Metal Chaos Ensemble
Narration Performances
Nexus 6
One of Evil Clown’s most prolific groupings, Metal Chaos Ensemble was formed in 2015 by David Peck and Yuri Zbitnov as a working project to explore chaotic rhythms on metallic instruments, here in a live performance with real time signal processing by Joel Simches, performed with saxophonist Michael Caglianone, bassist Mike Gruen, analog synthesist Eric Woods and percussionist Steve Niemitz.
Excerpt From Liner Notes by PEK
“… This session is a bit different than other MCE albums. The sextet has played a lot of times now and we are very comfortable with the format and the ensemble. Usually, MCE is by far the most rambunctious of the Evil Clown bands, playing at a louder dynamic and with more aggression than typical of the other bands, Nexus 6 is a bit quieter and has more melodic elements and more spoken word interludes than typical. Which is not to say that there isn’t plenty of over the top chaos for your enjoyment!…”
Nexus 6
Metal Chaos Ensemble
Evil Clown Headquarters, Waltham MA – 19 May 2022
1) Nexus 6 – 1:10:25
PEK – clarinet, contralto & contrabass clarinets, alto, & tenor saxophones, piccolo oboe, alto flute, goat horn, tarota, novation peak, moog subsequent, syntrix, prophet, Linnstrument controllers, [d]ronin, 17 string bass, spring & chime rod boxes, brontosaurus & tank bells, gongs, plate gong, Tibetan bowls, almglocken, crotales, glockenspiel, orchestral chimes, chimes, wood blocks, temple blocks, balafon, xylophone, log drums, narration
Michael Caglianone – soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, spring & chime boxes, [d]ronin, balafon, glockenspiel, brontosaurus & tank bells, crotales
Bob Moores – Electric guitar through Ampkit app on iPhone, softsynths on iPad and MacBook Air
Eric Woods – modular analog synthesis, novation peak, moog subsequent, Linnstrument controllers
Mike Gruen – bass guitar, 17 string bass
Steve Niemitz – drums, gongs, cymbells
Joel Simches – real time signal processing and live to 2-track mix
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Liner Notes by PEK
Metal Chaos Ensemble was formed in early 2015 by PEK and Yuri Zbitnov as a working project to explore chaotic rhythms on metallic instruments. I had started to amass the Evil Clown Arsenal of percussion, electronic and wind instruments and we needed a workshop to develop this universe of sounds for the Leap of Faith Orchestra. It was immediately obvious that Metal Chaos Ensemble had a sound to itself and over the last seven years has been one of the most prolific Evil Clown ensembles. We have produced over 50 albums covering a wide range of sonority sets, but always with the presence of gongs, chimes, glockenspiel, Tibetan bowls and many other metallic sounds and the horns of PEK.
Since the pandemic has let up, we have started to do LIVESTREAMING sessions from Evil Clown Headquarters to YouTube… This set is the regular sextet version of MCE which has not played since 2021. The last session, Project Wildfire, from May was missing Eric Woods at the analog synth and had Evil Clown regular Albey onBass subbing for Mike Gruen. Another set was repurposed to Simulacrum – Semblance in February when Steve Niemitz couldn’t make it in from Western Mass. Generally, I don’t often cancel any Evil Clown session due to conflicts like these, since all the bands are highly modular and not strictly dependent on a specific set of musicians. Sometimes I do change the name of the Ensemble and the planned Album Title if the available players no longer match the general description for a particular band.
This session is a bit different than other MCE albums. The sextet has played a lot of times now and we are very comfortable with the format and the ensemble. Usually, MCE is by far the most rambunctious of the Evil Clown bands, playing at a louder dynamic and with more aggression than typical of the other bands, Nexus 6 is a bit quieter and has more melodic elements and more spoken word interludes than typical. Which is not to say that there isn’t plenty of over the top chaos for your enjoyment!
When Yuri withdrew from Evil Clown a few years back, I was worried that the MCE format would not survive his departure. I have found, however, that the strength of the concept and the development that happened up until that time has meant that the MCE concept can continue in a new way.
I’m super happy with this album and I bet you like it too…
PEK – 5/21/2022
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