PROPHETS OF TIME

In many ways this album mirrors the synth & sequencers direction that Nik's erstwhile colleagues in Hawkwind were taking in the early '90s. Prophets Of Time was created at a time when he re-recorded much of his own back catalogue in America with the likes of Helios Creed and members of Pressurehed adding a modern techno feel. It sort-of works, but only in parts and can be a little unfocussed. So we get some pure Spacerock, but generally it is tempered with a delightfully naive blend of industrial techno-punk and space-age ambience. There are no extended jams [longest track is under 7 minutes but it is also the best - 'Stonehenge, Who Knows'] nor thundering metal riffs [heavy, but generally more Vicious than Lemmy].

Most of Nik's own songs are re-workings of tracks first recorded with his 1980s band Inner City Unit - 'Watching The Grass Grow' [spirited thrash], 'Strontium 90' [industrial punk], 'Stonehenge, Who Knows' [brilliant Spacerock], 'Cybernetic Love' [percussive punky thrash recorded in a dustbin, maybe], 'Bones Of Elvis' [spacey-industrial-punk-thrash] and 'Fallout' [psych-industrial-punk .... strange and brilliant]. Despite a stylistic make-over, most of these still display their raw punkish origins and are generally the most successful tracks with plenty of energy, atmosphere and aggression on offer.

The remainder is a mixed bag: pleasant but undemanding spacey instrumentals 'Prophecy' [meaty synths but too long], 'Lunar Sea' [spacey but lightweight] and 'Walking In The Sky' [ambient-industrial with chanted title phrase]; a decent rendition of old Hawkwind song 'Children Of The Sun'; new 'songs' 'Communique' [infectious beat and loony alien abductee] and 'Andromeda' [percussive and spacey], neither of which are fully developed; and a clutch of so-so recitations by Genesis P Orridge over ambient instrumental soundtracks, only one of which works - the eerie 'Chances Lost' intoned by Orridge in a desperately mournful Marvin The Paranoid Android voice.

One little gem in the sonic armoury is Simon House's violin. It only gets an occasional airing but they are significant moments. It's a good album, an interesting experiment in blending the different styles and overall a successful enterprise producing an hour's worth of entertainment. I could do with less twiddly-dee ambient filler, a little more meat and volume, and a few new songs with more substance than those on offer here, but otherwise its a worthwhile addition to my collection.