The members of sgt. fall into a lineup a bit more like that of a jazz quintet than a traditional rock band. Drummer Hitoshi Ono and bassist Kouji Akashi form the band's solid backbone, proving the beat and pulse. Guitarist Hironori Taoka also falls into this role, merely fleshing out the band's sound rather than performing any virtuosic feats on the fretboard. Violinist Mikiko Narui most often falls into the role of soloist, taking the place of a saxophone or trumpet. She also takes the melody almost exclusively, in those rare cases when there is one to take.
sgt. isn't exactly well known for short, pithy and easily digestible songs. That's not to say that they're overly infatuated with creating inscrutable, million changes-a-second math rock or imposing sonic mountains. Their songs are more like a walk down a long, dimly lit path near stormy seas than any sort of road-map like the more universal language of verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus chorus.
Having said that, Capital of Gravity, sgt's third mini-album (available now at HearJapan) is even more likely to get distracted and wander around that path than their previous releases.
