ENERGIT

Take the Mahavishnu Orchestra sound from The Inner Mounting Flame, remove the violin and put a mean sax in its place: that's what the Energit sound amounts to on their self-titled debut album. Are they a clone band here? Well, maybe, maybe not, different people draw the line different places on that score - but what I can say is that just as band leader Lubos Andrst is able pull off an uncannily accurate take on John McLaughlin's guitar tone, the band as a whole manage to match early Mahavishnu in terms of style and compositon for much of this album, right down to the similar mix of louder, volcanic excursions and quieter, more peaceful pieces.

If you desperately wish the original Mahavishnu lineup had made another album or two, you could do a lot worse than investigating this, though at the same time I don't think Energit build much that is novel on the borrowed foundations they are working with.