TOZZOS

RHÙN emerged in the late 2000s in Coutances, Frances but didn't release its first wickedly wild take on the zeuhl style set forth by the great Magma until 2013. The debut was basically a combo package of the "Demo" and the debut EP "Ïh" but showcased the great drummer / singer and Christian Vander admirer Captain Flapattak steering his zeuhl ship into more turbulent seas. A veritable tribute to both the French traditional and the more unhinged Japanese zeuhl style in the vein of Ruins, the Captain released the two releases as a newly repackaged debut album in the form of "Fanfare du Chaos" but then sorta just disappeared not to be heard from again for many, many years.

An entire decade passed in fact before RHÙN would reemerge with an entirely new cast of noisemakers joining the Captain but in 2023 "Tozïh" proved that the band was still operational and ready to deliver a new slab of Magma inspired freakery. With a new sound that was somewhat tamed down a bit and more focused RHÙN ditched the guitar dominance of the debut and sort of became a more "normal" sounding zeuhl band except normal isn't in the good Captain's vocabulary so he found other ways to create psychedelic freakery in the context of France's most peculiar style of progressive rock.

Surprisingly only emerging a year after the second album is the third release TOZZOS which pretty much follows in the footsteps of "Tozïh." With the same cast of six musicians and vocalist the two albums sound like the same band this time around and with the noisy guitar rock that dominated on the debut out of the way, TOZZOS like its predecessor focuses more on the jazzier aspects of zeuhl with saxophonist Jean Bonëth providing a lot of the sensual aspects of TOZZOS. Of course it wouldn't be zeuhl with all the wild drum attacks courtesy of Captain Flapattak as well as the various keyboard roles provided by not one but two musicians to craft more atmospheric touches to TOZZOS. Unlike most zeuhl bands RHÙN also features the prominent violinist Charlotte Pace which offers moments of contrast.

While the wild woodwind sections of the past which included bassoons, clarinets and flutes are long gone, the band finds new ways to make the most out of a streamlined band. Probably the most Magma sounding of three releases, even the Captain sounds a lot more like Christian Vander this time around as do the compositions take on the more traditional structures of the Magma universe therefore TOZZOS is a lot less wild and creatively unhinged as past efforts. That's a shame because those are the qualities that resonated with me the most with this band.

TOZZOS only consists of four tracks which add up to about 37 minutes of playing time. The first two "Xiem" and "Henc" are the longest at over 10 minutes each and take their sweet time in ratcheting up the tension as "Xiem" sort of plays it safe for a good long while before busting loose. There is so much more time dedicated to slower jazzy segments than on previous efforts but hairpin turns into the more frenzied moments to occur as do the stentorian moments of all the vocalists and instrumentalists busting loose simultaneously. The album more or less flows seamlessly without much need for track numbers. The band remains chaotic in that manner as the music sort of just meanders one way for a while and then verges off in another direction.

Well, third time is supposed to be a charm but this is my least favorite RHÙN release so far as it just sounds too tamed down for its own good but it doesn't help that i listened to this immediately after the excessively wild debut "Fanfare du Chaos." The band has certainly matured but now they sound simply too much like a Magma worship band and all the things that made them really stand out on their own such as the noisy electric guitar aspects have meant that the traditional zeuhl elements have filled the space and in this case doesn't sound far enough from the parent Magma source for my liking especially in the vocal department.

A compelling modern zeuhl release but i wish the good Captain would've stayed in the more turbulent seas of the early years because that's where the most magical moments were found. A good comeback album but not a top notch zeuhl album to my ears. Don't get me wrong though. This is still a wild album in its own right compared to many tamer bands like Eider Stellaire or Eskaton. The band does manage to drift from Magma territory enough to keep things in its own domain however this album just doesn't excite me as much as the last two did. There's more time spent to long dragging out passages that don't offer much.