AZYNDER!

One of the many projects of Sweden based Magnus E.A. Lundberg, OGO DYS takes the cake for its utmost wackiness and taking avant-prog to the most bizarre levels humanly possible all the while trying to inject some humor into the mix. The project lasted from 2008 - 2013 with four albums, 2 EPs and a compilation oozing out of dude's tripped out nogger. While starting out as a more Cardiacs infused take on Mr Bungle, OGO DYS albums became more focused on pure prog albeit extremely demanding slices of avant-prog that focused on instrumental workouts in the vein of Univers Zero, Art Zoyd and Magma and leaving behind much of the quirky humor displayed at the beginning.

However on AZYNDER! all of the quirky punky humor that graced "Neptune Everywhere" is back in full swing with heady cartoonish visions of psychedelic elves on mushrooms trying to emulate Frank Zappa's most demanding avant-prog workouts complete with those impish vocals and unpredictable time signature zigzags. The angularity is turned up to 11 on AZYNDER! and this album of 15 tracks really sounds like the ultimate marriage of Mr Bungle, Cardiacs, Univers Zero, Frank Zappa and let's add a bit of circus music, ragtime and Steve Vai's first album "Flexible" to the mix. But of course that's only the surface that is scratched. This album is an incessant rampage of brutal prog workouts that will surely drive an abecedarian of prog into the insane asylum.

One look at the album cover art and you can tell that this is not an ordinary listening experience and it's so true that the surreality of this music matches the cover art and even exceeds expectations. Rhythms are set to 11 for avant-prog angularity and likewise the whimsey is on full Zappa mode only on helium which adds even more ridiculousness. The cartoonish feel of bands like Mr Bungle is also on full display much like the crazy rhythms as heard on tracks like "Stubb A Dubb" on the debut album. Time signatures have never been more unpredictable but this album is highly energetic with an incessant rampage of changing parts as if the world was close to ending and this music must be condensed immediately or forever to be lost in the annals of time.

Add a bit of monster movie soundtrack sounds from the 60s including surf rock, vocal samples and art rock surprises seamlessly melded into the instrumental technical workouts of ragtime piano and you have a recipe for some of the most bizarre prog workouts that i've personally ever heard and let me tell you that i've heard a lot! This is like avant-prog 5.0 when you didn't even know that there was an upgrade to 3.0! Most of these tracks are short little psychotic ditties that in any given track run the gamut of Frank Zappa on speed with Cardiacs infused pronk along with intense slower parts that emphasize the jaggedly bizarre anti-melodies and other timbre related textures. The production has gotten much better at this point as well.

"Montesuma Fire Stomp" is less than a minute long but features some jazz and ragtime that is off the charts in its quality thus showing Lundberg's top notch status as a virtuosic musician who can pretty much pull any rabbit out of his hat. "Dux II" shows some jazz swing in avant-prog mode. "Yoog Moga Retaliation" has to be one of the most outrageous examples of OGO DYS on steroids even within his highly eclectic mad-cap-o-sphere. "Ausklang" is short but sweet and like an alternative soundtrack to "Rosemary's Baby" in spaghetti western form. "Proxima Pazuzu" ends with an alien sounding version of 60s psych pop! Whoah! This is the most eclectic and demanding of all the OGO DYS albums and captures the spirit of the debut and then takes things up several notches and beyond! This is the stuff brutal avant-prog wet dreams are made of! I think i'm in love. Pant pant.