SLAGRY

Scratching my head........... Scratching my head........... Scratching my head........... Scratching my head........... Scratching my head........... Scratching my head........... Scratching my head........... Scratching my head........... Scratching my head...........

What the pink flying elephant is this coming out of my speakers ?????

I expected some avant-garde black/thrash metal from Slagry. An album I bought when it was released. I guess I did not listen to it back then because when I put it on last night, I got a huge surprise. Well, I should have studied the track listing better. Slagry contains songs from Chuck Berry and Guiseppe Verdi among others. The "others" also include a Christmas carol and some own compositions.

The result is some music which is totally bonkers. Utterly, butterly, stark raving mad bonkers.

Let me explain: The music is RIO, no less. Not avant-garde, but simply Rock In Opposition aka the leading bands in this genre. What this means is an album with both acoustic instruments over some folk music tones. So far, so Aranis/Univers Zero. You also get some techno house melodies too on this album. Hard techno/house with banging rhythms. There are even some nice choir music on this album too. On the top of the whole thing, you have some pure Zeuhl type vocals too scattered around this album. The songs has been pulled apart and put together by Master's Hammer. That in their special way.

..... And it works ! Master's Hammer has managed to pull of a very confusing album, but the quality is still there and there is a thin, red thread called concept running through it. But this album is one of the strangest albums I have ever heard in my time here in ProgArchives and I have been exposed to some very weird music in my time here. That's why I love ProgArchives. That and being challenged to albums like Slagry.

I am not sure if this is a 3 or a 4 stars album. I give it three stars and recommend it to all fans of Magma and the RIO genre because I think you will appreciate it more than I do.

Scratching my head again.........

3.5 stars