PHALLUS DEI

The first record from AMON DUUL II is significant in that it is one of the first offerings from the genre of Krautrock.The percussion on this disc is pretty amazing at times as this recording features a drummer, a percussionist, a bongo player and guest musician Holger Trutzsch playing Turkish drums. Holger would go on to be the drummer for POPUL VUH's first two albums. One thing that did surprise me about this record was how much structure there was in a lot of the songs. Having delved in some Krautrock that is very free form I thought this would be more along those lines.

"Kanaan" has an Eastern feel to it and the drums are prominant. German vocals a minute in and some good guitar melodies 3 minutes in. "Dem Guten, Schonen, Wahren" is a great tune. Crazy vocals, synths and drums early in the song.The sound is amazing 2 minutes in. The bass from Dave Anderson (from the UK) is really good. Aggressive guitar 5 minutes in as drums pound away. "Luzifers Ghilom" has some cool percussion and a catchy beat. Vocals follow and the drumming is fabulous. "Henriette Krotenschwarz" features marching-like drums throughout and female (Renate) vocals.

"Phallus Dei" the title track is over 20 minutes of brilliance. The first section is experimental with various disturbing noises.Then we are treated to some incredible tribal like percussion as the guitar melodies join in. Female vocal melodies 8 minutes in as the sound softens. Things pick up again as the guitar is emphasized, more craziness and percussion. Male vocals come in as the sound totally changes then we hear ripping violins that sound like they are straight from hell. Absolutely scorching violin melodies ! I have heard nothing like this before ! What a way to end the show! My particular cd has some bonus tracks that were previously unreleased from around the same time period. And as bonus tracks go these are amazing songs. A four part suite called "Freak Out Requiem" is incredible !

This is a 5 star record that needs to be heard.