FAMILJESPRICKOR

Zamla Mammaz Manna

RIO/Avant-Prog

4.15 | 137 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

This may be the final album by a band in disarray, but somehow they're still able to put together some incredibly tight performances of highly demanding compositions.

1. "Five Single Combats" (5:52) (8.75/10)

2. "Ventilation Calculation" (5:05) a top three composition on the album because of the balanced contributions of all of the instruments and fairly decent recording and mix. Unfortunately, it sounds like an American (Allman Brothers) farewell song. (9/10)

3. "The Forge" (5:04) a solid and decent, hard-driving jazz-folk rock fusion song. I love the prominent/featured performance of the accordion. My second top three song. (9/10)

4. "The Thrall" (Live in Strassbourg and Charleville, France) (5:05) opens as if it was faded in, mid-song, during an improvisational section of another song. Weird with little substance or and no apparent cause or aim. (7/10)

5. "The Panting Short Story" (3:52) far more sedate and straightforward (and melodic) than is typical of SMM/ZMM but still complex and tight. (8.5/10)

6. "Pappa (with right of veto)" (Live in Sülfeld, Germany) (4:27) rock and roll! (on the bluesy side) which then turns into a kind of comic parody of Slavic (Russian) folk music. Interesting. The animosity between the two countries persists. (8.75/10)

7. "The Farmhand" (7:33) no tradition or institution (or trade) is off limits from the barbs of sarcasm of these guys. Like the soundtrack music to a comic silent movie of the 1920s.(13/15)

8. "Kernel in Short and Long Castling" (5:40) music to be taken seriously--due to the extraordinarily tight musicianship, broad dynamics, and effective expression of a central mood--but also due to the best sound engineering of any song on the album. My final top three song. (9.25/10)

Total Time: 42:38

There's something missing in the music on this album. Heart or soul. The fact that the band had to cull two songs from live performances is, to my mind, indicative of a band on their last legs.

B/four stars; a nice contribution to a prog lover's music collection--especially if you like unusual, often humorous music from top notch musicians.

BrufordFreak | 3/5 | 2020-10-1

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