Ben Sommer, who dropped his ‘agit-pop’ america’d the beginning of this year, is back with his soon to be released Super Brain. Sommer is previewing his new self-admitted ‘egg-headish, frenetic prog metal‘ sung in Latin cut, Cloaca Maxima. With a little Pig Latin for the masses…Falling somewhere between what newer outfits like Trojan Horse are doing with ‘prog’ and later Crimson-like bluster, Cloaca Maxima lives up to his words. Based on his political swagger and stances on america’d, it’s not surprising Sommer has picked the sewer-human, political or cultural-for fresh subject matter.
I forget exactly how the subject came to me, but “Cloaca Maxima” is the ancient Roman sewer. The word “cloaca” (sewer) also is the biological term for the single defecatory/urinary/birthing hole that some animals have…The main metal-style “verses” that bookend the song are settings of Livy’s book 1, where he describes the construction of the Cloaca Maxima…
Cloaca Maxima :: Ben Sommer :: Super Brain (Ben Sommer, 2011)
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The Sunrise Ocean Bender sets sail every Monday morning, 1 – 3 a.m. on WRIR lp 97.3 FM, to find something for your ears, and something for your head … From psych to prog to pop and whatever tributary we can find on the way … and right back around again. There might be a map, but the destination is up for grabs. If it all goes right, we may just get lost. Meet me at the muster station … it might be a long week.
