DZYAN

Formed during the winter of 1971,Dzyan was a short-lived yet prolific German Psych/Kraut- Rock band coming from the city of Mannheim.Initially they started as a quintet with singer Jochen Leuschner, drummer Ludwig Braum, sax player Gerd Ehrmann, guitarist Harry Kramer and its only consistent member bassist Reinhard Karwatky,who around the same time was helping Electronic band Galactic Explorers on keyboards.Their self-titled debut was released in 1972 on the obscure Swiss label Aronda.

Their sound was quite eclectic for the time,a weird mix of guitar-driven Kraut Rock with plenty of Ethnic inspirations and organ-driven Progressive Rock with jazzy leanings and a fair amount of sax explosions.All these can be heard mainly on the longer tracks,which feature nice organ breaks, jazzy saxes in the vein of VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR and PASSPORT, complex bass lines, improvisational passages and plenty of ethnic-vibed percussion work,not unlike EMBRYO.There is also some prominent fuzz guitar work to be heard throughout the tracks.Surprisingly for a German band,Dzyan featured an excellent vocalist singing in non- accented English with a couple of fantastic performances.A few tracks show the softer side of the band with strong lyrical moments and an obvious psychedelic edge.

This was a nice entry back then,the album still sounds somewhat fresh even today and gives a good picture of the real Kraut-Rock sound of the 70's with a nice balance between different styles but always with a tendency for jamming and experimentation.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.