PYRAMID OF THE SUN

The Edge forms a post-rock band and tries to play Krautrock!

If that sounds totally bananas and much like a mix gone horribly wrong like tuna and coffee - then just hold on a minute... Maserati has been playing a somewhat psychedelic form of instrumental post-rock on their first two outings, and as much as I like them, I´ve always felt there was something missing to the equation. Enter Steve Moore from progressive electronic band Zombi, - and suddenly this mother load of swaying guitars and never-ending crescendos (that usually sticks to the genre like flies on candy) - seems ready for flight.

Steve Moore relies mostly on vintage sounds, but he has a sneaky way of updating them - covering them up in a way, so that, which easily could be something retro and all too familiar, turns into a very modern take on the Berliner school of electronics. Combined with the Maserati sound of crunching rocking textures this album sounds unlike anything I´ve heard from the scene before.

The first song starts out with an electronic aural like feel to it and then quickly forms into the most U2 like track on the album. The tapping melodic guitar, although slightly more distorted than what you would normally associate with the Edge, - in addition the bass trots along very much like Clayton does and even the drums starts out with the signature Mullen beat. Then why does this music sound nothing like U2 you might ask? To tell you the truth, I have no idea - but this sure is a tasty combo.

My absolute favorite track on this is Oaxaca, which just by its name sends my upstairs compartment flying off to Mexico and the Incas. It has a Heldon vibe to it - the album Stand By to be more exact. This was Heldons most accessible work, and the synths here on Oaxaca reflect very much that particular way of knitting themselves in between the beats - thereby creating a beat and underlying current of a nearly reachable melody. Again - combined with the rest of the band, things really starts to get exciting and bubbly.

This album, whilst still retaining its post-rock past, manages to be very relaxing in most places. There is virtually no emphasis on solos whatsoever, but all the more focus on dynamics and creating a sonic venture that is apart from most other artists featured in these parts of the woods.

I must be losing it. I've been listening to this for about a week and even wrote at the top of the page of my review "Space Rock". So I get on here and it's listed under Post-Rock (haha). Oh boy. Anyway I guess according to the bio these Americans are making music that blends Post- Rock, Psychedleic / Space-Rock and Krautrock. They do mention the OZRIC TENTACLES in the bio which I certainly thought of a lot while listening to this. I'm missing the Krautrock part though.

"Who Can Find The Beast ?" has this electronic beat to open then atmosphere floods in around a minute. "Pyramid Of The Sun" has a catchy beat as it becomes fuller and the guitar eventually joins in too. Nice. "We Got the System To Fight The System" opens with guitar but it builds quickly to an uptempo melody. "They'll No More Suffer From Thirst" is again catchy and we get that repetitive beat. The guitar comes and goes.

"Ruins" has a heavy beat with electronics. It starts to slow down 2 1/2 minutes in to the end. "They'll No More Suffer From Hunger" is an uptempo barn-burner. The guitar is ripping it up 4 minutes in. It settles back over the final minute and blends into "Oaxaca". It starts to pick up before a minute. Catchy stuff. "Bye M'friend, Goodbye" has this electronic beat then the guitar comes in after a minute. It's building after 2 minutes then it kicks in to an uptempo soundscape.

3.5 stars for me. I do like this a lot but the music I have of this style like the OZRICS, KORAI OROM, COLORSTAR etc just do it a little better.