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Skunk Anansie meets Lene Lovich in a Zeuhl world.

Here's an oddity if there ever was one. I'll start with my final impression, stripped to the bone, and nurtured after repeated listening ' this is an entity that can be recommended both to old fashioned prog purists as well as to the fans of new school(s) of prog. It's accessible, it's bizarre, quirky, you name it. And it's impossible to pin-point it down; after a hail to the Wagneresque heights of Norwegian gods in majestic chugging, the next moment is poppy, disco-ish, funky (sort of B 52's or CHIC mannerism) but with angularity of KRAFTWERK robot movements. Not to mention only a hint or two, presented by a bare innuendo, of our beloved genre - a hint of fusion, MANDRILL-style, presented by a spacey tap or two of digital delay.

When a vocal pops in, it's a rich timbered female one, suitable for any gospel choir. Her vocal expressions are varying from a modern r n' b level (sic!) to the most evil commando on the most distanced Zeuhl planet! Now there's something to scratch your head about. If we throw in a solid amount of avant approach, an incredibly overdriven organ in 5ths and a teaspoon of vocoderized, undecipherable motives to make it sound shiny happy poppy - there's nothing else to do but to recommend it to everyone interested in vivid, colourful collage of humorous and bizarre ingredients. Recommended. Again. Recommended.

This is an interesting album. Chrome Hoof was formed by Leo Smee, bassist of UK metal band Cathedral, and his brother Milo Smee. Then they added about a hundered other people to the group. There are many instruments used besides the regular guitars, bass and drums like keyboards, as well wind and string instruments. There are both male and female vocals. Musically, they are all over the place. You will hear things similar to some PA sub-genres like Zeuhl, RIO or space rock mixed with disco, ska or IDM.

"Nordic Curse" opens with spacey sounds and vocals before it goes into some sort of Zeuhl metal. Tape gets sped up at the end. "Tonyte" is almost funk-punk. Cool bass playing. Gets more stereotypical prog sounding in the middle before changing to a kind of New Wave funk metal. Female vocals here. "Circus 9000" opens with great organ and synth. Then it goes into some sort of ska/circus music/metal hybrid. In the middle the music changes to electric piano and cello. Then what sounds like sax and guitar join in. Goes back to the previous section.

The highlight of the album is "Moss Covered Obelisk", which has some strong Zeuhl and avant-prog influences. It begins with piano and strings, then bass comes in and it sounds like an update of Magma's '70s sound. Changes to a great blues-rock part with saxophone. Later you hear the voice of a woman giving a speech. A repeated guitar part leads to a section with great trumpet. Good drumming at this point. Later some jazzy guitar and strings leads to a reggae-rock part with a great slap-bass sound and horns. A real standout track.

"Symbolik 180[degrees]" has a circle instead of [degrees], but I can't type that symbol. This song has a terrific riff on distorted synth and guitar. Nice cowbell. Catchy song, but it's way too short. "Egg 'N Bass" sounds like Polish electronic artist Bogdan Raczynski. Nice interesting song but too short. "Spokes Of Uridium" begins as jazzy disco-metal. Music gets more varied in the middle. Techno style synth sounds and drum programming come in. Goes back to the jazzy disco-metal part. A drum solo later. Then someone on something does an imitation of the opening guitar sounds of Sabbath's "Iron Man". Intense ending.

The album title is pretty neat. I haven't heard their first album but I have heard their latest 2010 album. It hasn't been added to PA yet, but I didn't enjoy it as much as this one. These guys get points for at least attempting to mix different genres together in a unique way. The combination generally works. I like that they mix both old school prog sounds with more modern non-prog elements. This comes highly recommended, but I'm not sure to who. Anyway, a great album that should be heard by more people. 4 stars.