ANGHERR SHISSPA

Often referred to as "the Japanese Magma," the band are obviously made up of top notch musicians, and their compositions are "out of this world" different, but the music here is just too angular, jaded and disjointed for my tastes--going a step beyond the controlled and prolonged chaos that is typical of a Magma composition into realms of complexity that are impressive though I'm not sure necessary. Also, the album's collection of eight songs do not quite flow one into the other like Magma songs tend to do; each one is distinctive and stands alone without the support or need of the whole.

1. "Tziidall Raszhisst" (7:14) opens with some very familiar MAGMA-esque sounds, notes, scales, and structures: female wordless vocalise with piano and synth. By the end of the first minute a full-on Zeuhl onslaught has begun with high speed entourage now including drums, bass, and saxes. The flow and intensity remains fairly constant despite several detours for solos (fuzz guitar) and worded vocal passages (all band members participate in MAGMA-like chorus-style vocal passages). Great opener--especially in the fact that it so closely parallels the Zeuhl that originated with Magma. A top three song for me. (14.5/15)

2. "Rattims Friezz" (7:01) opening with more percussion and high-pitch instrumental play to establish a slower, angular, odd-tempoed staccato rhtyhm and melody pattern. At the two minute mark everything shifts: different rhythm pattern (more Latin feeling) and new melody patterns. Very tight in the display instrumental and vocal weaves. An interesting cinematic "Hollywood" "interlude" near the end before the song flips back into the frenetic Latin-like rhythms to end. Another top three song. (14.5/15)

3. "Grahbem Jorgazz" (4:06) Kyoko's vocals are here full on operatic soprano (in the same vein as UNIVERSAL TOTEM ORCHESTRA's Ana Torres--though at times feeling almost tongue-in-cheek humorous in their NINA-HAGEN-like exaggerated pathos). Intense, fun, and funny. (9.5/10)

4. "Fettim Paillu" (7:45) piano and operatic female voice open this one in a slow, heavy mood. At the one minute mark, sharply abrasive percussion-led pulses enter and establish an odd-tempoed pattern but then in the third minute an all-out "panic on the pirate ship's deck" kind of scenario takes over. The voices are quite theatric: low male chorus with female lead while the woman seems to be quite often in rather a lot of distress. Interesting! At 4:30 the chaos suddenly ends and we are left with an interesting -like "frozen time" interlude as solo clarinet and piano duet an interesting jazz/classical dance. At 6:10 the operatic female re-enters in place of the clarinet, just she and piano making her case plaintively. 30 seconds later the other instruments begin encroaching and building into a wild, cacophonous pirate-like finish. (14/15)

5. "Qivem Vrastorr" (4:22) opens like a Gilbert & Sullivan dittie with multiple layers of voices and instruments getting involved in a kind of layered weave of brief epithets being repeated over and over in a kind of rondo. In the second minute there are two instances of loosening of the tight grip of organized tapestry before the song shifts in the third minute to something more smooth and flowing, less multi-layered. The final 90 seconds sees an attempt to kind of combine the two forms until the final 30 seconds become full-on Zeuhl. (8.5/10)

6. "Mibingvahre" (4:07) opens with what sound like traditional African folk hand instruments, hand clapping, simple mouth horns, and loose vocal chanting--which eventually becomes jazzified by chunky bass, drums, soprano saxophone, and Kyoko's operatic vocalise breaking through from the background. Kind of a brilliant cross-cultural imitation of African tribal/village folk musical traditions. (8.75/10)

7. "Angherr Shisspa" (6:34) talk about an abrasive opening! Voices, horns, drums, and everything but the kitchen sink flailing away, bashing into my brain, repetitively before giving me the Zeuhl sound. And thank god for the smoother, more melodic jazz passage in the second half of the second minute! At 2:30 there is a switch into something more akin to UNIVERSAL TOTEM ORCHESTRA before things smooth out for some sharp stoccato sax and vocal scatting (which, again, begs the question: Is this in jest? Is this music supposed to make me laugh?) The 4:00 mark introduces another quite radical shift into a calming smooth-jazz passage before all hell breaks out for the final 30 seconds. Amazing performances of a very oddly constructed song. (9/10)

8. "Wammilica Iffirom" (8:39) opening with another very MAGMA-esque passage of soprano choral voices, they are soon joined (and supplanted) by full band speeding along at a fast pace in a fairly orderly, listener-friendly musical style. The chord- and key-structure and tempo remain fairly accessible throughout the first three minutes--even as the choir, piano and horns begin to "stray." Weirdly dissonant sax solo in the fourth minute precedes another chorus before a piano bridge brings us into a chunky-bass and male vocal-led passage. This builds with other voices and instruments added to build each layer until 5:30 when things break down into a very simple, very imperious passage similar to a Magma processional. Male vocalist lends his master-of-ceremonies voice to the passage, even using Christian Vander-like falsettos, to relate the events of the passage. Then we shift back into the simpler, friendly theme for the final minute. Easily the most accessible song on the album. (19.5/20)

Five stars; while I admit that this music--and Zeuhl in general--is an acquired taste, I call this a masterpiece of progressive rock music regardless of what style this is. It's quite difficult to find fault with this album of impeccably performed, incredibly intricately constructed compositions. As above, my chief complaint is the oft-times abrasive nature of the full-frontal onslaught of the music. This is music that might be better served in a fully-regaled theatrical performance.