DZYAN

While "Time Machine" was clearly influenced by the jazz-fusion world of the Mahavishnu Orchestra only set to the psychedelic world of Krautrock, ELECTRIC SILENCE on the other hand was much more in the school of Popol Vuh and free form avant-jazz from various sources like Sun Ra and mind expanding avant-raga rock in the vein of the English band Magic Carpet. The six tracks on ELECTRIC SILENCE dive deep into the world of free form improvisation with often little to grasp onto, nary a melodic hook, avant-groove or compositional scaffolding. The result is a somewhat aimless parade into the formless void where only tones and timbres exhibit various colors to keep the world of mondo-bizarro somewhat in the familiarity zone. There are moments of recognizable Krautish jams, partially on the closing title track.

True that sitars do sound like something one would hear in a typical raga setting but tidbits of musical scales are fleeting and revolve around cyclical loops much in the way modern post-rock has formed. Gone are Peter Giger's virtuosic drum performances and instead are replaced by sensual percussive accents that complement the ambience and cosmic vibes that the music on ELECTRIC SILENCE attempts to simulate. The whole affair comes off as some kind of mind-altering substance journey to an ashram high in some undisclosed location in the Himalayas. It's the kind of music that aimlessly wanders through your head when an idea is birthed from behind the great veil, an idea devoid of any form or function, just a procession of sounds that somehow string along together in a somewhat cohesive manner.

There is no denying that ELECTRIC SILENCE is a bizarre and utterly unique album even in the bizarre world of early 1970s Krautrock however the rock aspects of the term are completely absent this time around and the album is more like the ultimate soundtrack to a high altitude drug experience than anything remotely jazz or rock this time around. This is a sonic free-for-all that is kept in check only by the greater motivation of keeping things airy and in the clouds and possibly what one would hear at a monastery in an alternative universe at whatever their version of Tibet may be. There are definitely some worthy experiments on this one however ELECTRIC SILENCE is truly the most difficult of DZYAN's three albums to appreciate.

This was my first experience with this band and i guess i wasn't quite ready to comprehend the madness at play here because it can come off as the musical form of nothing but gobbledygook with its pointillistic approach of punctuating a submerged structure. Due to the fact that i never cared for this one i pretty much wrote DZYAN off but after many years i have finally given this band another chance and all of a sudden i find that this is indeed some brilliant stuff after all. For those who find this too weird, be advised that you must be well steeped in avant-garde jazz and the freakiest of improvisational psychedelia and raga. The album may well take many years to sink but if you let yourself sink into its idiosyncrasies without judgment, miracles occur! Somehow despite all odds i have come around on this one. It's just so wonderfully weird that i can't contain myself! Ha.

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!

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.

Well, for me, this is just fabulous, as it exposes the future nicely and brings us a true picture of what made Dzyan so magical and mysterious. The odd singing, that fits perfectly. The spacey feel, yet no keyboards. And that sax, wow, I just love sax when it's mixed like this into rock music (VDGG the best.)

I would love to have seen this being recorded, as it's quite professional for a "warm up" to their first release, and although spontaneous, not in anyway, unprofessional.

Real musicians creating accessible, experimental space / fusion / rock. Bravo.

The album starts off with one of my favourite tracks, largely for that incredible intro, moments of screeching guitars mixed with a soothing line on a marimba. I love the way that the instruments fade out, leaving a conflicting drum beat and underlying melody from the marimba, starting off sounding muddled and discordqant before slowly developing into a really great rhythm that's then further added onto with the bass. The instruments all increase in pace and eergy immensely other than that bassline, providing a really interesting effect where the song still feels incredibly slow and laid back despite the absolute insanity unfolding. If there's one issue I have with this album, it's the fact that the majority of the tracks after this sound almost the same, which I'd dislike more if not for the fact that they still do all sound quite good. A Day in My Life is even more chaotic from an instrumenta standpoint while maintaining the extremely trippy nature of the album, as does The Road Not Taken. although with less Indo influence and more focus on a sparse soundscape of noise that builds towards the end. The approach Khali takes is once again fairly similar, but more minimalistic. For Earthly Thinking is definitely the other highlight of the album however, staring off with a sinister, foreboding sensation with soft flutes as the percussion is lightly tapped at, this gives way to a build up of noise, a constant ebb and flow throughout, with good use of steel drums. The song definitely has more of a set structure to it than others, essentially being one massive crescendo into cacophonous, atonal jamming. The title track ends up providing more of the same and continues to explore more of this soundscape, providing a decent end to the album.

Overall, while I do believe that this album could have become even greater by further extending certain pieces and providing slightly more identity for each track, this is nonetheless a really great, psychedelic album. I love the ethnic, jazzy sound brought forth, and definitely find it to be an incredibly compelling listen. While I stand by there being many better entry points into krautrock, this is definitely not an album to be missed if you like spacey minimalism and explorative soundscapes.

Best songs: Back To Where We Come From, For Earthly Thinking

Weakest songs: none

Verdict: While the songs under 5 minutes may all sound somewhat too similar, the sound here is far too compelling for me to say to give it a miss. I'd recommend this album to those who really like music that focuses on soundscapes and ambience, as this album has that in spades, while balancing it out perfectly with some more frenetic sections of music.

This record is a fascinating excursion into jazz-rock improvisational jams and ethnic experimentation that crosses that line between being merely good, into absolute fantastic, brilliant territory. Yes, Time Machine has that perfect sense of combining jazz-rock prowess with ethnic and krautrock experimental abandonment in just the right fit.

Kabisrain opens the album in a free flowing experimental fashion with quite an abstract feel to it. Next, is Magika, one of the best heavy fusion jams, with Eddy Marron leading things with some guitar that leaves you literally breathless in it's unbridled emotion. And Giger is no slouch, either, with some inventive drumming/percussion complex in it's driving intensity. Bassist Karwatky is competently in the midst of it all! Light Shining Out Of Darkness then shows off some beautiful acoustic guitar from Eddy, with Giger's flowery percussion, and Reinhard Karwatky's probing bass lines.

Side Two offers up a more than 16 minute jam the title track of Time Machine. Not one second of this incredible music trip is wasted on the listener, and I am enthralled by it all upon every listen; it is real travelling music, led by Eddy Marron's wild guitar freakouts-full of 16th notes-along with Peter Giger's relentless percussive attacks and Reinhard Karwatky's integral bass work. It all fits together in a brilliant way, leaving the listener fulfilled, but never worn out.

Time Machine is one of my Top 10 albums of all time, and not surprisingly so, as for me, it is the epitome of exceptional, spirited, and great music, and it is wonderful to be surrounded by the greatness of it all; yes, it is that good. Essential listening-5 stars.

The search for obscure progressive records is the search for magic, but as you listen to an obscure record the magic usually fades - it was made by people with instruments, like every other record. This record 'Electric Silence' is however an obscurity that sounds so mysterious and non-human that the feeling of magic doesn't fade that much.

No vocals, just multi-ethnic jams by brilliant musicians with an other-wordly ethos, if the avant- prog moments would not have been present it would have been spiritiual. The musicianship is plain brilliant and all three musicians play multiple instruments. The recording is good - not perfect - but the amosphere is great; delicate, mysterious and spacious. I like the fact that the record can not be understood, it can only be listened to in amazement.

Conclusion. Brilliant other-worldly music. Recommended to fans of krautrock, spacerock, jazzrock, avantprog and prog with world-music influences.

"Resurrection" is the almost 10 minute opener. Lots of dark atmosphere to start on this one as sounds come and go. Some heavy outbursts a minute in including sax. The song finally kicks into gear before 3 1/2 minutes as the tempo picks up. Vocals around 4 minutes for the first time. Love the instrumental section before 5 1/2 minutes as the guitar starts to let it rip. Nice heavy rhythm section here too. This lasts for just over a minute then the vocals return. Atmosphere ends it. A good tune but my least favourite of the bunch. "Dragonsong" is the only track on here found on another album by them (debut) . Killer intrumental work as the vocals come in. Great sound ! This is the longest tune at 11 1/2 minutes. Love the sax playing over top when the vocals stop. Vocals are back after 4 1/2 minutes. Excellent guitar work 6 1/2 minutes in as Eddy lights it up for an extended period. A drum solo follows before 8 1/2 minutes. The music kicks back in a minute later. Big finish on this one. "Mandala-Transmigration" is a short two minute piece that is very atmospheric with no melody.

"Steel's Electric" is a jazzy offering with intricate drum work and lots of sax leads. Crunchy bass lines too on this one. The guitar comes to the spotlight before 4 minutes and Eddy is fantastic as usual. An awesome instrumental. "Daddy Groove" is laid back as the sax rips it up over top. Vocals follow in a bluesy style. The vocals give way to another hair raising solo from Eddy that starts before 4 minutes and continues until after 5 1/2 minutes when the vocals return. The vocals get pretty passionate at times. Another great track. "Saz" has a distinct Eastern sound to it with trippy percussion as well. Vocals 5 1/2 minutes in. A groovy track. "Celestial City" is also from 1972 but a live recording from an open-air concert. The sound isn't as good but it's fine. Love when it kicks in after 2 1/2 minutes and Eddy plays at the speed of light. The drummer is trying to keep up with him and the bass player too. Too much !

A solid 4 stars and well worth getting for those into jazzy / psychedlia.

Marron was credited all guitars of the album and Karwatky was the the handler of the electric and double bass, as well as a unidentified instrument called ''super string''.Its propably the one we hear on the opening, deeply experimental and totally improvised ''Kabisrain'', full of bizarre strings, featuring a strong Ethnic flavor in Free Improvisation, but at the end sounding completely cold and pointless.The long ''Magika'' is what the listener actually expects from Dzyan.Opening with superb, complex and frenetic guitar exercises by Marron, much in a KING CRIMSON style, retaining some of the Ethnic flavors around the middle, and moving on in a Kraut/Fusion enviroment, full of jazzy bass lines and scratching, loose guitar solos.''Light shining out of darkness'' is again closer to Ethnic Music with some good but indulgent acoustic crescendos with light electric guitars supporting in a very dark and melancholic mood.The 18-min. title track is an amalgam of the new Dzyan trio's influences.Kraut/Fusion with sparkling guitars, Jazz Rock with attacking improvisations and typical Heavy/Kraut rhythmic lines with excellent bass work and superb drumming complete a schizophenic piece of music, that has its moments.The heavy side of KING CRIMSON vibes is all over the place with many cool breaks included, while the closing groove is absolutely addictive and narcotic.

One of the most uneven albums I've ever heard.The boring passages are trully boring, the more interesting ones are absolutely fantastic and extremely nervous, that you'll have a hard time while going to sleep.At the end, this album from the new Dzyan core is recommended.

The prevailing style was still the Canterbury Fusion of that first LP, with Gerd Ehrmann's frenetic saxophone the primary instrument on most tracks, and percussionist Jochen Leuschner providing the bluesy lead vocals. But the ace up their collective sleeve was new guitarist Eddy Marron, recently enlisted but already making an impact, even in a relative supporting role.

Under his galvanizing influence the music was beginning to show a harder edge, in tracks like "Steel's Electric": an obvious signpost toward the MAHAVISHNU intensity of the "Time Machine" sessions. Listening to Marron's absolutely torrid solo at the end of "Dragonsong" (a holdover song from the first album) it's easy to imagine the jaws of his bandmates falling to the studio floor in flabbergasted awe, as the guitarist shredded his fretboard into ragged tatters.

In this track and elsewhere you can hear the later, psychedelicized Dzyan trying to break free of its Jazz Rock shell, especially when Marron begins strumming his beloved Turkish saz, in the song of the same name. The more exploratory instrumental jams show their age best, and the band itself no doubt felt the same. After this rehearsal 'concert' the way ahead must have seemed clear: ditch the singer and the sax, and continue as a trio (but with a more sympathetic drummer).

The title track is an odd droning entr'acte from bassist Reinhard Karwatky (recording date unknown), and the incomplete "Celestial City" is the only selection actually performed on stage. It was included here as a bonus track, but really the entire album is a welcome bonus, 38-years late but worth the wait.