BONDAGE FRUIT III - RÉCIT

For their third album, Bondage Fruit go live and take in a slight change of sound, dropping the two female vocalists and evolving into an instrumental King Crimson meets Led Zeppelin style. The influences from Zeuhl and RIO are still there for sure, but there's a lot more improvisational jamming (at least two of those three also being a King Crimson trope). The opening 12 minute track Odd-job certainly wouldn't seem out of place in Fripp & Co.'s discography, while the next rack takes a mellow turn, merging Floydian guitar with a minimal vibraphone, with some later violin, drums and programmed elements for added effect. Shortwave from Outer Space is a brief electronic interlude before the explosive Frost and Fire, with powerful drums and at times almost surfer-style guitars. A passage of this track also has a krautrock feel to it with galloping drums and frenetic violin. We're then onto the absolute monster of a track, Recit. The drumming in particular is a fantastic and frenetic piece of work which underpins a series of guitar riffs and violin elements. While much of it seems improvisational jamming, as another reviewer has pointed out, many of the riffs and rhythms worked through have an odd familiarity as if a tribute to some of the prog greats, however they are worked through so rapidly in between the frenetic jamming that it's hard to pick out where they may be from. The jamming gets more and more frenetic and violent before breaking suddenly at the half way mark for an interlude with only the vibraphone playing solo. Guitar and violin fading in signify a foreboding mood and a slow build up to pace once again, and it's the same frenetic jamming as before, right up to a lingering end to the track. It is very good, but really its far too long! The final track Kinzoku No Taiji is another improvisational fast-paced jam which immediately after listening to the 28 minute epic, seems like a footnote and a continuation of what went on before. As a whole, a good blend of styles, both contemporary and with nods to the past influences. Sadly for me though, the length of the final jamming almost makes me forget about the brilliant tracks that precede it.