(NOT) VERY HIGH

Belgian freaks Will Z. and Majnun are managing the COSMIC TRIP MACHINE. Last year they offered their debut 'Lord Space Devil' which was a great surprise for me spiked with a cornucopia of ideas. Short compact songs representing their inspirations which reach back to the 60s psychedelia. Now this single production consisting of two free downloadable songs is an appetizer for their new album 'Vampyros Roussos' - concipated as a rock opera, a soundtrack of an imaginary movie - once more provided with 18 tracks as if this number is something magical for them.

One difference attracts attention immediately when listening - this time they use acoustic drums. Compared to the predecessor album's mainly folk/raga/psych mixture this cares for more rock music impressions. Stylistically the short songs seem to be excerpts of a rollercoaster trip really. On (Not) Very High swirling organ and a sitar are opening for a more popular rocking behaviour coupled with nice vocals and a great guitar solo, later gliding into hallucinatory territories.

The (almost) charming Revelation Evil is presented with a happy mooded beat plus 'lalala' vocals and when you are totally wrapped into this evil outfit they stir you up suddenly when turning into something weird avantgarde with sawing guitars and furious drums. Well - this foreshadows some very interesting listening sessions I'm sure. 3.5 stars for a short but successful foretaste of the new album.