SATORI

One of those cult classic albums from a relatively obscure band that you're probably thinking about hearing just to see if it lives up to its cult status. For the most part, SATORI does live up to expectations; it's a solid heavy psych album but not quite up to excellent. It is worth sneaking a quick listen, especially fans of Black Sabbath or Cream.

Not far into the first part of SATORI, one will hear the battle-cry-esque holler of one Joe Yamanaka, a man whose singing voice reminds me of Steve Perry (I kid you not, that's what I hear), Rob Halford and Ozzy Osbourne. His voice can best be described as acquired; I find it mostly non-obtrusive, but I'm sure there are plenty out there who might describe the vocals as ''disgusting'' or ''deplorable''. It's not the case on the whole album; Joe's high-pitched moments can get irksome, but the fifth part of the album is where Joe reaches his full potential as his vocals (no words) are very hypnotic and beautiful.

The music of the album is largely based around the riff. SATORI dates to 1971, giving enough time for bands like Sabbath, Zeppelin, Purple, etc. to have an impact on up-and-coming hard rockers of that time. Parts I, II and V show the bands' proto-metal influences with enough psychedelia to make them sound ''different''. Part V in particular is the krux of the album with the hypnotic main grove and the proto-prog-metal technical dazzling opening/closing riff. I mentioned that Cream fans might enjoy this, and the Cream sound is there in Part IV's first big riff, but not enough to be a ripoff. My one tick is that Parts III and IV are a smidge too long (not to mention Part III's main line sounds like a lesser ''In-a-Gadda-da-Vida'', the only real knock-off I can detect).

I feel that SATORI earns its cult classic status, largely due to the riffing, Part V, the psychedelic feel and the drumming (particularly the thumping of Part II). Those that don't like their music raw or psychedelic might want to refrain from this, but everyone else might want to feed their curiosity (however minute it may be) and give SATORI a try. It's good, raw, and fun.