HYPNOTIZER

Sula Bassana is a workaholic, isn't he? INTERKOSMOS is just a relatively new project compared to the other ten ... wait ... probably twenty music collaborations he has collected altogether in the meanwhile - and not to forget his solo excursions! The funny thing is that this band has two different line-up's depending on where they meet. Dave has formed a crew for the 'home matches' in Austria and an international one which recorded this excellent album in 2009 among other things.

This is a very trippy production with songs around the ten minute mark. Spanish native Sergio Ceballos offers top-notch spacey guitar work here and Sula provides well placed synthy additions besides his solid bass appearance. The songs have a floating gliding behaviour with ups and downs in waves - really well done! This is all based on cosmic themes - some of them are intiated by recitatives. It all begins with a Liftoff - speaking of the famous spaceship 'Stardust' - announced through board loudspeakers and derived from the prosperous sci-fi series about astronaut Perry Rhodan and his adventures. I remember that I was thrilled at an early age too.

I've listened to many space rock productions in the meanwhile and INTERKOSMOS add some new points indeed. They create a special mood - basically relaxed, laid-back. The guitar work is playful, accentuated, sensitive. Heavier excursions are rare - the spaceship doesn't get into martial star wars here. No hurry - we are on a friendly suspense-packed journey into the unknown. So I want to highlight Hypnotizer for example - the title points to the behaviour - hypnotiv bass and drum work, spooky synths and guitars which are not from this earth for sure, soaring, sawing, riffing, echoing - wow!

Probably Edentrip represents the dangerous aspect of the cosmic journey which should not be denied - a weird trip where they go into a spin for some time seemingly losing the orientation - well, finally reaching a new orbit led by heavy delay effects. Within the next songs they are alternating between gliding moments and uptempo excursions and finally even offer a fine groove. As you can expect from productions where Sula Bassana is involved, this is provided with superb audio quality on top of it! A must have for space rock fans - 4.5 stars!