35007

35007's EP "Sea of Tranquility" is the first recording of the band as an instrumental unit, and in order to cement themselves as a solid Psychedelic/Space Rock band, it was a good move to not try to recruit a new vocalist. As this three track album proves, the band could easily be one of the best "Kyuss" clones that came about from the Netherlands. It is too bad that the psychedelic/space rock revival was still in flux, not really grabbing a hold of the public as much as it would later, and because of their timing, this band ended up just being sort of a cult, or fan favorite.

For those that only like their exploratory stoner/space rock instrumentals in smaller doses, this is a perfect recording. "Von Braun" opens with a solid barrage of guitar and heaviness, which quickly grabs your attention and retains it through the almost 6-minute long track. "Artificial Intelligence" is a bit spacier, but still heavy and solid with the addition of pedal steel guitar rising above the other layered guitars and synths, and the length of this track seems to fly right by even with it's 6 minute length. The title track "Sea of Tranquility" is the definite stand out to this great EP at almost 9 minutes. The track utilizes its time to slowly build, taking the listener in a more atmospheric sound with soft floating synths and guitars and snippets of field recordings in the background. There are bursts of energy and emotion once the track builds and these sections come and go providing some great dynamic material which keeps everything from going stale.

This is a perfect EP for those just beginning to explore the P/SR genre as it is just enough to give you a good taste of the sound of the genre, while keeping things a bit on the heavy side for the first 2 tracks and then visiting the more atmospheric side of the genre. If you don't like what you hear, then you definitely did not have to sacrifice a lot of time since the EP is only 20 minutes, but for those that are drawn into this music, this EP is a perfect model of what to expect. It also sets a high standard for the music as it is quite well constructed. It is too bad that the band never got a chance to expand a lot, only putting out 2 albums after this EP, but at least they captured the attention enough to now be considered one of the pioneers of the more recent collection of artists that play this genre. "Kyuss" of course went on to become "Queens of the Stone Age", but it's too bad that we never got to see what 35007 would grow into.

From an Old School prog fan point of view, this album is trash. Too many effects, too much noise, too much confusion. Mix is horrible: drums and bass are submerged by a continuos wooosh of noises that spreads all over the tracks and so they are almost inaudible, just guitar stands out. We could say this album is instrumental, as you can hardly say there is any "sung" track, as there are voices here and there, but can hardly be considered "vocal parts". So, this music is ok for anyone who wants to go down heavily on drugs, or which is already stoned at birth, but if anyone is just looking for music, well, just search elsewhere.

To borrow the review style used for quick run downs of albums on best of lists: What makes "Liquid" one of the greatest albums ever to grace these archives? Maybe it's the killer confluence of ambient, space rock, stoner rock, and even a bit of stoner metal the band achieves here. Perhaps it's more succinctly the Thorian guitar work of both Fridael and Sponselee in a bass free environment, only supported by the Liebezeit channeling drumming of Sander Evers. Those riffs on "Crystalline" that sound like Kyuss's best brought to new life in a distant galaxy? Could it be that it is because this is all a concept album about water, so deliciously wrought for a theme that for all we know was conjured up when one of the band members spilled a bong, perhaps onto the gatefold of "In Through The Out Door"? Or maybe because, quite simply, it's tracks are loooong, and fit that element perfectly.

The correct answer is all of the above. Get yourself a copy of this and have yourself a kickin' trip into the beyond, brothers and sisters.

A Dutch band melding several styles of Krautrock music into one (Space, psychedelia, bluesy Post Rock).

1. "Tsunami" (11:06) floating space synths that are joined in the third minute by a SWANS-like guitar line before the band explodes at 4:35 with a full on heavy blues-rock cascade of sound. We're definiely in the Krautrock realm of psychedelia now. In the eighth minute the heavier elements recede while synths slowly re-take the spacefield. Wonderful! But wait! It's not over! It's just the calm before the storm! At 9:00 an explosion of sound introduces a wild cacophony of rock instruments, all playing in a free-for-all of collective yet individual Kali-esque celebration of life and destruction. (18.75/20)

2. "Crystalline" (7:50) rich blues-rock psychedelia from the opening notes, this could be an excellent base for a Robin Trower guitar solo or an ELECTRIC ORANGE song. At the end of the fifth minute the guitars, drums, and bass fade out while creepy space synths take over, looping into an infinite-seeming pattern before the (now expected) explosion of grist and nails comes at the end of the eighth minute. Pretty cool, if now predictable, song. (13.25/15)

3. "Evaporate" (5:53) cool bass and drum groove with floating GONG-like glissando guitars, organ, and power chords filling in some of the spaces over the top. It gets pretty acerbic and raw in the fourth minute as guitars wail away over the heavy bass and drum groove. Turns computer spacey at the end--for the final minute or so. Better than most Gong songs I know. (8.75/10)

4. "Voyage Automatique" (13:24) kickstarted by the previous song (which bleeds into it's first 30 seconds), this one quickly establishes more ELECTRIC ORANGE/GONG sounds and patterns with another groovin' bass and drum track and swirling pedal guitars weaving in an around each other over the top. Saw-like lead guitar enters in the fourth minute to add to the mix but then everything drops down to quietude in the sixth while metronomic bass and drum play show off their CAN-like discipline and fortitude. The rest of the heavily distorted electrified instruments slowly re-amp up but then recede into the background again in the tenth minute, slowly fading further and further into the background until they are gone, leaving only a weak, fragile-sounding synth "signal" to tether us to something "real" within the vastness of space--but this, too recedes, leaving us alone, abandoned, isolated in the overwhelming silence of cosmic spaciousness. Cool, soothing, engaging, yet probably could have done a little more like the previous songs.(26/30)

Total Time: 38:17

B/four stars; a near-masterpiece of space-groovin' progressive rock music (rated down for brevity).

MUSIC IS MATHEMATICS MADE AUDIBLE': BOETHIUS (480-526).... * SEPTEMBER 18th 2005 * 35007 * NEW ALBUM * PHASE V * JUST NUMBERS AND SOUND. NO WORDS NO IMAGES. PHASE V IS AN INTERMEDIATE STATE. NO PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION IN FORESEEABLE FUTURE. TIME WILL TELL WHAT THE NEXT PHASE WILL BE.....

This is what the official website says to launch the new and unfortunately the last album of this spacey band. We are still waiting for the next phase.

The track titles are just made of numbers. One may think that they are times of the day, but 44:05 is possible only since Jupiter to above. Put together they are like a matrix but the last track title doesn't fit. Let's quit with mathematics and move to music now.

This album is not very different from Liquid. The first track is very similar to Tsunami, with a repetitive theme made of powerful keyboards, drums,bass and guitar. Just to give you an idea think to Ozric Tentacles with a touch of Pink Floyd of the Meddle period. There's not the explosion of Tsunami but the second track opens really powerful so it's an explosion itself. Respect to the previous albums there's no longer the hard rock of the debut and there's less psychedelia than on the following ones. Effectively I could think to be listening to the Ozric Tentacles and this is the limit of this album: it sounds like a clone.

Luckily the things change with the third track. A chord of distorted guitar (or is it a bass?) makes the base. The tempo is slow. If you mentally replace this sound with a bass playing the same note alternating the octaves it would sound like Careful With That Axe Eugene, only more powerful and without screams.

The fourth track is slower and a bit more spacey. The guitar makes a good work. With a bit of fantasy I can hear echoes of Porcupine Tree, but the guitar is old-fashioned. This is the only true psychedelic track, bluesy and acid. More of this stuff, please.

The title of the last track should mean that this is the union of two different songs. However it starts with a harping of clean guitar, a crescendo of drums electric guitar and finally organ. The sound of the organ made me think to Niacin at the first listen, and effectively this bluesy song sounds very similar.

In brief the first half of the album doesn't reach the 3 stars, but the last two tracks deserve more than 4, so my final rating is three. If I could limit my review to the last two tracks I would speak of an excellent example of psychedelic rock. During my review I have mentioned some bands. Fans of them should like this album as well.

The second album of the Dutch 35007 doesn't have the garage sound of the debut. It's clear since the first track "Herd" that there has already been a big improvement. The guitars are heavy, but the repetitive base and the vocals not in foreground are very close to the Krautrock style. The guitar riffs that come and go during the song are quite acid, reminders of the early 70s or even late 60s but with a heavy sound.

"Soul Machine" opens very hard with a distorted guitar. What makes it different from a heavy metal song is the voice. The singing is hallucinated, sometimes screamed. I suspect that if it was released ten years after it would have been growled. A hard rock song, mainly.

"Short Sharp Left" is opened by about 40 seconds of spacey sounds, then a clean guitar that seems played by Bryan Josh endlessly repeats a folky tune on which the voice sings distorted. It's a hypnotic song.

"Undo" is full of energy. The distorted voice and the heavy sounds make me think to Senmuth, but in a psychedelic vest. To be honest finding another known artist to compare them to is not easy as this band has a characteristic sound.

"Big Bore" is a heavy metal song, instead. Again I can't think to any comparable band. Everything but boring, this song is full of energy.

"Vein" begins with acoustic guitar and spacey keyboard. This song is a mixture of Kayo Dot and Opeth, but again I can't find the right words to describe it. Very artsy with some oriental elements. My favourite on this album, different from all the other songs. No distorted guitars on this one.

"66" returns to the sounds of the previous tracks, with a repetitive theme and distorted voice. The organ adds a touch of early pychedelia. Heavy and dark.

"Powertruth" is a crescendo until it reaches its hard-rock heights. Powerful, effectively.

The closer "Locker" is unusual on this album but it's a predecessor of the ambient instrumentals of the follwoing album "Liquid". it's 10 minutes long, then after one minute of silence there's a ghost track. A thing I can't stand with in general. It's a chaotic and noisy piece between Ozric Tentacles and Kayo Dot.

This is a good album on which all the tracks are at the same good level. I'm probably a bit generous, but I think that this album can have 4 stars, both for prog and for rock, even if I have rated Liquid the same and I like that one a bit more.

This debut album is probably a bit immature. 35007 are far from the long suites and the concepts of Liquid. It sounds promising but it's probably too heavy for my tastes. Not that I don't like heavy psychedelic. The problem with this album is that it's following the mood of the moment: some garage-band like sound, some electronic as you can find in most of the Ozric Tentacles works, a nice hendrix-style guitar but nothing more. The best album track is probably "Cosmic Messenger". In its average is a good album, but it doesn't make justice to 35007. They can do more (as they effectively did). However, this is not a bad album. Tracks like "Basiculo ad Cummus" remind to Porcupine Tree and to heavy prog in general.

The most relaxing tracks are hypnotic, the remaining are heavy with a touch of Seattle. It's non-essential, but it can be enjoiyed by the genre fans,not only by collectors, so 3 stars apply.

I am a sucker for a good album cover. There was something very "classic science fiction" about the look, so I decided to listen to the sample track. I was very pleasantly surprised. In less than an hour I bought the whole album off iTunes. I've given it three or four complete run throughs since then (like 12am last night). This is a great album.

Not world shattering or incalculably mind blowing. The ideas here aren't the freshest, but they are well presented and engrossing. Liquid is an entirely instrumental album and judging by the song titles it is a concept album inspired by water. Instrumentals and Psychedelic tends to be the mood I'm in lately. I've picked up Vangelis' Heaven and Hell and Tangerine Dream's Rubycon and been revisiting my Ozric Tentacles. The thing I really like about Liquid, especially when put against Heaven and Hell and the Ozrics, is that it is very consistent all the way through. They even come full circle, the sounds that lead off the album show up again at the end. Not only consistent mind you, but consistently good.

On Tsunami (Water) I can really get the post rock influence on the bad. Walls of sound abound. This song has an interesting concept and when you listen to it, you'll know it's aptly named. Up next is Crystalline (Ice). Tsunami just slides right into it without so much as a hiccup. From there Crystalline is pounding heavily distorted drone, I guess that would likely qualify it as stoner rock. Now comes Evaporation (Steam). My personal favourite off the album and the reason I ran out and bought it ASAP. Sonically, Evaporation falls in with the loud drone of Crystalline, but tends to rock a little harder. It has an excellent riff. Finally we arrive at the Voyage Atomique (Plasma). In general it is less intense than the last two. It does do a lot of exploring over its 13 and a half minute course though. It actually reminds me somewhat of the rolling bass beat that drives up the middle of Rubycon. It stays mostly low key. Then again this album doesn't really reach for the stars with crawling solos. Good whole band effort.

Nothing about this album leaps off the page as an unstoppable masterpiece, but you know what? You can do a lot worse than picking up Liquid. I would qualify it most certainly as an excellent addition to any prog rock music collection. If you are interest go to the 35007 page and give Evaporation a listen and it will give you a real good idea of what this album is all about.

Liquid bats four for five.

This is just overwhelming. It seems to be a concept album about water and its different manifestations. Whatever it was meant to be, musically the thread is never lost. It is more like a single 40 min song with recurring themes all through. Heavy, psychedelic, dreamy. It is perfectly composed, creating tensions and surprises. It catches you in the beginning and doesn't let you go until th end. First you've got the quiet before the storm with twinkling, rippling sounds. Perfectly to lean back and kick of your shoes. But after about 5 minutes the song is living up its name. A monstrous tsunami wave hits your speakers: A heavy, nearly doom-like riff (due to its slow tempo). Like the ocean itself it is rising and ebbing away, hitting again when no one would expect it. Seamless it fades into the next track. A groovy bass and drum section accompanies again twinkling and dreamy but also disturbing sounds made by guitar and synth. The song constantly evolves without changing the theme. Now "Evaporate" starts right off with a kickass drum and bass line and heavy riffs. Again, the dynamics are perfectly balanced. "Voyage automatique" continues the overall concept of the Album. Dreamy, floating but still very impulsive. When the last sounds vanish, you get the feeling of waking up from the big sleep. Little sizzling noises and reality turns back in. 555555 Stars

35007 Again Heavy floating Psychedelic Rock at its best. A Soundtrack of a rocket launch. This takes you to the stars and even further. The first two tracks "Von Braun" and "Artificial Intelligence" are very heavy. Drones and Riffs screw themselves into your head like nothing else and end abruptly to leave the stage for the twinkling sounds of the title track "Sea of tranqulitiy", which - after few minutes of a groovy, drifty bass riff- also evolves into a meteor storm! A fantastic EP. The Band makes the very best out of their trio formation. Although I liked their singer in the first albums I don't miss him any second of this record. A true Masterpiece of the EP format. This format is the only drawback - 20 minutes and a bit are way too short. But as this is the music I was always longing for, I just can't give them less than 4 stars.