In autumn 2015, Bristol-based drummer Jesse Webb developed the improvisational project The Final Age plainly out of a need to respond, acknowledge and overcome destructive emotion. Laboriously conceived as an accompaniment to an imagined film on themes of loss and isolation, this project is far removed from the soft drone or Philip Glass inspired piano that often accompanies ones idea of a soundtrack. Webb enlisted guitarist Paul Allen (The Heads, Anthroprophh), saxophonist Dave McLean (Gnod), vocalist Annette Berlin (Big Joan), trumpeter Pete Judge, violinist Agathe Max (Kuro) among others to bring The Final Age to fruition. The disparate musical backgrounds of the artists here has indeed pushed all involved into creating an album which avoids clear genre definition, establishing connections between punk, jazz and heavy rock. The Final Age is influenced by jazz but not easily categorisable as such, as it is a tense and sickly sounding work with intrusive, stuttering guitar riffs and electronics puncturing the albums incessant pulse. Limited to 300 copies.
