John Zorn's 'Insurrection' features the dueling/dancing guitar work of Julian Lage and Matt Hollenberg, bassist Trevor Dunn and drummer Kenny Grohowski. All compositions were written by Zorn for the quartet. As you might expect, there are a variety of moods captured in this album, with guitar lines coming from every angle, but never stepping on each other in ways that don't work out. All of the playing is thoughtful. All song names are taken from (somewhat) well-known novels.

The albums begins with a heavy rock-riff, which is then anchored by a pulsing bass line, with Grohowski skittering around the kit at high speed. Some angular, atonal guitar solos are offered up left and right by Lage and Hollenberg.

Next up, not surprisingly for Zorn, is a downtempo piece, clocking in at almost 8 1/2 minutes. "Pulsations" is a beautiful composition that feels part jazz fusion, part exotica, part ambient. Hollenberg channels some Marc Ribot here and it sounds fantastic.

"A Void" has a funky bass line that gets pushed around by a guitar attack that does not stand still. Grohowski remains on Dunn's team though and keeps the funk flowing underneath the guitar onslaught. I haven't heard Trevor Dunn lay down a bass line like this since his Mr. Bungle days. A great rock tune.

"Mason And Dixon" slows things down once again in a sparse piece, where Lage starts off on lead and Hollenberg on shimmering rhythm. That quickly changes as Hollenberg takes over briefly. Both guitarists play in unison briefly and then it's Hollenberg's turn as he puts a bit of twang into the affair. The duo trade brief solos for the bulk of the tune with Hollenberg's beautiful tone carrying it for me. The rhythm section hovers just in the background.

"Progeny" is a rumbling affair, with great unison guitar work as well as solo shredding. Grohowksi and Dunn are all over the place, chasing or being chased by the guitarists.

"The Journal Of Albion Moonlight" is full of beautiful sustained notes, gentle cymbal and snare work, given a dark tone by Dunn's bass-work.

"The Unnameable" is the strangest composition on the album, with a low, almost droning bass line, extremely spare guitar playing and just cymbal and low-tom work on the drums. A creepy masterpiece.

The recording is nice and warm, never harsh, even during the most intense guitar passages. The separation between Hollenberg and Lage is perfectly balanced - they are distinct but clearly in the same room. You can tell they're talking to one another. Bass and drums hold a very controlled yet pronounced bottom end, with the cymbals dancing around the guitars and holding their place, never distracting. This is a fun quartet.