Can't say that anyone will expect this boiling pot 'o' proggy/fusiony/Kraut rock from Voivod drummer Michel 'Away' Langevin and his cast of merry men in Kosmos, who include keyboard player Alex Crow, bassist Vincent Peake, and guitarist Jetphil. These fab folks from Montreal have taken all their years of experience in genres other than what you will hear on this CD, and managed to harness a wild 70's prog/avant-garde/Kraut rock meets 80's post punk feel that is pretty unique in this day and age. Think Goblin meets Hawkwind meets Amon Duul meets Monster Magnet meets Faust meets Can meets Deep Purple meets Voivod meets Tangerine Dream, then blend that all up and you get Kosmos. Sound confusing? Sound like something you'd want to dig into? Trust me, this is wicked stuff here. Crow is the key here on many of the tunes, especially the analog driven space rock of "Dream" and the raging Deep Purple/Uriah Heep Hammond riffs of "Grand Grizou", where he is just slammin' the mix with wild Moog blasts and organ freakouts amidst driving rhythms and chunky guitar riffs. While there are some throwaway tracks here, like the electronic blips 'n' bleats of "Yawa", and silent space of "Kosmos", and the Middle Eastern chant "Indu Kush", for the most part this is serious stuff. "Much Too Old" sounds like a groovy post punk meltdown channeled through Hawkwind and Voivod, while "Krautrock" is just that, a bubbling excursion into 70's styled German space rock, complete with Away's tricky drum rhythms and plenty of analog keys. This segues right into the equally spacey "Septial" (Goblin and Zombi freaks look out!), while the crazed prog/punk "Amerique Innavouable " is a hard rocker with French vocals. "Mothership" once again takes the band into space rock heaven, and the closer "Messe Noire" is a raging Hammond driven ripper, as Alex Crow does his best Jon Lord, Ken Hensley, and Vincent Crane impressions while Jetphil rips some wild guitar leads. While all this is going on, the sinewy bass grooves from Peake keep pumpin' and Away's drum licks hold the mayhem together. Crow's electric piano passages at the end even recall early 70's Pink Floyd...whew.
If the 70's are your thing, then you need to grab a hold of this one as fast as you can say Made in Japan or Phaedra. Here's hoping that these guys are not just a one-off project.
Track Listing
1) Psycho
2) Dream
3) Grand Grizou
4) Yawa
5) Indu Kush
6) Much Too Old
7) Kosmos
8) Krautrock
9) Septial
10)Amerique Innavouable
11) Mothership
12) Messe Noire
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