DZYAN

The German band DZYAN is perhaps more famous for its moniker and how it stands out on Krautrock lists as one of German's first wave Krautrock bands that formed in Mannheim in 1971 by bassist Reinhard Karwatky, saxist Gerd Bock-Ehrmann, guitarist Harry Krämer, drummer Ludwig Braum and lead vocalist and percussionist Jochen Leuschner. The moniker refers to the Book of DZYAN, an ancient Tibetan text that formed the basis for The Secret Doctime which became one of the foundational works of the theosophical teachings of Helena Blavatsky.

DZYAN released three albums in the early 70s beginning with this self-titled debut which appeared in 1972 which featured a completely different lineup than the following two which gives it a unique sound unlike what came after. Karwatky was an academic musician who mastered a large number of instruments and found himself obsessed with the world of esoterica and metaphysics as well as a love of musical styles from around the globe. DZYAN has been referred to as an ethno-Krautrock band in the vein of others such as Agitation Free and Embryo.

Not only unique in the DZYAN canon but also in the world of Krautrock in general, this debut stands out for enlisting many genres of music and throwing them into the melting pot. The psychedelic influences from the 60s and the contemporary Kraut scene are rather blatant but so too are the jazz-rock fusion that other Kraut pioneers such as Xhol Caravan, Kraan, Eiliff and Brainstorm were cooking up. The mood dark and claustrophobic and perfectly set with an eerie electronic opening that ushers in the wonderful of synthesizers and keyboards to create otherworldly mood enhancers for the entire album's run.

After the lengthy industrial sounding intro that would surely must've influenced artists like Throbbing Gristle and Coil, the music joins in which turns out to be a knotty even angular form of progressive rock in the vein of Gentle Giant fortified with wah-wah guitar effects and complex contrapuntal weavings of saxophone, keys, guitars and bass. The shapeshifting "Emptiness" slinks around for nearly 10 minutes with mondo bizarro soundscapes shifting between instrumental angularities to moments that implement wild reach for the stars falsetto vocals. After a few more chameleon tricks the track jams on for awhile in unadulterated jazz-fusion form with a beefy bass groove bopping away, skronky sax squawks like there's no tomorrow and mass quantities of guitar soloing all accompanied by crazed conga percussion!

"The Bud Awakens" takes you somewhere completely new. This time it's a classical guitar intro followed by a melodic folky rock style in the vein of Traffic or mellowed out King Crimson. Jochen Leuschner has a pleasant voice that would've been perfect for all those AOR bands of the 1980s because he can cover a wide range and tends to soar high in the register. It's probably the closest thing that could be released as a single on this album. Next comes "The Wisdom" which gets all hippie dippy with a trippy opening before calling in the church organs and excellent vocal harmonies. Since nothing lasts long on this album it then dramatically shifts to an explosive conga attack with more jazzed out improvisation with plenty of psychedelic sound effects and then shifts many times more. Exceeding the ten minute mark, the lengthiest track on board.

"Foghat's Work" reminds me a lot of what the French zeuhl band Archaïa would eventually sound like with tripped out vocals that raise up and down the scale, well at least the beginning. The rest of the track jumps into vocal driven jazz-rock. "Hymn" starts out with freaky sound effects and then some sort of chamber rock classical track but ends quickly after some haunting vocals. "Dragonsong" shifts gears and gets all jazzy and funky again. The bass cranks out a beefy bantering groove while the guitar struts its funky ass. The vocals offer a bizarre counterpoint and the guitar shows off towards the end. Excellent guitar work for 1972.

"Things We're Looking For" provides another short proggy ballad with Canterbury Scene-ish keyboards. The closing "Back To Earth" starts with trippy electronic sounds but jumps into a fuzzy guitar wah-wah in funk mode while a psychedelic guitar solo oozes around the groove. The track stays focused unlike much of the album but in the end that's what i really love about DZYAN's wild and crazy debut. Despite the eclectic diverse run on this one, somehow things sorta flow naturally. The band manages to capture a groove, escape from its gravitational pull in wild freakery, throw in a few soft ballad moments and capture both bleak and dark moods as well as somewhat inspirational in a spiritual sorta way. Unfortunately this version of DZYAN as a quintet would soon disintegrate and the band never had a chance to play any of these tracks live. DZYAN would be reduced to a trio with only Karwatly remaining and become the ethno-Kraut band that they are more known for. For my personal tastes i find this one scratches my itch perfectly.