ORIGINS

Pyschedelia bordering on Kosmische Musik from this young, rather large Swedish ensemble . . . or is it Kosmische Musik bordering on psychedelia. Anyway, it's like a cross between BRAINTICKET and AMUN DüüL, or MIDDAY VEIL and ELECTRIC ORANGE.

1. "Vulkanen" (20:57) opens with lots of layers of deep, apocalyptic thrums and hums before drums and bass anchor it into a song-like flow. Tons of sonic experimentals thrown in while chain saw guitar and horn synth keep it moving forward. Brief slowdown, sounddown in the fifth minute is followed by a renewed commitment to the established groove with more experimental sounds thrown in over the drums, bass, keys, and guitars. This reminds me of music like Kosmische revivalists ELECTRIC ORANGE/COSMIC GROUND/Dirk Jan Müller. In the eighth minute there is another downstripping leaving only saws and howling wolves. This relative quietude continues for several BRIAN-ENO-esque Ambient Music minutes while piano and guitar, synths and percussives, bass and voices make small contributions to a rather minimalistic rhythm and soundscape. In the twelfth minute organ and synth begin making more prominent contributions. This is then followed by flutes, female voices, and slowly picked guitars taking over as the predominant instruments. By the time the fourteenth minute has passed, this is all of the sound being created. Eventually, ever-so delicately, organ, tuned percussion, synth, bass, begin to make themselves known. A very GENESIS-like flute melody begins at the 15-minute mark--just before a chaotic "explosion" of cacophonous sound breaks out. Bass, drums and a few other support instruments begin laying down another hypnotic Kosmische weave as the cacophonous contributions of myriad others continues to fill the post-Big Bang soundscape. Heavily distorted voice begins narrating a volcanic picture of what's going on. I've got to admit: This is a pretty cool song--one that took me on a pretty engaging and entertaining journey. (45/50)

2. "Babalon Rising" (5:55) plays out like a BRAINTICKET or MIDDAY VEIL song--especially due to the two vocal styles used by the female vocalist(s). Nice treated piano and sax play in the second half. (8.75/10)

3. "En Bit Av Det Tredje Klotet" (3:42) with its synths and driving rhythm groove, this one sounds very much like a song by L.A. psych band PERPLEXA. Mostly a setup for synth experimentation over Kosmische groove. (8.5/10)

4. "Naturligt Samspel" (2:56) hypnotic, sedating acoustic percussives with bird tweets. (4/5)

5. "Monte Verita" (8:21) a Kosmische jam that builds very slowly over a single bass riff and some percussives and rapidly oscillating organ chords. Heavily effected track of vocal choir enters at the four minute mark followed by horns. Single voices gradually begin to be added to the weave with their own individualistic contributions as rolling bass, guitars, and more subtle instruments are also added. The vocals become extra-trippy for the final minute. (8.25/10)

4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of Kosmische-oriented progressive rock music.