moments in the interplay between Shabaka Hutchings's saxophone, the synth squalls of Dan Leavers and the mutating beats of drummer Max Hallett.
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