EDGE OF TIME

One of the most mysterious bands to emerge from the early 1970s Krautrock boom surely must've been the Düsseldorf based DOM which was one of many acts of the era to release one album and then disappear into the ethers. This band was also unusual in that it was centered around the two Hungarian Baksay brothers, Laszlo Baksay (bass, vocals) and Gabor Baksay (percussion, flute, vocals) who had escaped their homeland after the Russians invaded, moved to Austria and then found their way to Germany. The band also included the Polish born Reiner Puzalowski (guitar, flute, vocals) and the only native German on board Hans Georg Stopka (organ, guitar, vocals).

While this band has remained mysterious for many decades since its album EDGE OF TIME hit the scene in 1972, the album has since been remastered with bonus tracks and Gabor Baksay has since granted interviews to shed some light on his project that has become one of the classics of the Krautrock underground in the ensuing decades. The original vinyl pressing of EDGE OF TIME was purportedly riddled with production woes which made the album a bit of a mixed bag but the album's flaws have since been corrected with the proper remastering on the 2001 CD digipak released by Second Battle.

While Pink Floyd's "A Saucerful Of Secrets" provided the big bang of psychedelia taken to the utmost extreme, the band didn't nurture that particular track's possibilities and by 1969, an escapist's movement called Krautrock picked up the torch in Germany and ran with it. While many bands took the Pink Floyd influences to heart, some were more brazen in their approach than others and that's exactly where DOM comes in. EDGE OF TIME combines the diverse elements of cosmic folk, ambient and avant-garde sound effects which drift on through four tracks with heavy uses of acoustic guitar, flutes and organs in what perhaps is one of the gentlest breezy examples of the entire Kraut scene.

Other than the moments of "Saucerful Of Secrets" tricks, Pink Floyd also proves to be the primary artist of influence with similar mediative elements mined from tracks such as "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun," "Quicksilver" or the beginning of " Be Careful With That Ax Eugene." Lyrics are almost non-existence but vocals aren't as they are mostly used as wordless utterances that add varying tones and textures however there are some spoken English parts towards the end of the title track. Add to the mix a rich admixture of vibraphone sounds, bells, humming, hissing and a plethora of oscillating electronics and it's readily apparent why DOM has been lauded as one of the greatest far out trips of the entire early Kraut scene.

DOM excelled at crafting a free-flowing consciousness experience that simulated a darkened dream state where drones provide a canvas to paint upon and a rotisserie of varying sounds punctuate the monotony like a procession of lallygagging ponies. With moments of cosmic folk guitar strumming, the mood is on chill mode but the unfamiliar sounds of the electro-acoustic and avant-garde elements offer plenty of fear factors that slowly wend and wind through a never-ending kaleidoscope effect of surreal psychedelic sensationalism. Tribal drumming and folky flute runs offer a grounding to Earthly experiences but the freeform flow that drifts aimlessly offers the feeling of drifting through the coldness of outer space.

While the rock aspects are practically non-existent, this Krautfolk experience is quite dynamic with a beautiful meandering display of pacifying psychedelia that rises to the ranks of early Ash Ra Tempel without the rock guitar heft. These dark brooding soundscapes provide the perfect soundtrack for an astral out of body experience while hovering around the warm glow of the Earth. There were several bonus tracks recorded before the band called it quits and they were rescued and added to the 2001 reissue. These tracks vary in style with some even resembling the 80s / 90s industrial scene in the vein of Skinny Puppy or Coil. While perhaps too reliant on the great Pink Floyd for inspiration, DOM did succeed in taking things even further out into the limitless lysergic in a way the PInksters never dreamed.