Protocol V

"Technique and complexity rule on this unexpectedly melodic album, contrasting softer cuts like "Nyanga" and "Dark Star" with the hard fusion of "Jagganath" and the metrically daunting "Undeviginti," a track that finds Ruiz in full Stevie Wonder mode. The album concludes with "The Long Voyage Home," a mini-suite. Phillips seems freer here; his drumming is hypnotic no matter who's soloing, and the solos are especially dazzling".