KOYAANISQATSY

German guitarist Markus Glanz had become disillusioned with his experience of being part of two Metal bands, neither of which panned out, so he took a 2 year break from the industry. Upon returning he was fortunate to meet drummer Stefan Petzoid who had been a part of an early version of DREAMSCAPE. The two just hit it off, being into the same bands and albums. So they started writing songs with Markus' vision in mind. The next key addition was keyboardist Wolfgang Schneider which was huge.

Wolfgang was a Classical composer and player and had won Germany's prestigious MIDI award for composition in Classical music in 1991. So he brings a different flavour than what the duo was going for, but they couldn't pass on him being part of this. A bass player was added and they came up with the unfortunate name of KOYAANISQUATSY. Releasing their debut with the almost equally awkward name of "From The Yearning To Burst The Perpetual Circle". Okay? The band's name is like a saying among the Hopi Indians when someone's life is out of control. How about calling your band OUT OF CONTROL or CHAOS(lol).

But it's about the music in the end, and the music here is fantastic! This really surprised me. That Classical composer really changed their direction adding a lot of orchestral bits that are so impressive. I'm not usually big on Symphonic Metal but this is all instrumental and so well composed. These guys rock hard and the original duo were Power Metal fans and that drummer really brings that sub-genre to mind at times. Mainly this is catchy Metal with plenty of riffs, but adventerous too with some great ideas. They extend pieces a lot, so we get tracks ranging from 9 to 18 minutes after that 3 1/2 minute orchestral opening song.

This is a load at 66 1/2 minutes. The band formed in 1994 and self-released this their debut in 2000. I understand they broke up on New Years Day of 2001 over an incident. No idea. Some nice contrasts on "Memoria" where we get spacey, piano led sections contrasted with the heavy stuff. "Way Of Thoughts" is energetic with riffs early before that calm with acoustic guitar and hand percussion after 6 minutes. That is blown out of the water quickly. Lots of guitar and piano follow. "The Perfect Lie" might be my favourite. The opening atmosphere with distant samples of voices etc. makes this headphone music all the way. It turns more orchestral then we get hit with riffs and power before 4 minutes. Here we go! From here to the end of the song is so impressive. Catchy and repetitive but it works.

"Cosmic Space Dive" opens with piano but how good is this when the tempo picks up with drums and piano leading. Riffs and sweeping orchestral sounds follow but the contrasts of calms and power continue. "Golden Dawn" ends it. An 18 minute ride into the rising sun. This one has it all. Those Power Metal-like soundscapes, orchestral maneuvers on steroids, spacey moods, and the bass is even upfront at times. After 9 minutes we get a similar sounding atmosphere as on "The Perfect Lie" that I described as being headphone music. Like a mini album this massive track.

I will remember fondly my time spent with this one. Especially the times I spun this in the evenings after work. Cranked up, and listening with a smile on my face. A solid 4 stars for this one-off. What could have been.

Listening diary 8th March, 2022: Koyaanisqatsy - From the Yearning to Burst the Perpetual Circle (neoclassical progressive metal, 2000)

It's probably no surprise that this album has something of a cult - it's a one-off album from a band with a strange name, in a style that has honestly not been explored as much as you'd think. Sure, there's tons of symphonic progressive metal, and tons of instrumental technical stuff, but not a lot that really first partway through that. This is an instrumental metal album that doesn't feel like it's there to show off how good the guitarist is. In fact, entire parts of this feel like a piece of classical music, with the same focus on instrumental melodies, recurring motifs and slow mood changes. The guitar here isn't a lead, shining above the rest, it's just a part of an orchestra. This is a symphony, not a concerto. But it has a ceiling - power metal has never interested me and although it's great to have some without any nail scratching vocals, the sections of instrumental power chugging aren't particularly interesting. There are also parts where the limits of creating an orchestra with keyboards in the year 2000 show up - this sounds painfully fake for great lengths. At times when the melodies are good enough to carry it, that's fine, but there are sections where that isn't the case.

6.6 (4th listen)

Part of my listening diary from my facebook music blog - www.facebook.com/TheExoskeletalJunction

Koyaanisqatsy - It means ''Life out of balance'' in the language of the Hopi Indians is an unknow progressive metal band from Munich - Germany releasing one album in 2000 named From the Yearning to Burst the Perpetual Circle. Entire album is instrumental , so every musician try and proves that they know bussines in this field, they have enough room to show to the listner how great they are both in handle the iinstruments and in compositions. I was very pleased when I've heared this album, lots of great keyboards arrangements with some excellent guitar chops ever known in progressive metal genre. A captivating album with a lot to offer, is sad that they are so unknown to larger public, they desearve for sure a wider recognition, because this album is excellent. Great musicianship and brilliant song writting. Ok isa not a masterpiece of the genre but is a damn good one in every way. Just listen to the brilliant pieces like Memoria or Way of Thoughts, sheer briliancy. 4 stars , that means a great album for sure , towards excellent but nothing near masterpiece status, still very enjoyble and recommended if you like this kind of stuff, progressive metal with neo classical leanings here and there.