VROOOM, King Crimson EP, from 1994.
After taking a closer look at THRAK and Let’s THRAK Again by Stick Men, the time has come to retrace the roots of a sound that has defined the last three decades of King Crimson and its members.
VROOOM is King Crimson’s first EP. After the 1984 breakup, guitarist and founder Robert Fripp decided to put the band back together, but with a twist: the “Double Trio”.
So, not a simple reunion, but a full six-piece lineup: Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew on guitars and vocals, Tony Levin and Trey Gunn on bass and Chapman Stick, and Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto on percussion and drums.
The EP acted as a forerunner and sonic blueprint for the following studio album, THRAK, released in 1995.
VROOOM and its twin album THRAK were born from Robert Fripp’s musical revolution in the mid-’90s. The core idea was to experiment with the “Double Trio” setup. The band was split into two identical rhythmic-melodic sections playing together:
The Right Trio: Robert Fripp on guitar, Trey Gunn on Warr guitar, and Bill Bruford on drums.
The Left Trio: Adrian Belew on guitar, Tony Levin on bass/Stick, and Pat Mastelotto on drums.
The goal was to create a powerful, three-dimensional “sound block,” where the two drummers and two bassists could interlock in complex polyrhythms (like one keeping time in 5/4 and the other in 7/8), while the guitars weave industrial, aggressive, ultra-avant textures. It’s a return to the intense atmospheres of Red (1974), but hurled into the technological future of the ’90s.
The title “VROOOM” is an onomatopoeic term that mimics the roar of a powerful engine revving up.
Fripp and Belew chose this name to give an immediate visual and aural suggestion of the music on the record: a metallic, energetic, mechanical, unstoppable sound, just like a race car or an industrial press.
Together with “THRAK” (which Fripp described as the sound of the impact of “a hundred-kilo sledgehammer on an anvil”), “VROOOM” represents the engine starting up before the big sonic hit.
VROOOM has a powerful, innovative sound, often described as “New Metal” or Industrial Prog, built on heavy, distorted guitar riffs, syncopated and full of energy. These vibes recall the intensity of Red (1974), but with a modern edge.
The rhythm section is a real showcase of polyrhythms and mathematical interlocks. Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto play in a complementary way, creating an incredible sonic density. Bruford keeps a linear pulse, while Mastelotto experiments with electronic percussion and odd meters, adding a touch of unpredictability.
Robert Fripp enriches it all with his Soundscapes, expanded guitar loops and digitally processed electronics, creating dark, futuristic sound beds on which the tracks unfold. And then there’s the melodic contrast: alongside powerful, dissonant instrumentals like THRAK, we find Adrian Belew’s pop and New Wave sensibility. Tracks like One Time offer a more intimate, hypnotic, melodic side, perfectly balancing the album’s tension.
Finally, in tracks like When I Say Stop, Continue, the style turns avant-garde and jazz-core, based on rules of collective improvisation. The musicians challenge and block each other by following precise cues, creating an atmosphere of pure creativity.
Unlike most King Crimson albums, this was never released on vinyl. It remained a record closely tied to the era of digital and cassettes.
Even though it’s officially a “mini-album,” this work has an artistic value comparable to the later full-length album THRAK.
Recorded during the first studio sessions, this EP has a truly unique energy and ferocity of execution. The mix is less compressed than THRAK, which gives it a rawer, more dynamic, visceral sound. In its 31 minutes there isn’t a second of wasted music. The alternation between the industrial power of the title track, the schizoid funk of “Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream,” the pure avant-garde of “When I Say Stop, Continue,” and the delicacy of “One Time” offers a complete sonic journey, never getting boring.
If you want to discover ’90s King Crimson, this EP is an absolute must. Here you’ll find the most explosive versions of their tracks—an unmissable experience. Excellent!
My Version
Label: Discipline Global Mobile – DR 9401 2
Format: CD, EP
Country: US
Released: Nov 8, 1994
Tracklist
1 Untitled 0:18
2 VROOOM 7:16
3 Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream 4:42
4 Cage 1:35
5 THRAK 7:18
6 When I Say Stop, Continue 5:18
7 One Time 4:28
Lineup
Bass [Basses], Chapman Stick [Stick] – Tony Levin
Chapman Stick [Stick] – Trey Gunn
Guitar – Robert Fripp
Guitar, Voice – Adrian Belew
Percussion [Acoustic, Electronic] – Bill Bruford, Pat Mastelotto
