| Jazz metal |
Summary: On Ten Billion Years/ Ten, Laurent David and Kilter transform the birth and death of the solar system into a daring musical journey that blends jazz, metal, progressive rock, and contemporary composition. Inspired by concepts of cosmic time and artistic experimentation, the trio delivers an immersive, intellectually challenging work that pushes beyond genre boundaries and rewards adventurous listeners.
Kilter’s Ten Billion Years/ Ten: A Bold Jazz Metal Odyssey Through Space, Time and Sound
According to guitarist and composer Laurent David himself, Kilter operates within a musical territory he describes as “Jazz Metal.” The phrase alone is enough to divide potential listeners into two camps. There will be those whose curiosity is immediately sparked, and those who stop reading before they have any desire to learn more. Yet perhaps that reaction is precisely the point. Throughout the history of modern music, the most compelling artistic movements have often emerged from unlikely collisions. Jazz and metal may appear to inhabit opposite ends of the musical spectrum, but both traditions share a fascination with virtuosity, intensity, improvisation, and the pursuit of unexplored territory.
For anyone willing to venture beyond familiar musical borders, it is worth noting that I have never been particularly drawn to rock music, let alone metal. And still, I listen to Laurent David’s work. I return to it because it belongs to a creative and intellectual tradition that is impossible to ignore.
The album opens with “Built Broken,” a piece that emerges from a distinctly post-apocalyptic atmosphere before expanding into something almost symphonic in scope. If listeners can navigate those first moments, they will quickly discover that Kilter is not interested in comfort or predictability. The sense of impending collapse that permeates the music feels especially resonant in 2026. It is difficult to imagine that a title such as Built Broken was chosen accidentally. The connection to contemporary global anxieties seems both intentional and unavoidable.
The conceptual framework behind Ten Billion Years is remarkably ambitious. The album serves as a musical representation of the birth and eventual death of our solar system. It follows the journey of a single droplet of water as it travels, evolves, and transforms across vast expanses of space and time. More than a narrative exercise, the project explores the transformation of musical time itself. Slowness becomes a compositional tool, even a philosophical statement. Inspired by the work of John Cage and his celebrated composition As Slow As Possible, a piece conceived to be performed at the slowest imaginable tempo, David embraces deceleration as an artistic gesture in its own right.
The reference to Cage is more significant than it might initially appear. In an era dominated by acceleration, instant communication, and shrinking attention spans, slowness has increasingly become an act of artistic resistance. By stretching musical time, composers invite listeners to hear details that would otherwise remain hidden. The slowing of events allows microstructures, subtle textures, and fleeting sonic relationships to emerge from the background. In Ten Billion Years, this approach becomes central to the listening experience. The music does not simply unfold; it evolves, often demanding patience before revealing its rewards.
Perhaps the best way to approach Ten Billion Years is as a carefully controlled acoustic experiment. Every detail appears meticulously considered, right down to the closing heartbeat that concludes the journey. These musicians know precisely what they are doing. As with many of the most ambitious jazz recordings, listeners are constantly transported from one sonic landscape to another. Context matters as much as melody. Atmosphere becomes as important as structure.
At the center of this experience stands the drum kit, functioning almost as an invisible character within the narrative. It recalls the mysterious figures that inhabit the graphic worlds of François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters, presences that quietly shape events while remaining partially concealed. Kilter continuously dismantles conventions and ignores genre boundaries. Each listener will undoubtedly discover a different meaning within the music.
Yet the experience can also be exhausting, much in the way a contemporary theater production demands sustained concentration from its audience. The mind is constantly at work, attempting to decipher the codes, symbols, and shifting architectures embedded within the performance. Ironically, this may be the album’s greatest achievement. Rather than offering passive entertainment, it challenges the listener to think. It demands immersion within a musical structure of extraordinary complexity.
David himself places the project within a broader artistic lineage:
“It belongs to a history built on crossings, risk-taking, and the rejection of boundaries. A history that includes Magma, John Zorn, Soft Machine, and Frank Zappa, as well as everyone who viewed jazz not merely as a musical style but as a space for freedom and experimentation. I also know this music will not appeal to everyone. To borrow a phrase I recently heard, it may not be everyone’s glass of wine. Nevertheless, I come from the French jazz tradition.”
In many ways, that statement captures the essence of the album. Art advances precisely because certain creators are willing to leave established paths behind. Strong foundations allow exploration to flourish. But not everyone possesses the experience, discipline, and artistic vision necessary to build something this elaborate.
What David modestly leaves unsaid is that his career extends far beyond the world represented by Kilter. He has collaborated with artists whose musical universes seem worlds apart from this project, including Didier Lockwood, Antoine Hervé, Guillaume Perret, and Ibrahim Maalouf. He also developed his experimental instincts through the trio M&T@L alongside Maxime Zampieri and Thomas Puybasset. These experiences inform the sophistication and confidence that characterize Ten Billion Years.
Traces of jazz remain audible throughout the album, particularly on “Awakening & Living,” though identifying individual stylistic markers ultimately feels beside the point. Kilter’s ambition lies elsewhere. The group seeks synthesis rather than categorization.
The band’s transatlantic identity also contributes significantly to its distinctive sound. Dividing their lives between New York City and Paris, the musicians embody a cultural and artistic hybridization that is increasingly rare. Drummer Kenny Grohowski, who was born into a musical family in Miami and began performing professionally at the age of fourteen, brings an extraordinary breadth of experience. His career has led him to collaborate with artists such as John Zorn and Tony Levin, among many others.
Saxophonist Ed RosenBerg III is equally accomplished. Based in New York, he is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who studied saxophone at the Eastman School of Music and composition at Queens College. His work spans jazz, contemporary classical music, and experimental rock. As the founder of Jerseyband, a progressive jazz-metal ensemble, he has released seven albums and toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.
To be clear, Ten Billion Years will not appeal to every listener. It asks for patience, concentration, and a willingness to abandon expectations. Yet there is no denying the originality of what this trio has achieved. Ultimately, the album feels less like a conventional jazz recording and more like a kind of rock-jazz opera, one in which the Phantom of the Opera has mischievously rewritten the script and left the audience questioning everything they thought they understood.
The album also finds itself in conversation with a broader lineage of musical iconoclasts. Listeners familiar with the fearless experimentation of Frank Zappa, the genre-defying universe of John Zorn, or the uncompromising vision of Magma will recognize a similar refusal to accept stylistic boundaries as fixed realities. Kilter does not imitate these predecessors, but it clearly shares their belief that music remains one of the few spaces where absolute freedom is still possible.
Perhaps that is why Ten Billion Years resonates beyond its immediate musical achievements. Beneath its technical complexity and conceptual ambition lies a meditation on themes that increasingly define contemporary life: time, fragility, transformation, and humanity’s place within a universe whose scale remains almost impossible to comprehend. As environmental concerns, geopolitical uncertainty, and technological acceleration continue to reshape daily existence, Kilter invites listeners to contemplate a vastly longer perspective. Against the backdrop of ten billion years, human anxieties become both insignificant and profoundly meaningful.
Ten Billion Years/ Ten is not an album designed for casual consumption. It is an invitation into a challenging, immersive, and frequently astonishing world. Whether listeners choose merely to sample it or fully embrace it will depend entirely on their appetite for adventure. Those willing to accept the invitation may discover one of the most intellectually ambitious and genuinely original releases of the year.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, June 19th, 2026
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Kilter is:
Laurent David — electric bass, production
Ed Rosenberg III — bass & tenor saxophones
Kenny Grohowski — drums
Track Listing:
Built & Broken
Falling & Vaporizing
Raining & Raining
Rivers & Ocean
Depth & Darkness
Living & Rising
Weather Cycle
Awakening & Living
Darkness Again
Escaping to Infinity
Original 10-minute recording by Marc Urselli
Album recording & mix by Antoine Delecroix
Editing by Laurent David
Mastering by Fred Kevorkian
Produced by Laurent David
Publishing: Alter-Nativ Publishing
Artwork: Peurduloup
Photos: Malena Marquez