TECHNICAL MUSIC REVIEW
Instrumental Progressive Jam Band Tortoise Forest released their debut album this past Saturday January 12th at their show at the Tudor Lounge in Buffalo. I was lucky enough to receive the album on release day to help the band promote, and I jumped at the opportunity! With tons of repetitive genres around the area (let alone anywhere else) this band is very artsy and original, which is something I love personally. The guys dive deep into their original sound, letting loose as much as they possibly can. Tortoise Forest has created an impressive and eclectic sound with surprises around every corner. There’s plenty of melody, wild effects, and killer groove that’ll entertain people of all ages and backgrounds.
TORTOISE FOREST:
Dan Gagliardi – (Drums/Pads)
Mike Cassidy – (Guitar, Pedals)
Max Davis – (Guitar, Pedals, Samples)
Tom Varco – (Bass, Pedals)
All four band members groove hard, and are totally in sync. There’s all sorts of random audio samples from movies or TV shows in their music (and the one time I saw them live too!) which adds more flavor to their original sound. I was so impressed with their sound I haven’t seen them since then! Cut a guy a break, there’s so much music to check out it’s tough to be in multiple places at once…..mmkay? Point is, they’re a well oiled machine and built well for the long haul and not playing in scraggly bars. Their self titled album is a beautiful, melodic machine for the patient and artsy. People with short attention spans will wanna stay away……unless if you dig Short Attention Span Theatre (har har)!
The guitar work is absolutely blistering, and a great rhythm section that keeps their entertaining and diverse music alive every single moment. Tortoise Forest has configured a wide array of sounds that will keep you guessing what they’ll be doing next. I do know for a fact the guys will be booking heavily for some bigger shows and opportunity so they may be getting out of Western New York and playing in other areas sooner than later. I really love this band and wish them nothing but the best. Along with Anabasis the guys may have released one of the area’s independent releases so far of 2019 (with others expected from Divinex, Turning Virtue, Forever In Transit, Squatch, and plenty of others around Western and Central New York I may not know of off the top of my head right now).
Originally published on Technical Music Review. Republished with permission.
