FANFARE DU CHAOS

I'm not even sure where to start with this one. It's so great though to see new Zeuhl bands popping up over the last five years or so. RHUN are out of France and out of their minds as well. Just look at the pictures in the liner notes of these guys and you'll see what I mean. It's basically made up of two different recording with the first three tracks consisting of 11 members and the last three songs with seven people participating. The cover art is so well done, it suits the music I feel which is dark and out there to say the least. Udi Koomran mastered this beast, but as far as the music goes we get horns, fuzzed out bass and distorted guitar along with a multitude of vocals including female.

"Toz" is interesting the way the vocals and instrumental work seem to mimic each other. Love the fuzzed out bass. Multi- vocals arrive in a frantic way before a calm with a horn and fuzzed out bass takes over. The horn turns dissonant as the drums pound. Back to the vocals as this band really comes off as being unstable. Guitar follows then we get this excellent section 3 minutes in that is intense to say the least with some killer guitar. It turns pleasant surprisingly, beautiful in fact and contrasts will continue. We get flute only 8 minutes in to the end which is a nice touch. "Intermud" is the shortest track at almost 3 minutes and is different from the rest as we get a Chamber-music styled piece. "Dunb" opens with a MAGMA-like heavy rhythm with deep male vocals. Catchy stuff. A calm with flute and a horn 2 minutes in. It kicks back in heavily before 3 1/2 minutes. Female vocals and heavy fuzzed out bass with frantic guitar follows. Another calm after 5 minutes then here we go again. It starts to slow down like a train before 7 minutes with vocals leading then it starts to pick up again and we get some manic spoken words.

"Bumlo" has a determined rhythm with horns over top and more. A calm after a minute with strange vocal sounds. Dissonant horns, guitar and more all start to build then the vocals join in. Insanity 5 minutes in especially with the horns and drums. I like the way "Mluez" begins with the drums and flute. Distorted guitar replaces the the flute then it settles with those zeuhlish vocals. Blasting horns and huge bass lines follow contrasted with the vocals. So much is going on 4 1/2 minutes in with the flute playing over top, then it turns heavy as demented vocals join in. "Ih" opens with sparse sounds but then it starts to turn intense especially the guitar before it settles right down with female vocals and horns as the drums continue. Male vocals and distorted guitar 3 1/2 minutes in as female vocals and horns continue. It picks up in pace and intensity around 5 1/2 minutes before settling right down with dissonant horns and female vocals to the end.

The future sure looks bright for this band. This is an adventerous Zeuhl album that pushes all the right buttons for me.