200 YEARS AFTER THE LAST WAR

Definitely the most important Hungarian rock band with fans outside the country even in the 70's,releasing albums both in English and Hungarian.Formed in 1962 in Budapest by guitarist/singer János Kóbor and keyboardist László Benkö,they initially covered English titles before the arrival of new keyboardist Gábor Presser in 1967.Presser was a composing machine and the band started to record its first few albums.Until 1970 they released no less than four works in the Psychedelic Rock field with some Hard Rock leanings.Presser along with drummer József Laux decided to leave Omega to form Locomotiv GT and on the new line-up Kobor was the singer,Benko the main keyboardist along with Ferenc Debreceni on drums,Tamás Mihály on bass and György Molnár on guitars.The sound of the band started to become more artistic and after two albums (''Omega'' and ''Omega 5'' from 1973),the break took place in 1974 with ''200 Years After the Last War''.

Side A is totally dedicated to the 19-min. virgin epic of the band ''Suite''.This is an eclectic mix of Hard Rock,Blues,ELOY-ish Psychedelic Rock and Classic Prog and a very good reason to purchase the album,with the classical education of Benko being a major element of the sound.The track contains plenty of shifting moods and mellow breaks between guitar- driven passages with hard-rocking and bluesy riffing and keyboard-based themes with magnificent organ and mellotron and a high level of dynamics from start to end.Vocals were never the strong point of the band,but fit well with the overall atmosphere.The result is a very strong composition with various influences and some really exciting parts.

Side B shows the band insisting on the more simplistic but certainly strong style of their previous albums.''Help to find me'' is a powerful heavy rock number with a pounding groove in the vein of DEEP PURPLE but also some great moog-synth work to be heard in the middle part and towards the end.The eponymous track starts very country-flavored,it has strong psychedelic elements,some decent jazzy guitars but it is by far the weakest track of the album and sounds rather dated for today's standards.The closing ''You Don't Know'' finds the band again in the DEEP PURPLE vein with Benko having a very JON LORD-style of organ playing and a very BEATLES-que vocal section.The track is again powerful,energetic,groovy but also too simple-structured compared to side A.

''200 Years After the Last War'' marked the end of an era and the start of a new age for Omega,with the band following the prog fashion of the period.The talent, education and skills of the members were enough to flirt with the style anf if you like your Hard Rock with plenty of progressive moves,this album is a great contender of being part of your collection.Recommended.