Ronin, the more groove-centered incarnation of Nik Bärtsch's ensembles present us with an unusually ritualistic album in Randori.

Rhythms start on one instrument and are re-centered into a different feeling when additional instruments arrive, the emphasis shifting to and fro, the whole piece modifying itself "on the fly" it seems, yet you know that this is the music of perfect control. No note is wasted, and every note knows why it is there.

The centerpiece of this album is the triptych "Modul 8_9". Each piece presents a variation and development of the essential core of the Modul, but ultimately evolves, in part III, into  a deep groove, intense and mesmerizing.

Fans of Ronin's later albums on ECM will note the absence of Sha, but at the same time, the music has that electricity that is present throughout the Ronin albums.