KOGEL MOGEL

The SOTanic guys are back. The Crimsonian atmospheres are still there, but the music is less fragmented than on the first two albums and this is an aprreciate improvement. Since the first track the impression is of an album a little darker than the previous one, on which there's still some fun, enhanced by the crazyness brought in by the tuba, which in this band replaces excellently the bass.

In the first track, as example, there's an interlude whose melody would be trivial but its highly distorted. The a- capella choir on the second track is another funny interlude in aa apparently chaotic track dominated by the tuba but on which at the same time drums and guitar often play at unison with it.

The same happens on track 3, where the crazy interlude is played by the vocies and guitar and tuba play unison until a drastic change into grotesque after 2 minutes.

I go ahead track by track, but I'm already too synthetic. There's really a lot going on even if a less than 4 minutes track.

Track 4 proceeds darkly and soft. The jazz imprinting is more than evident. It brings me to a smoky club in a dark rainy night. The guest saxophonist Grzech Piotrowski deserves a mention.

Of course after a track like that we need to wake up. Don't ask me what the signature is on track 5. If irrational numbers could be used for signatures, this could be one...Again the sax helps moving toward more jazzy environments, but the basis of the track is again Crimsonian.

The trilogy of tracks guesting the sax ends with track 6. This time it's like we moved to Canterbury, This track reminds me to the early GonG, those of the instrumental parts of Angel's Egg but with a touch of darkness that GonG didn't have. The guitar riff in the final part of the track, with somebody vocalizing like a trumpet is remarkable.

If anybody wants to hear what a tuba can do, the initial part of track 8 clarifies it. The track itself is the first completely fun, without the darkness of the rest of the album.

Track 8 starts like a military march. If it wasn't for the singing closer to GonG than to the operatic vocals of Magma, I could have said "borderline to Zeuhl", but no. It's SOT and nothing else. The reason why I mention other bands is just to give an idea, but this is an original band and this song is crazy. The choir is crazy and hypnotic backed by drums first and guitar later.

The album says that some LAH guests on track 9 playing clarinet and some Kala Ukulele bass (whatever it is). I suspect the guy behind is Lars Andreas Haug (LAH are the initials). The absence of percussion and the quietness of the major chords made me think to the Camel of Rain Dances. A very nice album closure that doesn't have anything to do with the rest.

Let's spend few words for the great instrumental skill of this trio, too.

The previous releases were both excellent, but this one is even better. Surely an excellent addition to any prog collection.