Vagtazo Halottkemek - "Az Eden Visszahoditasa" (Szerzoi Kiadas 98VHK CD)
Galloping Coroners- "Reconquering Eden 2" (in English)
From Aural Innovations #6 (April 1999)
Vagtazo are a psychedelic Hungarian band who have continued to grow and expand their demented sound over the years. While the band's early releases were very raw and powerful, the band has refined its sound into a musical mayhem of unbelievable proportions. The vocals by Attila are all in Hungarian and belted out with a conviction and furry rarely heard. The music combines heavy guitar and driving rhythms with a Hungarian folk texture including traditional Earthen drums and Hungarian lute. Reconquering Eden from 1997 was one of my favorite CD's and I was very much looking forward to RE2 when I heard about it. RE2 opens with an insane screaming frenzy that lasts 28 seconds before moving into the song "Once Upon", which is a prelude to the great 9-minute masterpiece, "Fairy Girl". "Fairy Girl" starts with a repetitive guitar line that is slowly joined by the rest of the band as it builds up to a wild frenzy. The lyrics are totally insane, but this could be the translation, who knows... Here is one example: "I'm caressing you with music! I am splitting you with singing! The soft smell of frying sausages. Younger daughter of the neighbor. What a beautiful little chuck." The next two songs, "The World Is Ours" and "Cosmic Dreamship" are each less than two minutes each. "The World Is Ours" is a fast driving number, while "Cosmic Dreamship" is very spacey and leads right into "It's Not Far Away", which is a slower folky song with Earthen drums, interesting percussion, and Hungarian lute. "Adoration Of The Soul" starts with a solo guitar strumming and the drums and chanting vocals slowly build the song up as it gets faster and faster, and Attila works up to a vocal frenzy. "Something Sparkling" follows and is a real mood piece after the intense Adoration. "From The Home Of The Stars" is a mixture of wild guitar soloing, screaming vocals, by Attila and a wild drum frenzy. This leads into "The Burning Desire". "Cosmic Dreamship 2", "Prayer" and "Don't Die World" end the CD. One is pretty exhausted after listening to this but somehow wanting more. This band is not for everyone. Highly recommended for people who want something totally different and intense, try to track this down!
You can visit Vagtazo Halottkemek at their web site.
Reviewed by Scott Heller