It’s been an eventful few months for instrumental prog virtuoso Jason Richardson, who already has two new-for-2022 singles under his belt: Upside Down, for which he was joined by Polyphia’s Tim Henson, and the gravity-defying Ishimur.
Now, Richardson has maintained the momentum by releasing his latest shred-heavy, chug-fueled track, p00mbachu.
Once again joined by his longtime collaborator and drummer Luke Holland, Richardson demonstrates why he was one of today’s standout progressive instrumentalists, curating a collection of mind-melting runs and genre-merging motifs.
Owing to its seven-minute run time, there’s no shortage of spectacular lead and rhythm work, perhaps especially epitomized by a particularly brain-melting exchange that starts at the 1:40 mark.
It's also an eclectic display of electric guitars, too, with Richardson wielding John Petrucci's Ernie Ball Music Man Majesty 8 signature guitar, his own Cutlass six-string and an eye-catching, blue-finished Cutlass seven-string, all in the space of one track.
You can check it out below.
Accompanying the release of p00mbachu is the news that Richardson and Holland’s long-awaited forthcoming album – which was teased a few months ago in a series of tweets – will officially be called II, and will arrive July 15.
When it drops, it will be the pair’s first collaborative studio effort since the release of I in 2016.
“This song is definitely one of the crazier ones on the album," Richardson said of p00machu. “It's got a few different genre tangents that it goes off in.
“And if you're familiar with the first album,” he added, “this is part two to the song Hos Down, in a way, with its quirkiness and the different sections it has. This song is definitely a wild ride and the video is just as intense.”
The tracklist for II can be found below.
- Tendinitis
- Ishimura
- Polyrhythmic Pug
- P00mbachu
- Sprrow
- Threnody
- Byronius of the 4th Order
- XIV 2.0
- Behold 2.0
- Goodbye…
- Upside Down (feat. Tim Henson)
- II is available to preorder now ahead of its release on July 15.
