photo by Chuck Deters
Progressive/Warr guitarist JASON BLAKE presents a captivating playthrough video playlist which showcases the artist performing his entire new solo album, Imaginary Cages. The engaging performance is now playing through an exclusive premiere hosted by New Noise Magazine.
The Warr Guitar is a twelve-string instrument incorporating the range of a guitar and bass. It is played by tapping the strings; a technique known as touchstyle guitar. When his primary band, Chicago-based instrumental/progressive metal trio Aziola Cry, returned from a fourteen-year hiatus with the Sensory Records release of their blazing The Ironic Divide last year, JASON BLAKE’s performance on the record was noticed and praised by critics and fans abroad. Within the group, he writes music featuring the rhythmic and melodic capabilities of the Warr Guitar in a band setting.
However, with his solo work, JASON BLAKE pushes the boundaries of the instrument while incorporating elements of progressive rock, ambient, and classical. Signed to Olympia, Washington-based Wayfarer Records, he released his first album for the label in June of 2021. The album Fictional Mirrors was the first album of a planned progressive ambient trilogy titled The Ternary Instinct. While the other installments of that series are being formulated, BLAKE returns with Imaginary Cages.
A six-song progressive rock suite of solo Warr guitar, Imaginary Cages features some of JASON BLAKE‘s most complicated work to date, boasting technical prowess in a bold but subdued setting. With delicate and tranquil chorus-drenched ambience, JASON BLAKE executes forty minutes of precision musicianship with no overdubs. The album was mixed by Tyler Rice at Transient Sound, mastered by Bob Katz at Digital Domain (Foghat, Sinead O’Connor, Necrophagist), and completed with artwork by Hajo Müller (Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson).
Imaginary Cages now comes to life through a captivating series of videos, showcases JASON BLAKE performing the entire album in real time, with a storyline spoken by Jim Siwek and animation by Alex Smith woven into the playlist, delivering the talented album in a new perspective.
BLAKE reveals, “Imaginary Cages represents the confinement and loneliness that we sometimes experience in our minds. I intentionally wanted the music and videos to give off this feeling of isolation. Each of the videos tie together to form a cohesive story with the culmination being the loss of logic.”
New Noise writes, “BLAKE’s technical experience is clear on the record, showing off some of his most complex work to date. Throughout the album, BLAKE executes forty minutes of relentless precision, all the more impressive witnessing his live performance of the tracks.”
Immerse yourself in JASON BLAKE’s entire Imaginary Cages story/performance video experience first through New Noise Magazine RIGHT HERE.
Imaginary Cages is out now through Wayfarer Records, available as standard digital, 24 Bit Hi-Res digital, and CD HERE.
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