Cleopatra 2015
Motorik charge through time and space by intrepid crew of cosmic pirates solidifying their interstellar overdrive.
The Fall Of Chronopolis
Based on Barrington J. Bayley’s book of the same title, “The Fall Of Chronopolis” adds another dimension to its paradox-pitching narrative by creating an unlikely alloy of Krautrock and punk and wrapping it around the story. That’s a superficial notion, though, as this is a third album from the band which allowed former U.K. SUBS guitarist Nicky Garratt and ex-EMBRYO bassist Uve Müllrich find terra firma between the two genres – chaotic and well-ordered but adventurous – and sprinkling HAWKWIND’s romantic belligerence, what with the group’s association with Nik Turner, all over the outcome. And the result, given its concept, is rather cinematic, painted mostly in instrumental strokes, while vocals pin the drama to rhythmic panorama and short interludes stitch the mood shifts together.
Thus, the defiant chant in “An Empire” may build tension towards heavy, organ-padded riffage, before the assault subsides to a folk strum and Ariana Jades pours bliss into the boil, yet the catalyst for the well-measured groove of “The Third Time Fleet” is an unrelenting twine of six-string anxiety and synthesizer’s buzz which only a spectral violin can temporarily calm down. Still, as things threaten to come unhinged in “Gulf Of Lost Souls” amid the thump, spasm and screech, there’s fusion discipline to the mad march behind “Ghost Armada” and allure to the solemn strut of “Imperator” where wah-wah and voice engage in an alien kind of conversation. All these elements interweave in the title track – rocking, if hinting at baroque – until the piano of “These Pi-Mesons” brings the yarn to a close… but leaves its suspense somehow unresolved. A great way to set expectations for a follow-up record.
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