LATIN MASS

Formed in Berlin in 1970, OS MUNDI was one of the early progressive German bands that was more inspired by American 60s bands than the exploding Krautrock scene of its native homeland. OS MUNDI developed out of the previous band Safebreakers that existed from 1962-66 but was inspired by the German music scene when sharing a rehearsal room with other musicians from the Kraut world. Jam sessions with Manuel G'ttsching and other Krautsters added the sense of musical adventurism and the band evolved its music considerably. This band was also notable for having up to a dozen musicians at a time which earned it the title 'big band of rock music.'

OS MUNDI only released two albums during its initial run and each quite different from the other. LATIN MASS came out immediately in 1970 and stood out like a sore thumb in the early German progressive scene with an eclectic mix of styles and sounds that although rooted in the psychedelic 60s, took on the adventurous nature of the Krautrock scene without really sounding like any of the bands that were in the forefront of its nascency. Primarily inspired by The Electric Prunes' 1968 psychedelic album 'Mass in F Minor' which mixed the heavy psych 60s with traditional Christian liturgical music, OS MUNDI went one step further and sung all lyrics in Latin. The results were quite unusual however extremely well played. One could consider this as taking The Electric Prunes idea and shooting it up with steroids.

Immediately with the opening 'Overture' OS MUNDI gifts the listener with a 60s psychedelic grooviness drenched in freaked out organs that aren't afraid to jump into the mosh pit as far as bringing the instrument and the 60s style to its logical conclusions such was the case with many bands in the transitional year of 1970 that sort of exited right in the middle of the the latter part of the 60s and the prog scene that was blossoming at light speed. While a psychedelic rendition of church music may not sound like a winning combination, the beauty of LATIN MASS is that the liturgy aspects only remain a small element like a canvass to paint upon whereas the psychedelic, prog and Krautrock elements boldly craft a beautiful array of adventures twists and turns that make this album a treat from beginning to end.

The album sort of has a continuous flow that wends and winds from spastic organ bombast to heavy blues rock guitar. Much of the album is nothing more than adventurous jamming but even though a bass driven groove keeps the melodic flow humming along, the contrapuntal Latin lyrics offer a dramatic and often theatrical dominant aspect. The musical grooves are also quite creative in how they change things up with bizarre bass runs and guitar licks. The music offers outbursts into tribal drum circles as well as adding touches of jazzy outbursts before jumping back into heavy organ trippiness. Even atonality and avant-garde freeform avant-prog is explored towards the end of the album after the album has seeped into your very soul.

LATIN MASS was an unbelievably creative album for 1970 with an incessant array of fresh ideas delivered with a fiery passion. The lyrics in the Latin language keep it from sounding like anything remotely German and although the influences are clearly from the American music scene of the 1960s, OS MUNDI successfully eschewed that stilted too late to the game stylistic approach that many trapped in the past were still dishing out. This is what i call the perfect bridge between one era morphing into the next. All the tracks on this one stand out and the tightrope act of accessible melodic grooves with avant-garde adventurism is impeccable. For my tastes, this album is pretty much perfect in how its executed and stands out as one of the most unique of the early prog years. Despite all the creative mojo going on here, it's the variety of organ sounds that make this one an outstanding slice of early psych fueled prog.