The first thing that jumps out on The Onion and the Ants: Gertrude and Grace is Crystal Sherry’s strong, warm voice. She shifts from sweet honey to steel when the song needs to raise a harder edge. She blends Karen Carpenter’s lushness with Annie Haslam’s (Renaissance) smooth range and adds a touch of Ann Wilson’s punchy delivery.

If Sherry’s voice drives most of the songs, the tight, balanced arrangements give her the room to work with. On songs like Black and White, the pieces fall together to create a piquant complexity. Shards of guitar set the initial stage, then the rhythm joins in. The combination of the initial guitar riff (left), a hypnotic fill melody (right), and Sherry’s voice (center) fit together in a rich hard rock quilt. Subtle shades of feedback and a stalking bass line color the mix.

Null Paradox is rooted a set of ideas that band leader Tom Libertiny is still exploring. Initially, the band was intended to realize a concept album based on his book idea: The Onion and the Ants. With songs representing chapters, the two projects have become intertwined, with the book expanding into a series. The first book is due out soon.

The album has a coherent sound, but without the hint from the band, it might be hard to extract a story line for the album. In their promotional material, Null Paradox presents the premise as a choice between the love of your life (orange) and your destiny (purple). That provides some context for the songs, like the frustration on Small or the pervasive conflict related in The Ministry. Having the book would offer another facet for enjoying the album, but the songs all stand well on their own merits.

Throughout The Onion and the Ants…, Null Paradox mines a wonderful mix of lush modern rock and rich progressive rock. The Cell was one of my favorite tracks. The opening is spare and orchestral. Sherry’s voice is low and breathy. Then, the song slips into a progressive groove that reminds me a bit of Steven Wilson, because of how the arpeggiated guitar part plays against the bass line. As The Cell negotiates a number of musical sections, it maintains an intriguing sense of contrast between open and tight channels and organic flow pushing against mechanical drive.

The final track, Glass Desert, briefly evokes Tori Amos, with a whisper vocal and piano line. But the band defies expectation, carrying the track into a laid back bluesy space. A heavier interlude overwhelms the looser groove, but a closer listen shows the two parts coexisting. The horn solo (about 4 minutes in) adds its jazzy smoke.

Null Paradox may be a “concept band”, but Tom Libertiny has added some interesting artistic voices to his ideas. Browse their web site for more info. The video section has some cool info about the progression of developing the songs.

Stunned. That’s how I feel after the show by Null Paradox. Judging by the response of the audience, we weren’t the only ones. It’s as if their show were some type of extreme example of a 3D movie. 4D anyone? We tried to find the ticket booth for the next showing but to no avail. Talk about leaving “them” wanting more, we wanted to see and hear the whole thing again. Several times.

It was almost a year ago when we first happened across Null Paradox and it’s just incredible what a year has done for them. Last year I wrote “Passion wins. Null Paradox is a band. And a book. And a tale. Several tales as it turns out.” I had no idea that their show was so much more. Words don’t seem adequate to describe it, but I’ll give it a try.

Nine artists now make up the show. Added to the experience is a second singer, second guitarist and two narrators; one for the Orange side of the stage/audience and one for the Purple side. The telling of the tale between the narrators, band and by the audience is amazing. It’s a complicated tale that’s spun from what seems to be a simple premise–will you choose the love of your life or your destiny. Sometimes it’s maddeningly complicated but the inspired vocals, musical performance and narration keep this whole rollercoaster ride on its track and making sense.

The maddening part is that on the one-hand, you want to understand every word that is spoken and every lyric that is sung. We were sitting on the edges of our seats trying to comprehend, to really understand not just what they were saying but what the layers of the story were communicating to us. On the other hand, the vocals and band are tight–just sitting back listening to the music in that trance achieved by a first class band and sound system is another option. And they make you choose your experience depending on the side of the audience that you select. And interact with them. And, and…and!

The production is completely together now–band, narrators, production, sound, lights. It’s excellent arena quality sound and lighting in an intimate setting. The production and equipment is now able to reveal what we suspected at their show last year–Null Paradox sounds even better live than on their fine CD. I just can’t say enough about Crystal Sherry’s vocals now that they’re clear in the live mix. Rachel Matz compliments her perfectly on backing vocals. Dave Ziozio’s palette is huge on drums–musically, technically and sonically. The rhythm section is tight and sounds like Ziozios, Tom Libertiny (bass) and Dave Buzzeo (rhythm guitar) have been playing together forever. Some of the arrangements, including the creepy “My Sweet Hell” sound like they have been reworked and Eric Prater’s (keyboards) duets with Sherry are now much more intimate. The thundering monster that is Chris Mick’s lead guitar bellows when he’s making a point and is remarkably subdued in songs like “Small.” To top it off, or is it tie it together, or is it lead the whole thing?–Andrew Lark’s (Orange/Love) and Steve O’Brien’s (Purple/Destiny) narration adds considerable depth to the performance as they give you a taste to key parts of the story combined with their dark but hilarious interaction with the audience.

“Ord Festival” continues to be my favorite song performed live. As good as it sounds on CD, the energy is much higher live. And “Freedom” has really come into its own with the huge beginning that’s effectively diminished to a quiet acoustic guitar, bass and drums backing Sherry’s beautiful voice. Then the whole song takes off again with Matz adding a lot of color and power to the chorus.

The Null Paradox CD was played non-stop on the drive back and we’ve poured over the lyrics trying to gain more insight into the story. Everyone is looking toward the upcoming book for answers. I’ll be first in line to buy it and learn how the book, music and live show tie together.

And, and, and…I’m still stunned! You really need to see the show to appreciate how huge it is and the depth of the story.

Lead vocals: Crystal Sherry
Backing vocals: Rachel Matz
Orange Narrator: Andrew Lark
Purple Narrator: Steven O’Brien
Lead guitar: Chris Mick
Rhythm guitar: Dave Buzzeo
Keyboards: Eric Parter
Drums: Dave Ziozios
Bass: Tom Libertiny

Directors: Steven O’Brien and Tom Libertiny
Script: Andrew Lark
Sound and production: Signature Professional Group
Lighting: Fantasee Lighting
Video: Nate Bartlett, Brandon Daley, Stephen Ling
Photographer: Dave Lamarand
Hair and makeup: Angela Gallardo-Ellis
Wardrobe: Hieu Hart
Venue: Ford Community & Performing Arts Center
Catering: Encore Catering

The idea for this novel album and book project came to freelance sound engineer Tom Libertiny when he was driving in a jet-black Mustang down a lonely road in Michigan. Gradually over many years a fully fledged band of top class musicians was formed to help Tom realise his musical vision, and the songs are intended to stand on their own as well as tie in with his soon to be published book. The theme is the choices that we make, some clearly obvious, some subtle, others seemingly trivial, that all have tremendous ramifications on our lives due to chaos theory, where dynamic situations produce unpredictable results. Musically they are somewhere between Mostly Autumn at their most rock and Foo Fighters. Shimmering Crystal Sherry has a Heather Findlay type voice with her ability to be ethereal, or powerful, or both at the same time. On CD Baby they are put in the “Jam- band” category which is as accurate as putting Black Sabbath in “Country”, it must be a mistake. Every song is lovingly crafted modern classic rock with a subtle tinge of gothic and blues, all superbly produced with a terrific sound by Tom and Jake Rye, including a fantastic drum sound, the sure sign of top quality engineering. This, the first part of a trilogy, is the sort of project that you would expect to be obscure, arty, weird and played in small dingy clubs, but it screams radio play and arenas, it has the power, scale and hugely commercial rock sound perfect for a top down cruise in a Mustang with your hair blowin’ free like a cornfield (bonus points for naming the band). Every track is a belter, whether its melodic rockers like ‘Valentines Day’ and ‘Orange and Purple Paradox’; or songs with a swinging groove such as ‘Small’ and ‘Glass Desert’ with its rolling piano riff and ripping trumpet solo (live video on Female Voices blog). If I was given the tough job of choosing a track to play on the radio I’d opt for the catchy groovy ‘My Sweet Hell’. Its decision time, do you head for their website and buy a copy, or miss out on this awesome rock record, its your call, a decisive 9/10 (Phil)

Null Paradox–Onion & Ants Live
Tickets on sale here exclusively (not sold at the door).
7:30pm, Saturday, 2011 August 6
Ford Community & Performing Arts Center
15801 Michigan Ave
Dearborn, Michigan
Click “Continue” to purchase.

Click “Add to Cart” to purchase with your Credit Card or Paypal.

]]> http://www.libertiny.com/nullparadox2/?feed=rss2&p=4029 0 http://www.libertiny.com/nullparadox2/?p=3455 http://www.libertiny.com/nullparadox2/?p=3455#comments Mon, 25 Apr 2011 08:52:04 +0000 Null Paradox http://localhost/Thematic%20Framework%20Development/?p=3455 Check out the new Null Paradox website! Completely redesigned, more news and photos, nice big buttons to navigate with your Droid or iPhone, a brand new forum about the book, music and live show, easy links to your favorite social websites, feeds and Google calendar.
]]> 2011 May 24
Check out the new Null Paradox website! Completely redesigned, more news and photos, nice big buttons to navigate with your Droid or iPhone, a brand new forum about the book, music and live show, easy links to your favorite social websites, feeds and Google calendar.

]]> http://www.libertiny.com/nullparadox2/?feed=rss2&p=3455 0 http://www.libertiny.com/nullparadox2/?p=3375 http://www.libertiny.com/nullparadox2/?p=3375#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 10:03:36 +0000 Null Paradox http://localhost/Thematic%20Framework%20Development/?p=3375 “Black and White” by Null Paradox was performed on 89X radio, 88.7FM in Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada.
]]> 2011 April 24
“Black and White” by Null Paradox was performed on 89X radio, 88.7FM in Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada.

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