TIPS ZUM SELBSTMORD

In general I'm attracted by any reference to H.P. Lovecraft who is one of my favorite writers. Unfortunately I still have to find a band able to reproduce the dark evilish mood of his novel, with the exception of the Arzachel's Azatoth.

So forget HPL, I think the lyrics are about his horrors and nightmares, but the music is "just" heavy psychedelic.

So, ignoring "the book of the names of the deads" and the fool Alhazred what remains is excellent psychedelia with more than a hint of hard rock, closer to Uriah Heep or Deep Purple than to Pink Floyd.

"Prologue" starts with the singer making what seems to be a parody of "Hocus Pocus" then it's quickly transformed into a very acid jam full of guitars and organ. The sudden end is an unusual way to close a track of this kind.

"Requiem Den Natur" is opened by a dark psychedelic noise, like Tangerine Dreasm of the Pink Period, but unexpectedly when the noise stops we have a quiet acoustic guitar harping and very sweet and melodic singing, even if still very psychedelic. We are in 1972, but this song seems to come from 4 or 5 years before. The low-pitched choir in the middle should sound weird, but fails in being horrorific. Lovecraft wouldn't have been sad for the death of Mother Nature. A great track, Nobody pretends that the music fits with the band's name. The second half of the song is heavy blues with the guitar solo a bit too "jammed". Not all he notes are at the right place.

"Tips Zum Selbstmord" is even more acid. It's like the Doors have taken Amphetamines instead of the usual stuff. A heavy blues with acid guitar and percussive bass played very fast. It sounds more American than German. Then when the rhythm calms down we are back in a world made of hard rock. The only very Kraut thing is the vocalist. Another sudden stop.

The acoustic intro of "Die Stadt" with the guitar a little untuned is the most Krautrock moment. It reminds to Amon Duul II before turning into hard rock but with a strong krautrok flavor thank to the lead vocalist while the "aaahhh" accents seem typical Uriah Heep stuff. Good hard rock with the bass leading while guitar and keyboards jam. The final return to the initial theme closes the jam in a regular way.

"In Memoriam" Is bluesy. A mixture of Cream and Can. Again it's more psychedelic than horrorific. What is remarkable on this track is the keyboard's background. In the more relaxed moments is quite similar to the mentioned Arzachel's Azatoth. I'm nit German speaking but I have the impression from few words catched that the lyrics are a sort of elegy for H.P. Lovecraft (or maybe for the whole world?). Please somebody correct me from wrong (also because I don't know what the percentages mean in the spoken part).

The final "Requiem fur ende" starts with a Uriah Heep like choir but is more acid oriented. Fans of Hendirx or in general of the acid rock of the late 60s will surely enjoy it, including when they calm down and become very dark and floydian. For a while I've thought to Electric Prunes' Kyrie Eleison. It's a psychedelic crescendo that leads to the third section of the song that's again rminding of Amon Duul II. Here there's a good bass solo. If I'm not wrong there's a bit of chorus and distorsion together on the bass. When the keyboard join the bass over obsessive percussions we have finally a bit of Lovecraft's mood, then a rock final closes the track and the album.

It's good. It's krautrock and it's the only album released by this band, so 4 stars.