EDGE OF TIME

Hypnotic, maddening, hallucinogenic...The sole album from 1970 by Dom, a group consisting of members from Germany, Hungary and Poland, `Edge of Time' is an atmospheric, precious and damaged Krautrock classic. Comprised of four trippy improvisations of space music, it's a mix of late 60's Pink Floyd, early Tangerine Dream and the Ash Ra Tempel, with acoustic acid-fried folk moments, avant-garde explorations and a lengthy psychedelic ambience. A predominately instrumental work that soundtracks the consequences and mental distortions resulting from a `bad trip', the effects of the music remain with the listener forever.

Dreamy flute wisps around delicate acoustic guitars strums and hand percussion growing more urgent in the opener `Intruitus', bringing an almost raga-rock quality that makes this as much a journey into the mind as it is to deep space. Panning mechanical harshness and electronic distortion takes over, swirling in a vortex of the most eerie, regal yet mournful organ that drones into infinity. The voyage takes a bad turn as the musical strains bend and twist. Electronic washes fade in and out during `Silence', harrowing other-worldly despairing wordless sighs gently cry into blackness. Voices whisper through the dark, taunting right beside you yet always out of earshot. Humming machine oscillations, distant explosions and somber reflective flute trickles along your mind.

Howling machine white-noise and abrupt cymbals crash alongside lazy acoustic guitar that floats behind the most tasteful shimmering organ this side of Rick Wright in the title track `Edge of Time'. Gloomy synths groan with a senses-shredding madness, as if you're caught up in an overwhelming rapture. A rambling stream-of-consciousness voice floats amongst meditative flute, reassuring as it is fraught with unease and mind-numbing fear. `Dream' contrasts insane crashing and clanging metallic percussion with oddly comforting and placid contemplative flute and guitar passages.

If you connect with this album, it has the chance of becoming a truly immersive, addictive and spiritual experience. You won't listen to it all the time, but when you do, it completely captivates and overwhelms you with its fragile beauty and intoxicating psychedelic flavours. It avoids the plodding musical heaviness of endless other Krautrock works, replacing it instead with an emotional, mental weight that crashes down and around. A total classic full of rambling lysergic beauty, `Edge of Time' is truly music to become lost in, and Krautrock fans should track down a reissue right away. Absolutely essential.

Five stars.