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.

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..

Zeuhlish Jazz-Rock Fusion from some of 21st Century France's best musicians. All but drummer Daniel Jeand'heur had worked extensively with the Christian Vander/Magma camp over the previous decade.

1. "Ewaz vader" (10:32) heavy jazz whose funky bass and electric piano play could be taken as both Zeuhl and Jazz-Rock Fusion. Daniel Jeand'heur's drumming and Emmanuel Borghi's are great while James Mac Gaw plays an amazing track of rhythm guitar that sounds like an extension of Borghi's left hand. Borghi's multiple keyboard sounds are all effective and impressive, but that synth in the eighth and ninth minute is awesome! Mac Gaw returns to the lead for the final 90 seconds--on multiple tracks--with Borghi's mutliple keys and Jeand'heur's free-flowing cymbal play. Hard to find fault with this--none in the skill and timing factors; it's just lacking a little in inviting/engaging melodies. Sometimes extraordinary/impressive skill is not the surest way to a listener's heart. (17.875/20)

2. "Fat" (15:38) slowly developing Zeuhlish electric piano chords and right hand over-embellishment open this one before some guitar notes and cymbal play join in during the third minute. By the middle of the fourth minute the bass has stepped in and, with the drums, they gradually establish forward movement for the massive train. The Magma-like three chord sequence persists, pervades, even dominates the entire length of the song while Mac Gaw and Borghi take turns shredding in the solo spotlights. Nice if you want to listen to lots of impressive solos, but it can get a little tedious if you give in to the hypnotic Zeuhl chords. (26.5/30)

3. "I had a dream / part III et IV" (14:47) gentle, absent-minded, almost pastoral, Mr. Rogers-like Fender Rhodes play opens this one for nearly two minutes before another soul begins to join in (Mr. Jeand'heur's cymbals). Philippe's bass drum-like bass and, a little later, James Mac Gaw's gentle electric guitar runs and arpeggi join in during the fourth minute. The music that is ever-so-slowly developed has a similarity to some of the more contemplative music of John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, and John McLaughlin--until, that is, the 5:40 mark when the band launches into a energetic, hard-moving motif that conjures up more of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever. Now this is great Jazz-Rock Fusion! Despite James Mac Gaw's leadership in establishing the "Vashtar"-like melodies, it is Emmanuel Borghi who takes the first solo, starting out in the middle of the eighth minute. Manu does great homage to the most dynamic Herbie Hancock solos: in fact, one of my favorite Fender Rhodes (and then synth) solos I've ever heard. (It doesn't hurt that the rhythm track beneath him is so solid--keeps me cruisin' so energetically.) At the very end of the eleventh minute the music takes a slight change in direction that threatens a shift into Zeuhl territory as James Mac Gaw enters into some crazy sonic realms with his screaling, heavily-effected electric guitar. Who'd have thought there were any sounds left to created on an electric guitar that Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, David Torn, or Guthrie Govan hadn't already created, but I swear I'm hearing a first during this awesome solo. The band then climbs a mountain toward a group crescendo before loosening the grips for a nearly-free fall descent into a Jannick Top Infernal Machina-like finish. AWESOME! One of the best J-R F jams ever! (30/30)

4. "Missing imperator" (13:11) opening with some McLaughlin-Nil-ish cacophony-turning-into syncopated Crimsonian polyrhythms this song makes me believe that the progression of this album, from start to finish, has been one of planned Zuehlish history and flow/interchange/evolution into King Crimsonian/Liquid Tension Experiment heavy prog metal. James is just burning up the center of the sonosphere while Manu, Phil, and Dan hold the Crimsonian base firm beneath and around. At 4:36 there is a sudden relinquishment of power into a more simplistic and spacious, if still driving, motif within which the four instrumentalists widen their tracks with fairly open craziness in their paths. Not a big fan of this song but it remains uber-impressive--especially within the context of the whole album. (22/25)

Total Time 68:28

For the most part this is a very impressive, powerful, and compelling display of dark and heavy journeying through the thickest forests of Planet Kobaïa, The Starless Court of Aspic Thrak, as well as the more paradisical jungles of Mwandishi.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of Zeuhl-anchored Jazz-Rock Fusion. You will be hard pressed to find a stronger lineup of similarly-focused virtuoso musicians that these four.

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.