Gordian Knot - Gordian Knot (1999)

Gordian Knot was the debut album of Sean Malone's (Cynic) progressive rock project of the same name.
Stylistically, Gordian Knot has textures associated with metal, combined with structures associated with progressive rock, jazz, and the Western classical tradition, making it difficult to classify. Gordian Knot benefits its own genre by not being a part of it; in other words, the core of the music is the structure and pitches, presenting itself in several textural guises all the while leaving room for each performer to show his musicianship and voice. The primary goal of the CD was to focus on composition and the combination of performers that would otherwise never have performed together, including a track (Srikara Tal) featuring 3 'touch-style' performers together on Chapman Stick and Warr Guitar for the first time. With the flood of thrown-together 'supergroups', critics and fans alike were surprised and relieved by the lack of gratuitous soloing that marks so many other releases. Gordian Knot is the antithesis of today's 'supergroup', despite the résumés of those involved.

Gordian Knot was recorded in Florida, New Mexico, and New York.

Tracklist:

1. Galois (2:05)
2. Code/Anticode (6:44)
3. Reflections (6:49)
4. Megrez (4:00)
5. Singularity (4:43)
6. Redemption's Way (6:58)
7. Komm süsser Tod, komm sel'ge (2:24)
8. Rivers Dancing (7:35)
9. Srikara Tal (9:18)
10. Hidden Track: Grace (7:34)

Musicians:

Sean Malone (Cynic) - bass guitar, chapman stick, keyboards
Trey Gunn (KTU) - warr guitar
Glenn Snelwar (At War With Self) - guitars, mandolins
Ron Jarzombek (Spastic Ink) - guitars
Sean Reinert (Cynic) - drums, percussions
featuring:
John Myung (Dream Theater) - chapman stick (on tracks 6 & 9)
Adam Levy (Norah Jones) - guitars

Producer by Trey Gunn and Sean Malone