Montresor - Autopoiesis (self-released, 2024)

By Sammy Stein

Cameron Piko, also known as Montresor, is based in Melbourne, Australia, and released his debut album Entelechy, in 2015. Nine years later, his follow-up is Autopoiesis and the style is a departure away from the prog-rock homage of Entelechy towards more experimental, freer music. His musical dadaism sets him aside as he blows apart many conventions yet produces music that has strong elements of rock, jazz, improvised classical, and jazz fusion. He indulges his penchant for rhythms at odds with each other and yet held together by chordal lines running beneath.

Think Miles Davis meets Frank Zappa, and you get some idea of Piko’s music. His punchy rhythms track across regulated and otherworldly patterns, gluing them together, yet making each track individual.

Much of the richness of the sound is the result of the musicians Montresor chose for this album – Cameron Piko, guitars, Chris Martin, bassoon, Stuart Byrne, bass clarinet, Charlie Cawood, bass guitar, Morgan Agren, drums, Vilan Mai, clarinet, Gerry Pantazsis, drums, Phil Turcio, piano and Richard Allison and Gabriel Riccio, additional keys. So many sounds to choose from and how Piko does this makes this music intriguing.

Experimental time signatures mean there is a jumpiness to the music at times and the musicians have to navigate some oddly timed changes, where each line has a different pattern, used to create depth and texture.

Be prepared for a different journey on this album as Piko veers in several directions, sometimes changing style mid-track and the experimental side is to the fore. That said, the classical instrumentation adds familiarity and provides a rich wellspring of sounds and ranges that Piko can use – and he does so with alacrity. For example, in ‘Bildungsroman’ he uses the rich depths of the bass clarinet over the ensemble's disjointed rhythms and chords of the ensemble, and the contrast works well because there are enough familiar rhythm patterns for the listener to associate with.

On ‘Homunculus’ there is a wonderfully uplifting last section where the almost frivolous repeated rhythm of the guitars provides a noisesome backdrop for the fluid melody. Piko’s use of classical instrumentation alongside the almost constant drums bass and drums allows him to create tracks like ‘The Fallen City’ where different sonic moments are introduced using the wider range of sounds available to the composer. On Autopoiesis the classical nod is freely given before the track evolves into a multi-genre mix of styles from rock to jazz and improvisation.

This album is eclectic, and multi-genre influenced but is an intriguing listen and gives insight into the workings of Piko’s complicated layer-building style.