PROTOPLASMA

The world of zeuhl never fails to surprise or delight me to no end. While the limitations of the genre may seem like it's trapped in a box of some sort, in reality it allows a totally different type of creativity to blossom that most other styles of progressive compositions do not. One of the prog world's most isolated corners of the prog world which is often lumped into the world of avant-prog by some, the sounds of zeuhl have extended far beyond the borders of France and even Japan as more musicians across the world get in on the act. The strange and freaky PROTOPLASMA comes from the city of Budapest in Hungary and has left scant info about its history or even the musicians and vocalists performing on its one and only album - and yes that hyphen is the title of the album! I'll refer to it as HYPHEN.

This is high octane crazy zeuhl more in the vein of the noisy Japanese bands like Koenji Hyakkei, Ruins, Happy Family or Bondage Fruit's earliest material. HYPHEN delivers a healthy dose of zeuhl rhythmic drive infused with crazy brutal prog time signature bombast, noisy distortion and adventurous twists and turns that can turn from crazy punk rock sounding bombast to freaky psychedelic interludes more in the vein of some of those Mr Bungle albums. HYPHEN features 17 tracks but the album is only just over 30 minutes long so the tracks are short and to the point but packing an explosive punch with an excess of brutal prog elements such as relentless time signature extravaganzas, discordant King Crimson chord dissonance, frenzied tempos, erratic vocals that scream, shout and cause a major raucous.

While some would call this noise rock as opposed to zeuhl, PROTOPLASMA does incorporate enough of the Magma trademarks to quality at least partially as everyone's favorite Kobaian art form however while the martial rhythms keep it tethered to the Christian Vander camp, that's where the similarities end as this is a wild ride that finds as many ways to unleash noisy brutality along with segments of crazy psychedelic weirdness. The band also implements some moments of experimental electronica and touches of jazz with an occasional saxophone finding its way into the mix. Some motifs are more akin to math rock in their jittery jangle guitar effects and other times the band emulates anarcho-punk only on an acid trip! The liberties are more in align to Mr Bungle, Melt Banana's early days and a brutality that The Flying Luttenbachers would approve of.

This band is pretty much a mystery regarding it and anything about its history. Will another album follow HYPHEN or was this a one shot dealy-bop? It's anybody's guess but for my addiction of totally crazed and unhinged psycho-prog i have to say that i totally love this bizarre pyroclastic explosiveness of sound that at times sounds like an entire orchestra is playing 1000 different riffs at the speed of sound! It's as convoluted and nebulous as the album cover art at times but also has some nice moments of order and stability. The album starts out more "normal" and gradually descends into more free form chaotic uproars. This one is a must for lovers of noise and chaos that incorporate musical elements into its whirlwind delivery. Perhaps one of the most brutal zeuhl albums to exist and that's saying a lot after hearing a lot of the Japanese scene however keep in mind there are many moments where no zeuhl exists and the dissonance maelstrom of sound is pure noisy chaos.