GULF

This 1998 CD-R really scared me, and I don't scare easy when it comes for music. I can listen to Tangerine Dream's Zeit and not get spooked out, but Gulf is probably one of the most sinister sounding recordings I have ever heard. The band captured the gruesome feel of the 1991 Gulf War. Gulf was apparently recorded in 1993 just as they acquired a Doepfer MAQ 16/3 sequencer, but as with so many of their releases, never released at the time, this one seeing the light of day in 1998, as a band-sanctioned CD-R. "Gulf" starts off with their trademark sequencers, with plenty of great synths and Mellotron. "Scud" really frightens me with that sinister droning, plus the sound of warfare, you expect nothing lighthearted when a band is trying to create the feel of war. "Desert Storm", for some reason is a bit mellower, but there are some really otherwordly sounds that surface. This stuff is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure, but even this release, they prove once again they make great music without going that "play it safe" New Age route!