KREIDENFELS

The unpronounceable SC'ÖÖF comes from the Swiss city of Lucerne founded in 2015 by Elio Amberg (saxophone), Noah Arnold (saxophone), Amadeus Fries (drums) and Christian Zemp (guitar). This quartet is known for energetic live shows that take on the task of mangling repetitive rhythms with bombastic dueling saxophone attacks with touches of post-punk guitar riffs.

SC'ÖÖF has so far released two albums, this debut KREIDENFELS which emerged in 2017 on BandCamp and the more recent "Weaving Elephants" which was released by Club Denmark, a label, collective and event location founded in 2019. KRIEDENFELS features six tracks and just skirts over the 31 minute playing time.

This debut is an exercise in free jazz especially the European variety in the vein of Peter Brötzmann, Manfred Schoof or Tomasz Stańko. For those not privy to jazz music distinctions, the European style of free jazz is characterized by highly improvised experimentalism that completely eschews the "swing" of American jazz. The mood is dark and forbidding whilst the guitar additions add a bombastic contrast albeit sparingly.

In many ways, SC'ÖÖF's debut sounds very much like some of the most "out there" examples of free jazz from the late 60s and early 70s, the style that could be heard by artists like Evan Parker, Albert Mangelsdorff or Peter Kowald only SC'ÖÖF adds touches of avant-prog angularities much like Henry Cow's four album run of the 70s.

While punk guitar is present, it only sporadically erupts from the jagged irregularities of the compositional flow. Atonal clean guitar strums are much more common with the duo saxophone attacks constructing the atmospheric turbulence. The most "normal" sound to be heard is the drum rolls that evoke more traditional jazz conventions.

This may be of interest to fans of avant-prog infused jazz bands like France's Jean Louis but overall KREIDENFELS is nothing more than a completely free form jazz run that never coalesces into any sort of album experience and while i do love me some free jazz, SC'ÖÖF doesn't really perform anything here that hasn't been done countless times in the past. This is a decent avant-garde debut but falls short in elevating the world of free jazz.