ONE WITH THE UNIVERSE

Hey, when listening to that album you're inclined to say a quintet is playing here, though currently they are a trio in fact. And this applies to their live performances in the same way, unfortunately, I must say. Richard Behrens left the band after they had recorded the predecessor 'Waiting For The Flood', which totally slipped below my radar level. Second guitarist Hans Eiselt then eventually turned to the bass. So it took 4 years finally to arrive with a new effort. When talking about a possible quintet, band leader Christian Peters substitutes a second electric guitar due to a few overdubs and cares for proper keyboard stuff too.

They remain true to their fundamental music style on 'One With The Universe', which is a quite unique melange of blues, stoner and psych/space rock, hence could be summed up under the label 'heavy psych prog' at best, this occasionally garnered with some indo/raga feel. The matured compositions, five songs are given, two of them beyond the ten minute mark, are strong, absolutely convincing. As usual this is provided with an appropriate portion of heavy load, though basically relaxed and very melodic, rarely changing into a somewhat furious or aggressive approach.

There's a rather mellow start to state with Vipassana, though they're also turning into some heavy riffing parts featuring agile bass lines contributed by Eiselt. The synths and the soaring lead guitar later on are really appealing. Sad Guru Returns seems pointing to yogi Sadghuru Jaggi Vasudey, this probably presenting a link to the related solo project Surya Kris Peters. The prominent title track is provided with different stages, nice e-piano, plus a reference to Band Of Gypsys' Machine Gun, furthermore reminding me of Grand Funk Railroad when it comes to the uptempo parts and predominantly due to the bass. Highly recommended, they are still one with the universe as this is their best outcome so far.