FROM BOOKS AND DREAMS

'The Day Anew Coming', the debut from Message in 1972 takes a progressive melodic fusion of psych, jazz-fusion and folk and shades it with an overcast of a heavy atmosphere. Early Tull, King Crimson, Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash. Well done but nothing out of this world.

As with their first album, the band entered the studio with the great German producer, Deiter Dierks in 1973 and released, 'Of Books And Dreams'. Ominous and repressive, a conscious effort to uncover the unconscious thought that accompanies the effects of the sleep state through morbid fears and compulsions. A play on the pschye, lyrically and musically.

"Sleep" introduces the listener with spoken words over tumultous and tempestous psychedelic/space splattering. Terrifying though rather trivial.

Sliding into deeper unconsciousness, "Dreams And Nightmares (Dreams)" culminates the bass and the psychically induced guitar sequence from Allan Murdoch and expands and finally explodes into a ravishingly riff. The vocals of Tom McGuigan scream in, somewhat dischordal but deeply discerning. Fortunately it's then Murdoch guitar that sets the rhythm for the sax solo of McGuigan as his vocals are limited in only two limited parts of the track. At the ten minute mark, Murdoch slaps down a Iommi-esque solo that could been transported from Sabbath's self-titled debut. After the manic guitar solo the bass slowly pulses and winds down this trembling track. The apex of the album.

Track three, "Turn Over", is an instrumental with McGuigan's free-form sax slithering over an eerie ambient guitar and then an uptempo rhythmic riff kicks in as the sax strikes out and snakes through a shivering jazz/psych synapses. "Turn Over", "Turn Over",...

"Sigh" is the most melodic track from the album though McGuigan's vocals are somewhat annoying and overbearing, almost abrasive at times but once it again it's Murdoch's guitar that takes over at the three and half minute mark showcasing his shifting styles and then the intense interplay between guitar and sax. The last two minutes of the track ends as it began with the addition of a sinister scream sequence.

The second part of "Dreams And Nightmares (Nightmares)" is 13 minutes of Krautrock psychosis. "Introducing The Myth" starts with McGuigan's Mellotron as a shadowy background to his restrained vocals which are not so abrading as to his abandoning, piercing screams on previous tracks. Again it's the chilling interplay between sax and guitar that take over the first part of this nightmare. The sandman (McGuigan) enters the second stage and casts "The Unpleasent Spell" and speaks to you in a suffering, taunting and daunting tone. The "Nightmare" then trembles and traumatically tails off into silence.

If you're searching for a scary, spine-tingling sound experience, this is it. This album is on the heavy psych/progressive hard rock/proto-metal spectrum of Krautrock (though Message is half British). This is really Allan Murdoch's trip though Tom McGuigan's multi-intrumental talents are substantial, it is vocals that maybe disturbing to some. The production of Deiter Dierk has the same spooky atmosphere as some of the other "heavy" Krautrocker of the early '70's he produced, most notably Nektar and lesser obscure artists like Wind, Hairy Chapter, Gila amongst others.

Message then would make a significant shift on thier next album to a jazz-fusion/eclectic prog and then sadly meander into that menacing "mainstream" melodic AOR/hard rock style that so many did in the mid/late '70's.

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