Gordian Knot

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Gordian Knot is a progressive rock/metal band directed by bass guitarist Sean Malone.

At times its shifting lineup has included Steve Hackett of Genesis, Bill Bruford of King Crimson and Yes, Ron Jarzombek from Watchtower and Spastic Ink as well as Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, several of Malone’s former bandmates from Cynic and John Myung from Dream Theater.

The music of Gordian Knot is a highly professional mélange of progressive rock and metal, fusion - instrumental music à la Robert Fripp’s Guitar Craft (replacing the clean guitar sound with distorted sounds) and his solo-work (compare Gordian Knot’s song “Grace” with Fripp’s “Evening Star”).

Gordian Knot manage to incorporate several overlapping layers of complex melodies and harmonies into a unified whole without sounding too complex or “forced” in any way. The music of Gordian Knot also relies heavily on beautiful, diatonic guitar-melodies (although sometimes encompassing later-resolved dissonances to add a Jazz-Fusion-like flavor). The interaction between the various instruments (all played by very accomplished instrumentalists) is flawless, allowing for communication of various melody-lines, harmonies and rhythms between guitar(s), bass and - concerning rhythms - even drums.

Gordian Knot cannot be categorized without disregarding certain aspects of their music. For example the piece “Komm süsser Tod, komm sel’ge” is a transcription of a piece of the same name by Johann Sebastian Bach, while some of their pieces, most notably “Grace”, have a distinct classical, even “baroque” Bach-like flavor, being made up of an interplay between various diatonic, peaceful-sounding melody-lines from the bass and guitar(s) - without drifting off into the often corny, showy neo-classical style.
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  • mailedbypostman

    Eh, STS is really going for a different type of sound anyway from this band. Just because they're in the same genre doesn't mean they can be compared in that way I feel. Both are great though.

    19 Sep 2012 Reply

  • KevinVillage

    the live recording of grace is one of the greatest things to have ever been recorded in the history of moosic

    16 May 2012 Reply

  • Sqaarg

    @crack731: Malone considered playing live with a line up of known musicians, but it never got off the ground, unfortunately.

    11 Mar 2012 Reply

  • crack731

    "In November, 2009, Sean Malone yet again dismissed his touring band. The live Gordian Knot outfit consisted of Vickram Badalpur, John Webber, Thomas O' Meara, and Stephan Greenbank, who were all students at Florida State University. Upon graduating, the quartet decided to leave music and begin formal working careers, leaving Malone with no alternative but to discontinue their contracts." It's confusing - I've always considered GK as a studio project and I doubt that they've ever played live (at least the Internet doesn't know about it). I've also never heard about those mentioned musicians. does anybody here know something about it?

    6 Feb 2012 Reply

  • Metality

    @jackieholder840: Did you purposely ignore the comments after his (where his trolling was revealed) just for a chance of acting superior to him?

    5 Feb 2012 Reply

  • timothybarnes

    Both albums are awesome, this is a cool and good band.

    27 Jan 2012 Reply

  • RubikkUp

    benden fazla seven çıksın çocuumu keserim......

    3 Jan 2012 Reply

  • jackieholder840

    @ MilanoirSMT You sir, are an idiot. Thats like saying judas priest ripped off Iron Maiden... Gordian Knot formed in 1998. STS formed in 2004. Maybe a little research might help you make an educated statement.

    10 Dec 2011 Reply

  • ThiiagoMorais

    *-*

    28 Aug 2011 Reply

  • DarknessV-sible

    Rivers Dancing is an amazing song, beyond words.

    18 Aug 2011 Reply

  • Krymus

    Amazing band!

    11 Aug 2011 Reply

  • Metality

    I like them more.

    23 Jul 2011 Reply

  • Metality

    Ah! I couldn't remember seeing that avatar before. Thanks.

    23 Jul 2011 Reply

  • Tropnevad7

    MilanoirSMT made both of those posts. He trollin'.

    22 Jul 2011 Reply

  • Metality

    Lol, I was just on Scale The Summit's page, where some guy called them a Gordian Knot rip-off. Is this some in-joke I'm unaware of?

    22 Jul 2011 Reply

  • GlassMoonKiss

    Sean Malone is the man.

    5 Jul 2011 Reply

  • Pulsecode

    I really like the way that during 'The Brook The Ocean', in the bass noodling bit, Sean Malone plays around with 'Heart of the Sunrise' by Yes. It's one of my favourite basslines too, Sean. :D

    5 Jun 2011 Reply

  • Elkman75

    i would sacrifice any dream theater cd for a new gordian knot album

    1 Jun 2011 Reply

  • Sqaarg

    What exactly do you mean, it doesn't go anywhere? It has tons of variations on a motif sprinkled throughout the album, which is one of the best examples of cohesiveness there is.

    18 May 2011 Reply

  • courtesynotice

    what a dumb cunt, how I Cat Stevens?

    31 Mar 2011 Reply
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