SYMPHONICA

If you want to check out this amazing band then this might be the place to start. Pretty much all of RUINS other releases feature the duo of drums and bass only, where they create frantic, chaotic, noisy and complex music. This one is more ear friendly shall we say, and even at that this is for the adventerous. If your a Zeuhl fan I think you will like this one. What makes this more accessible then their others is the addition of Oguchi Kenichi from KENSO on keys, organ and mellotron. Oguchi would go on to play on Yoshida's other band KOENJIHYAKKEI's "Nivraym" record. Two female singers are added as well including Kubota Aki who sang and played keys on KOENJIHYAKKEI's first two albums.The vocals both male and female are so impressive.

"Thebes" opens with male vocals as female vocals lend support. This is dark and heavy. The mellotron is such a highlight on this song both before 3 minutes and after 4 1/2 minutes especially. There is some speaking and yelling at times on this track. "Graviyaunosch" features a rapid fire drums and keyboard melody. Impressive. Female vocal melodies arrive followed by male vocals in this high speed and chaotic affair. Nice organ solo after 5 minutes. "Big Head" opens with male and female vocals singing the same line over and over. Some crazy drumming follows accompanied by organ. Mellotron 2 minutes in. A calm after 3 minutes that continues for 3 minutes more as tasteful female vocals lead the way. Great passage. The intensity returns before this one ends.

"Praha In Spring" is the closest track to being symphonic. The keys are such a highlight. Dual vocals 1 1/2 minutes in. The keys sound like Banks is playing them, very GENESIS sounding. The male vocals are incredible. This song is a nice break actually. "Thrive" sounds like we are listening to a conversation or something. People speaking anyway. Heavy drums and bass. A female vocal melody arrives before 2 minutes followed by an organ melody. Uptempo craziness after 4 minutes. "Infect" opens with organ and Zeuhl-like vocal melodies.The female vocals are excellent on this track. A strange section after 4 minutes with talking and fooling around. Vocal-wise it's kind of cool. A full sound is back 6 minutes in. Lots of keys swirling about as drums pound and dual vocals sing. "Brixon Varromiks" has a nice dark and heavy sound. The drumming is fantastic ! Organ helps out. Female vocals 1 1/2 minutes in as the song calms down. It's still dark though. The song picks up 3 minutes briefly before we get back the slow, heavy melody. The tempo continues to shift. "Bliezzaning Moltz" features female spoken vocals as drums, bass, organ and synths play out. It does become a vocal track before returning to the spoken words.

Once I got used to their sound I really fell for this record. Easily a 4 star record with a warning label attached.