"Leviathan" CD - Michael Bernier

2011 CD, New Spectrum Recordsreview by Greg HowardMichael Bernier: Chapman Stick, guitar, bass, violin, acoustic drums, V-Drums,         bowed Stick and vocals guest performersPat Mastelotto/drumsMichael Schirmer/bass clarinet and pianoCaryn Fitzgibbon/violinKandy Harris/Vocals <a href="http://michaelbernier.bandcamp.com/album/leviathan">leviathan. by Michael Bernier</a> Multi-instrumentalist Michael Bernier's new release, Leviathan, doesn't so much invite as compel the listener into the deep, where the sounds are loud, heavy, energetic and eerily beautiful. If you go by first impressions, the odd time signatures, angular guitar licks, soaring whammy-pedal distorted melody, and relentless polyrhythmic drums are a clear offshoot of the King Crimson branch of the progressive rock family tree. But Michael is adept at re-inventing his medium, and so there's another layer to this album, that of an original stylist with his own a