Alpha Omega- The Psychedelometer
(Alpha 004)
Alpha Omega- The Psychedelometer
(Alpha 004)
From Aural Innovations #38 (Jan 2008)
Alpha Omega are an Australian outfit and this is the bands 4th release since 2001 and follows up on the 3CD People of Earth, We Have Come to Blow Your Mind. I believe this is the band first real proper CD release. IT comes with a cool booklet with nice artwork and tells the story of the band being arrested for exceeding the galactic standard sonic safety level as measured by the Psychodelometer and being sent out into space to the prison planet for a million years of hard labor but the band make a daring escape and the CD tells of their adventures.. The CD is split into 15 tracks over 63 minutes. It is a dark psychedelic space trip! The opening track, Evidence, is quite crazy as it is like someone is turning a radio dial and intense music comes blasting out and then stops and starts again before a very Hawkwind like psychedelic rock jam with some distant distorted vocals are layered in the background. Intense and crazy stuff. Judgement is next and begins very spacey with some female speaking in the background but is taken over by the male vocal. Prison Planet is next and is slow in building but loads of layers of spaced out sounds including some flute playing.. Now the band Escape.. but the psychedelic sounds do not.. Your brain is slowly frying…. Satellite Man starts off a bit like the Golden Void by Hawkwind. Space Between, The Oracle (who is female) and That which is to come are all quite short 2, 3and 1½ minutes long with lots of spaced out sounds and spoken words or samples and effected guitar. Birth of a new Order is a more guitar oriented track but with loads of psychedelic stuff bubbling in the background. Crumbling Planets and Seeds of Revelation are too short pieces before the long 8 minute, the Eye. This is back to more heavy space rocking stuff with long guitar solos. Gathering of the Children is a fast paced track with a strangely effected vocal but then the track gets totally spaced out for 1½ mins and then back into the melodic fast paced track. Dead Systems is a spacey track that leads into the 9 minute Imsb that ends this psychedelic adventure. Quite cool and far out stuff…..
Check out the band web site at: http://www.ozspace.com.au/alphaomega
Reviewed by Scott Heller