EDGE OF TIME

Privately released album that was Dom's sole output. This (standard prog) quartet from Düsseldorf was made-up of Hungarian-born Von Baksay brothers on bass and drums, guitarist Duzakowski (most likely of Polish origins) and keyboardist Stopka (there is a chance that he is from German stock), but most of them played two or three instruments, including flute for two of them. Musically, they sounded like Saucerful or Live Ummagumma-Floyd with many passages that the pink-years Tangerine Dream would not disown if it were theirs. Between ethnic folk, cosmic music and pure psychedelia, this album is really a product of its time. The album contains four fairly long mostly instrumental tracks and came with a very bland fuchsia cover (at least the limited Cd series of '92 did), a very basic production (but fitting well the climate of the album) and a real acid-trip soundtrack (the group's named referred to one).

The opening Introitus starts on a gentle flute-guitar duo that seems to come out from a hippie pastoral fantasy soon accompanied by superb percussion. After having derailed into a dissonant digression, the track is pulled back by a deceptively delicious organ bringing back the percussion of the start, then coming to a sudden stop. This is followed by Silence, which is a very spooky affair that started rather innocently psychey with some imbedded vocals, but soon reached Zeit-period Tangerine Dream nightmarish waves to end in a quiet Hammond layer. The title track is no less-spooky really starting where Silence had left off, but it soon develops in a Floyd soundscape (I am thinking of More, here) with spoken lyrics (printed on the front cover) and soft ambiances. The closing Dreams starts out with a lengthy percussive intro, before a bell brings the track to a halt, allowing for a quiet guitar and aerial Floydian organs (thinking of Eugene's Axe in this case) to rule for a few minutes before TD soundscapes appear again

Of all the albums in this database, I think that there are very few more mind-blowing albums than Dom's sole outing. While not really essential (you'll probably have a real hard time finding a copy unless a new reissue comes), this album is certainly worth a listen if you get a chance to lay an ear on it, so I'll easily give it a fourth star.