DAI KAHT II

3.5 stars. Without question this is an improvement on their debut which for me was barely 3 stars. I complained about the lack of a keyboardist on the debut and they have added one here thankfully. This is still guitar driven Zeuhl although props to the band for having the bass pop more on this one plus they've added a guest five member choir that the whole band also adds to so we get some good Zeuhl chanting happening this time. I should embrace this band more since they truly are giving an alternative flavour to that Zeuhl style but as a huge fan of this sub-genre I acknowledge that there is a lot of Zeuhl music that crosses that line of good taste and it's almost always because of the vocals. That old line if you want to clear your house of party guests put on some MAGMA applies here.

My first spin is often telling and the vocals were the put off for me just because they sound too much like MAGMA and in particular Christian Vander's singing and chanting. It's like they took some vocal samples to copy that they liked from that legendary band and proceeded to mimic them very well. To the point of even having that "oh baby" stuff on here with that closer. Still that song is an amazing example of this whole album for me. Such highs that have me rocking out then the next minute I'm cringing. It's been a while I've had an album like this that is so up and down, so high and then so low. I really struggle with inconsistent albums which is keeping me from hitting that 4 star rating. I could go through this record revealing all the highs and the lows for my tastes, it's just one of those records. Yet I can't write this band off yet because I feel they are heading in the right direction but on the other hand why is this taking so long to sound like a legit Zeuhl band?

Like the debut I feel it starts off slow as the first two tracks here do little for me then that third track "Helvet Sttroi II" comes along like the closer with it's big swing up but then the down sections tame my enthusiasm. "Moa Orgata" is the longest at almost 13 minutes and my least favourite just because suddenly it's not Zeuhl anymore when the song starts out. Normal singing and sound but then that Zeuhl style arrives in spades with that MAGMA singing after 4 minutes. Best part of the album are those energetic sections without vocals on the closer, so good. Then the lame sounding Vander vocal style again curbs my enthusiasm(yeah I know).

This is a band who dares to try new stuff in this style of music but then also seems to copy in the vocal department. The dotted covers are unique and hopefully they keep this up as their signature look. A Swedish friend of mine told me that the Finns are crazy so I'm thinking this band may be on to something delving into this style of music. If nothing else this is such an entertaining album and the bass player and guitarist need to be acknowledged.