Electric Orange - Krautrock From Hell
(Sulatron Records 1001)
From Aural Innovations April 2010 update
With a name like Electric Orange and an album title like Krautrock from Hell, you pretty much know what you’re getting, and indeed there’s no question that this Austrian group inhabits that ever-growing domain of music known as neo-psychedelic space rock. Don’t expect anything blindingly original here. What you get however is nearly an hour and twenty minutes of excellently crafted 21st century psychedelia with a prog rock chaser. According to the group’s Myspace page, they’re apparently influenced by virtually every band from the 60’s and 70’s. It shows too on Krautrock from Hell, though certain prog forefathers shine through brighter on the disc’s seven tracks. The Middle Eastern groove of “Chorg” reminds one instantly of Gong at their most mystical, while Dirk Jan Müller’s hyperdriven organ has more than a touch of Nektar and Amon Düül II. The album’s centerpiece, the 25-minute “Neuronomicon,” reaches epic proportions of cosmic grandeur that evoke comparisons to Yes, King Crimson and Pink Floyd. Moving from elegant, classically-inspired passages of quiescence to thundering, fuzz-drenched heaviness, “Neuronomicon” defines the terrain the Electric Orange spacecraft explores: driving organ, soaring mellotron, molten guitar, and a hammer-and-tong rhythm section flanked by occasional electronic effects flying out of the ether. Primarily instrumental (only two of the seven tracks feature vocals), Krautrock from Hell dispenses with libretto in favor of instrumental libido, achieving a flawless mix of prog rock chops and space rock grooves. In sum, a worthy addition to any 3rd millennium asteroid chaser’s CD collection.
Reviewed by Charles Van de Kree
Reviewed by Scott Heller
Visit the Sulatron label site at: http://www.sulatron.com
Check out the band web site at: http://www.electric-orange.com