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Founded in 1982 by Mike Johnson and the legendary Bob Drake, they have been a continuous presence in the underground since then, although many years have elapsed between recordings, and only Johnson remains from the original line-up.

When a band has gone 9 years between releases, I suppose it's fair to call this new release "greatly anticipated"! In Extremis includes leader/composer Mike Johnson, Bob Drake, Dave Kerman as well as a host of new names, all of whom turn in tremendous performances on vocals, guitars, multiple reeds, accordion, keyboards, bass, drums and more. Tuneful, well composed & strongly structured, this is very much in the vanguard of the RIO art-rock song style, along with peers such as U Totem, the 5uu's & the Art Bears.

“Rating: Aces/ hands down classic / Head-spinningly complex prog-rock of the highest order.
Among the vanguard of groups riding the crest of a largely unheralded contemporary avant-progressive tsunami, Denver’s Thinking Plague stand out in bas-relief....the manner in which Thinking Plague…have condensed only the most fertile (and often the most pulverizing) aspect of he last 30 years of progressive exploration into an nth-degree endgame is nothing short of awe-inspiring. On In Extremis… these unsung geniuses have channeled the crushing fury of King Crimson, the existential angst of the Art Bears, the dense contrapuntal irregularity of Henry Cow and the pitch-black angularity of Present into a disquieting concoction whose ceaseless paroxysms of unabated intensity are tempered only by “Les Etudes D’Organism"’s disturbed
diversion into perversely cheerful and structurally perverse circus music.… a relentless tide of head-spinning complexity…wildly shifting plates of sound. …for those who enjoy rising to the challenge…the feverish surfeit of spellbind ideas investigated here are almost without precedent.” - Eric Lumbleau, Alternative Press, v13, #126, Jan 1999

“If this is prog-rock, it’s progressive music with sharp teeth, making serious demands on most listeners.”– Jason Gross and Steve Smith,
“American Contraband: Alternative Rock and American Experimental Music,” New Music Box, Issue 15, v.2 #3, July 2000

Cuneiform Records is a record label releasing adventurous, boundary-bursting music by artists from around the world. They have always championed an eclectic mixture of musical styles and artists and have consistently danced at the dangerous intersection where genres meet. In doing so, they have become one of the most prominent labels of New Music.

Founded in 1984.
Based in Washington D.C.

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