EISZEIT

In the liner notes it describes band leader Gunter Schickert as being "A pioneer of the echo guitar, a multi-instrumental talent and innovator of his own unique echo rock, Gunter has been long active on the Berlin scene, from the 60's in Free-Jazz, then fronting many bands, and also playing in concerts with Klaus Schulze. He's one of the most prolific, yet least known of the Krautrock musicians". The band name GAM is an acronym of the three musicians' first names. 2 guitarists and a drummer, a unique trio indeed. Julian Cope praised this bands debut from 1976 saying that it really blew his mind. This is their second album which was recorded in 1978 but disappeared with the producer never to be seen again. So it wasn't actually released until 2005 ! They had Gunter's stereo reel copy and had to do some major cleaning up of the sound. Alan Freeman restored and edited it in 2002. This album sounds so unique and amazing, I swear there's synths and electronics on here but they claim it's echo guitar and guitar affects along with drums. So when I describe what I hear keep that in mind. Thankyou Rivertree for your review 'cause I don't know if I ever would have heard of this band without it.

"Tropfstein" opens with what sounds like electronic twittering as haunting synth-like sounds come in and continue. Clashing cymbals come and go. This is very experimental. The drums come in late. "Sepp Oben Ich Unten" opens with what sounds like bass or moog as synth-like sounds wash in. Drums follow. Just a great sounding track ! "Geige" has this heavy beat with haunting synth-like sounds. Check out the sound after 2 1/2 minutes. This is fantastic ! "Demons" has these high pitched vocals early. A beat before 1 1/2 minutes as vocals continue. Cool sound. The tempo picks up with a lot of guitar echoes. "Wilderness" kicks in fairly quickly. This is uptempo psychedelia. A great rhythm as spacey sounds blow throughout.

"Verlass Mich Nieht" opens with these eerie sounds. We get a slow beat after a minute. High pitched vocals 2 1/2 minutes in. Guitar echoes 4 1/2 minutes in. Great sound ! This is trippy stuff. "Ich Bin Ein Teil" is the longest track at almost 8 1/2 minutes. We get almost spoken words with drums and dark sounds. The guitar comes in when the vocals stop. Awesome sound before 4 minutes. Check out the guitar and drums ! The guitar is lighting it up before 6 minutes. What a way to end the album.

What a shame this wasn't released back in the late seventies. Thankfully though we have it now, and if your into Krautrock it's a must. This album really got me excited and that's what it's all about. I completely agree with Rivertree's 5 star review.