VIVA BOMA

After a good debut Cos had to face the departures of Robert Dartsch and Charles Loos, both were quite hard to be replaced.Drums were given to Willy Mazy, a friend of Schell, who gave up at the end of 75' to focus on his studies, replaced by Guy Lonneux.Initially keyboards were given to Dutch Tony Kleinklamer, who later was replaced by ex-Pazop Frank Wuyts for a short time.Finally a young Marc Hollander was responsible for the sax and keyboard section of the group.In between Cos never stopped playing live, touring Germany, France and Spain in an exhausting schedule.The second album of the group was recorded in July 76' at the Cathy's Studio in Brussels, released the same year again on IBC.The album was produced by Placebo's Marc Moulin.

Again what we have here is a Canterbury-styled Progressive/Jazz Rock, maybe a bit more experimental, with lot of twists and turns, special keyboard and electric piano manifestations, some throbbing bass added for good measure and of course Pascale Son's ethereal voice, spread in wordless vocal exrecises.Cos' sound continues to recall the British masters such as NATIONAL HEALTH, HATFIELD AND THE NORTH or BILL BRUFORD's early albums, still you can throw in a bit of a MAGMA-inspired Zeuhl influence in the most sinister moments.The delightful combinations between hypnotic grooves, jazzy interludes and varied keyboard themes, full of solos and atmospheric textures, are the album's highlights, even the shortest tune has something interesting to offer.On the other hand the monster sound of the aforementioned Canterbury legends seems really hard to be overcome, Cos' overall delivery sounds quite smooth compared to the British bands of the style, far of course from safe, but at moments there is a tendency through more poetic, lyrical and atmospheric music than well-crafted interplays.Finally, Hollander seems to be a great addition for the group, his electric piano specifically sounds really attractive.

Another strong album by Cos.The opening preludes and some instrumental ideas are of first class, but this is not actually in the same level as the pure Canterbury-based monumental releases.Warmly recommended if you like Zeuhl, Canterbury Prog, Jazz-Rock or Prog/Fusion.