PUNGENT EFFULGENT

Having enjoyed the "Hidden Step" album that I got it by accident when I was visiting local CD store couple months ago, weeks later I purchased this album from the same store. Before the "Hidden Step" experience, I had not tracked the band for the last couple years, about 5 years, I think. I'm impressed with this album. Yes, there is obvious disco or house music infected style in this album but it's more than that, especially when I observe the drumming, guitar work and multitude of sound effects / synthesizer. The music of Ozric is adventurous and experimental, I would say. On top of the musical part, the sonic quality of the CD is good, especially when I play it loud. The detailed soundscape can be heard clearly. It's advised that if you spin the CD, you should play it loud with a decent stereo set. Don't ever use a mini stereo set at first spin as it may produce inferior sounds resulting lack of appreciation to the music and imperfect experience for you.

I find the band has its own category. Yes, there are influences of other bands, probably, by Pink Floyd, Gong, Hawkwind, or even Yanni (new age) or Robert Miles. But it is not a real or obvious influence, I believe, as Ozric music is original. It's probably a "space psychedelic progressive rock" - the closest definition. There are lot of sampling or programming techniques used in Ozric music. If you fail to enjoy at first spin, give another chance of at least 4-5 spins, it will grow dramatically!

The Tracks

I'm not going to review each track the album offers, but some tracks of peculiar interest include the following:

"Dissolution" starts mellow with keyboard work with repeated chords in a spacey style. The music flows in with a mark of dynamic drumming.It forms a beautiful opening part. The music then continues in crescendo style. FLOYDIAn guitar work then continues to flow nicely. It then creates a guitar sound that reminds me to the intro of Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell" (especially the live version). It's a very cool solo guitar; it provides a rocking nuance. The music then continues to flow in faster tempo. The howling guitar sound is really stunning. Drum work is dynamic. Keyboard then follows with spacey nuance. There are lyric-less human voice that enriches the song. Excellent composition. This seems like the band's classic favorite as it is featured in the double disc live set at Pongmasters Balls (see my previous review).

"O-1" is the band's experiment with a jazz-rock fusion but maintaining its spce psychedelic style. As in typical Ozric style, the music moves in crescendo style through sound exploration of synthesizer sounds and guitar solo.

Usually I don't favor any reggae music but this band has played reggae in a unique way through "The Domes of G'Bal" track. The intensive use of sound effects in a spacey style has made this track different with any UB 40 or Bob Marley- like bands. When the electric solo guitar enters the music, it does not really sound reggae at all.

"Ayurvedic" opens with a quiet passage through sound explorations with keyboard and guitar works. This opening is then followed with a soft bassline (solo) that lifts the music up through a spacey style of background keyboard. Drum sounds increase its appearance to accentuate the music. The flute sound then fills in the music followed nicely with soft guitar solo. In the middle of the track the music turns into a faster tempo with intensified sound effects. It's an uplifting track. My CD has a bonus track of this track live version with a running time of 19 minutes. I actually like the version much than the studio one.

"Kick Muck" kicks off with an electric guitar melody in the vein of Alex Lifeson of RUSH. This guitar work reminds me to "The Spirit of Radio" intro. An interesting track in a fast tempo exploring wide variety of sounds. Excellent rocking track.

"Agog in the Ether" is a track that truly explores the richness of percussion sounds. It reminds me to the ethnic music of West Sumatra (Padang) - one province of Indonesia.

My Overall Recommendation

Recommended album that is excellent addition to any prog collection. Rating 4/5. If you are okay with repeated rhythm / melody and rich sound explorations, this album might suit you. You are the final judge on the CD purchase. Keep on Progging .!!!

Progressively yours,

GW - Indonesia.

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