EWAZ VADER

Thankyou "Prog Archives" for adding this band to the site. They are listed under Jazz / Fusion but have a definite Zeuhl flavour to their music. In fact three of the four members of this band presently play for MAGMA. The musicianship on this album made my head spin (or was that something else), anyway they originally formed the band in order to play a "one off" concert (hence the name ONE SHOT) but soon realized that this was something special that they needed to continue.There is nothing on this record that I would change, I can't express how incredible this album sounds.

"Ewaz Vader" opens with heavy bass lines as cymbals and a Fripp-like guitar melody create an intense sound. The bass is relentless, which is maybe not too surprising since this is a Bussonnet composition. Such a full and heavy sound as the keys play over top. Just incredible ! Check out the intensity 10 minutes in. The song ends with the sound of explosions. "Fat" and the next song were composed by keyboard player Emmanuel Borghi. "Fat" opens with keyboard sounds in a dark and eerie atmosphere.The song starts to come to life 2 minutes in with a melody that builds. Guitar sounds amazing 4 minutes in as it grinds out some melodies. We get a Jazz vibe after 5 minutes. I really like the drummer's style, actually I could say that about the whole band. So impressive. I love the Fender Rhodes 7 minutes in as the bass throbs.The sound is building as guitar comes in with guns blazing 8 1/2 minutes in. It's on fire 11 minutes in as we get some scorching melodies.

"I Had A Dream (Part III & IV)" opens with gentle keyboard melodies. The sound seems purposely restrained with a Jazz flavour. That changes 5 1/2 muntes in with some fat, pulsating bass lines that bring MAGMA to mind. The beat is relentless 8 1/2 minutes in as the piano plays over top. Very intense 3 minutes later. "Missing Imperator" is a MacGaw composition, and is "Dedicated to our dear friend Laurent Imperato." With the guitarist composing this track you know the guitar is going to spend a fair amount of time in the spotlight. And thankfully it does. Listen to the different sounds that compliment each other in the beginning of this track. This is interplay 101.The guitar is blistering. 3 minutes in might just be the best sound on the album. What a great heavy sound as the guitar is ripping it up. There is an uptempo, catchy melody 7 minutes in. The drumming is so amazing 10 minutes in from Daniel Jeand'heur, I just had to give out the name of this talented man. The heaviness is back 11 minutes in. You have to hear this !

Simply a masterpiece of Jazz / Fusion / Zeuhl. A must have for fans of any of these genres. I can't wait to get their live album.

Excellent new : one shot is on progarchives!

Personnally i discovered this band live and they are outstanding.

James Mac Gaw (Guitar) has something from Fripp in his heart and also bring a personnal touch to developp new tortured harmonies that can't let King crimson fans cold!

Philippe Bussonnet is in my opinion one of the best electric bassist in the world (if not the best). His solos are incredible : he uses a distorsion pedal and many effect, creating an outstanding frippian harmonic war machine.

Emmanuel Borghi brings a Return to forever and h hancock touch to their zheul KC influenced music. Jeand'heur is a quite impressive too an assume is rule of volcanic center of the band and offers some nasty moments too!

The first piece Ewaz vader is already a classic and should be given a try by every prog rock lover. In those difficult times where many soft fusion bands try to make something new and are filed under jazz rock, those guys synthetize jazz-rock and King crimson frippertonicas with an incredible sens of rythm and outstanding improvisation moments!

4 stars

Jazz-Rock from France. Mainly inspired by Mahavishnu Orchestra, but as with seemingly all modern progressive bands from that country, the looming shadow of Magma is unavoidable. Of course, in case of One Shot, that shouldn't surprise anyone. Both the keyboard player Emmanuel Borghi, the guitar player James McGaw and bass sensation Philippe Bussonnet have made regular appearances in the Magma line-up since 2000.

One Shot don't play Zeuhl though, but rather heavily rocking dark instrumental jazz-rock where only the steady rhythms and repetitive bass patterns are reminiscent of Magma. The guitar is much more prominent and also the keyboards add greatly to the sound.

Things start with a blast on Ewaz Vader, a rocking backbeat with drilling Magma bass loops and twirling Fripp guitar riffs. The intensity doesn't drop for a minute on this one. Fat slows the speed to a brooding mid-paced jazz-rock jam with clear Mahavishnu Orcestra influences in the keyboard playing. The track builds up to a wild but controlled chaos. This track has an organic flow and dynamics that most post-rock bands can only dream of. Also I Had A Dream starts in a pensive jazzy mood before it starts shifting gears to its furious finale. Missing Imperator is another one for the Crimson fans, with its abundance of heavy riffs and groovy drum and bass interplay.

Listening to these musicians makes you speechless, so proficient yet playing so tightly together. Why is this band so obscure? I also wouldn't have heard of them if it wasn't for PA's Master Of Dark Prog-Arts Sinkadotentree. Thanks mate!

This album should mesmerise every fan of King Crimson's Red and Mahavishnu Orchestra in a heavy rock-out mood. Also the masses supporting bands like Magma, Guapo and Nebelnest should watch out for this.

Third album from this French "Zeuhl" quartet (your basic instrumental prog quartet), one that got the help of the Triton association in Paris, released in 06 and that was distributed through the Musea label. The still-unchanged line-up of OS delivers another batch of their dark and sombre soundscapes, between King Crimson and Magma or even Univers Zero, and on the more modern or lesser-known influences, one could mention Potemkine, Vortex, NeBeLNeST and a few more. Sooooo, you could say that One Shot sounds typically French prog, with some Zeuhl touches, induced by the pounding bass, but also the dark atmospheres of their music.

The opening title track starts the album on a demented pace, but to be honest, it's rather repetitive and overstays its welcome, despite being the shortest track on the disc. The following 15-mins Fat tracks offers an excellent intense ambiance, on that can remind some of the mid-70's fusion (Borghi's electric piano helps out a lot) before smlowly dying away in flurry of beauty. If the following I Had A Dream pt 3 & 4 (the continuation of the two tracks on the previous album) starts out smooth and almost ambient, it soon crescendos to an amazing 100 MPH. The closing Missing Imperator is McGaw's first composition for the group since its origins, but it's not like his "songwriting" differs much from the rest of the band.

BTW, I haven't been able to view the famous bonus video that's supposed to be on the disc, so I can't comment on it, but it won't change my outlook of the album, giving it an average One Shot rating, because EV is no better or worse than their other albums, just a bit of a return to their debut album's newer version (remixed & remastered). Soooo it's your call to see if you need all of the OS albums..

On Ewaz Vader One Shot straddle the line between zeuhl and jazz fusion - already a pretty thin one given that the earliest Magma releases had such a strong jazz influence (in particular via Christian Vander's idolisation of John Coltrane). In particular, the release seems to blend the throbbing, pulsating rhythm section we typically expect of zeuhl with the dark, volcanic style of the Mahavishnu Orchestra's Inner Mounting Flame, an intoxicating mixture that fans of both subgenres will find very much worth their time and which also suits the scale the band are working on as a four-piece unit, rather than the full Klingon choir and orchestra required for hardcore zeuhl work.