VOLUME 10

Oh ... at the very first I took notice of the album title ... immediately being about to check the truth content. You should know, the ELECTRIC ORANGE members don't take it too seriously. Or, better the other way round, they do not solely deliver exceptional music, they are also fundamentally taking delight in confusing people with uncommon aspects and their play of words. Well, in this particular case, when excluding 'Tonbandreste' (1994) and 'Orange Communication' (1995), both not listed as regular albums on their homepage, the working title 'Volume 10' suits, curiously enough. Now I'm sure we successfully have taken the first hurdle.

When considering the song titles though, it really goes crazy again - innovative in their view, and of course that's true, no doubt. As the second hurdle is build up a bit higher here, we stumble upon Black Sabbath infected puns - Paraboiled, Slowbind, Symptom Of The Mony Nurse, Behind The Wall Of Sheep ... and even more riddles, which I wasn't able to solve until today. A bizarre reference or not? What I only can assure is that they are not simply expressing nonsense. There's always at least an iota of truth given, you only have to dig deeper in order to reach for the hidden treasure or so.

As for that at the moment I will be content with the verdict, that the current ELECTRIC ORANGE outcome appears somewhat doomy ... though not depressive really on the other hand, more darkened than ever. And so the third hurdle, or challenge if you will, marks the music as such - well, it would not surprise me if we will detect some more of them somewhere in the future. How could I describe the sound in short at best? Absolutely tension-filled - 'Spannung pur' to say it in German. Going from the general to the particular, they certainly are on the way to enhance the neo kraut label again. So all in all this is what I would call 'provided with a nouveau tag' - or in other words genre pioneering.

Just while taking up the spirit of the past and establishing something pressing forward on top - whether improvised or not. I'm listening to a rather melancholic affair, featuring meandering soundscapes and tribal drums. Hereby they are using (experimenting with) all sorts of vintage and uncommon instruments. I mean, who really knows what a philicorda or a phonofiddle is? At least, headed by both Dirk's, who are currently also underway with the band SPACE INVADERS, this spiritually reminds me of the 'Unterwasser' ambience more than ever at some point.

Impressive - they are back on track again. To be honest, I didn't expect an album offering such a high quality as the next step from this band. Please be keenly aware, this one needs some time to unfold its real beauty, as many other albums of such a caliber too. No chance to emphasize any particular song here (hey, apart from the puns). 'Volume 10' is a very rounded blend featuring eight sections, offering an intensive, dark mooded, certainly inspired atmosphere. However, to describe this gem fitting more exactly seems to me nearly impossible yet - 4.5 stars.