TIME MACHINE

While starting out as quintet with multi-instrumentalist Reinhard Karwatky leading the way, DZYAN's debut was a bizarre hybrid of jazz-rock, psychedelia, progressive Krautrock and traces of ethnic musical influences. The album straddled the line between dark and heart-warming but offered lots of eclectic shapeshifting to keep the album in its own little world. For a second act DZYAN was reduced to a trio with Eddy Marron (acoustic, 6- & 12-string guitars, baglama, vocals) and Peter Giger (drums, percussion) stepping in to craft a completely different styled album titled TIME MACHINE.

While the debut featured eight diverse tracks, TIME MACHINE only featured four lengthy complex jams that retained plenty of progressive Krautrock with more emphasis on the rock aspects, the Turkish folk instrument called a bag lama and avant-jazz angularities despite the fact that the saxophone had been dropped. The jazz effects mostly come to play with the John McLaughlin styled guitar workouts that he virtuosically performed with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, a clear influence that had been adopted since the debut. Unlike the debut, TIME MACHINE is more focused on instrumental technical workouts with bopping jazz bass grooves, fuzzed out guitar. The tracks are so out there that they sorta blend in with each other.

The first track that stands out as a separate entity is the third "Light Shining Out Of Darkness" which showcases some excellent flamenco inspired acoustic jazz guitar. Existing as the shortest track, it's followed by the lengthiest track of the album which is the title track and that one sprawls on for almost a whopping 18 minutes! Feisty and fortified with avant-prog vim and vigor it erupts on the scene with a heavy guitar riff and a bass groove on steroids but then it suddenly chills out and becomes a light as a feather jazz rocker closer to something the Weather Report would have released rather than a caffeinated John McLaughlin. Eerie vocals in the back evoke the Star Trek theme song like theremin induced canaries singing to invisible spirits. but then it erupts back into the chaosphere. But wait! There's more! How about a nice jazz-fusion jam? Why, yes! We got that too :) And it goes on for awhile with feisty guitar workouts.

There's not much to say about this one really. You either dig what's been referred to as the no-man's land between jazz and rock with the Mahavishnu Orchestra worship or you don't. Personally i think this one works quite well as it really does construct its own unique personality and even though the pacing and jazzy escapades do evoke the energetic fury of "The Inner Mounting Flame," DZYAN as a mere trio did an excellent task in agglutinating knotty progressive rock, ethnic musical influences and avant-jazz and extending them into exotic improvisations that seriously take your mind somewhere you never knew existed. DZYAN only released three albums but successfully crafted each one to stand entirely apart from the others. This one is absolutely nothing like the debut yet a few remnants of the sound percolate up from time to time. This is the second gem in a row for DZYAN. Madame Blavatsky would've been proud!