Fans of crafty, challenging rock music who've passed on the opportunity to see 99 Names of God perform (most recently on a number of the Ridglea Theater's great but under-attended progressive rock nights) have truly missed out. Even at relatively low volume, the band's stream-of-consciousness sound, incorporating elements of electronica, can be almost overwhelmingly intense. On Interwoven, the band's first full-length c.d. since 2000's Excursions, 99 Names' sonic palette encompasses stately webs of incandescent guitar fire, edgy electronic grooves, and icy, iconic vocalismo. Their songs flow together like the soundtracks to dreams.

Mastermind Mark Cook coaxes sounds that recall the early-'80s edition of King Crimson from the amazing Warr guitar, an instrument (named for its creator, Mark Warr) that resembles the flight deck of an aircraft carrier -- kind of like a Chapman Stick on steroids. On tracks like "Schemata," "The Logos," and "Obsolence," Cook produces the equivalent of both Robert Fripp's architectonic guitar parts and Tony Levin's undulating bass patterns simultaneously by tapping on the Warr's dozen or so strings. He also does a nice line in synthesizer programming.

Jason Spradlin blends the sounds of his electronic drums with pre-recorded drum loops and percussion samples, sounding at various times like industrial cacophony, a Near Eastern marketplace, or a whole tribe of cybernetic African drummers.

And Kris Swenson lays her breathy ice-princess voice atop the swirling vortex of sound. Overall, it's pretty heady stuff, but what else would you expect from an Arlington band whose promo schmatter namechecks William Burroughs and Albert Camus?

>>> September 2004:
Progression Magazine Issue #46

99 NAMES OF GOD: Interwoven
2003 (CD, 56:17); Red Moon Records RMR0302
Style: Progressive rock/Industrial

Sound: 4 stars
Composition: 4 stars
Musicianship: 4 stars
Performance: 4 stars
Total rating: 16 (scale: 0-16)

On this album, Mark Cook (guitars, programming), Kris Swenson (vocals/lyrics/keyboards) and Jason Spradlin (drums and keyboards) successfully mesh Tangerine Dream-like soundscapes ("Sleeproom"), thick and bombastic King Crimson art-rock ("Schemata,""The Logos"), and industrial noose noodling ("Indocile").

99 Names of God commands a catchy repertoire of hooks and pulsing rhythms together with an impressionistic scope portrayed by dreamy keyboard washes and sinuous bass/percussion lines. Like the musical grandchildren of Robert Fripp and Brian Eno, the band percolates through elegantly geometrical visions, perfectly complemented by Swenson's Bjork-like vocal performance.

"No Such Place as Nowhere" features Japanese lyrics, a bubbling disco pulse and paparazzi samples, contributing to the catholic, truly international sweep of the entire venture. "All Those Things" keeps a languid groove traveling through French folk-music atmospheres and toy synth textures. "Obsolence" swamps the narrative of Kafka's great story, "The Metamorphosis," with off-kilter haze guitar and layered beats.

It all adds up to sophisticated, commercial entertainment with a solid plumb-line to integrity.