There are a million combinations when making music. Some bands try and add more and more instruments to compliment the overall sound. Beehoover is a group that has gone the other direction. With just Ingmar Petersen on bass and vocals along with Claus-Peter Hamisch on drums, this twosome manage to give you a riff filled dose of doom and sludge that rival anyone.
Ingmar wields his mighty bass just like its detuned six string cousin. With a nod to the stoner/doom giants like Sabbath these guys punch you in the gut with a fury on much of the album. But there is a difference. Beehoover might travel down the stoner road, but there is many side excursions into a variety of styles before you reach the end of the journey. After assaulting you with the riff filled one/two punch of "solitude in bloom" and the title track "heavy zooo" the band veers off into a much more progressive metal territory with the song "pain power" and continue it with the one minute bit of strangeness called "iron horse" before trying to rip your ears off again with the very heavy but strangely melodic "esophagus overdrive".
The rest of the album continues along this vein which creates a very appealing yet disturbing listening experience. You never seem to be on solid ground with these guys and that is just what they are after. When first listening to this album, it is easy to disregard the musical abilities shown here. Upon repeated turns through the CD player, it is a disc that ganders a strange appeal the more you listen to it. While never destined to be one of the mainstays in my collection, it is one of those that you will pick out from time to time just to revisit the land of such warped minds! You get the feeling that these are a couple of guys toying with you. It sounds like this pair of dudes took the low road just to get a laugh or two from you but unintentionally produced some very listenable stuff! That is if you don't pay attention to what he is singing. Lyrically, well, let's just say it is sometimes going to leave you scratching your head.
Overall this is a very strange but enjoyable disc. For a bit of the doom/stoner sludge which is the majority of the album, these guys do it right! For the rest of the disc, it is a bit more of a challenge but a very imaginative and interesting one.
Track listing
1. solitude in bloom
2. heavy zooo
3. pain power
4. iron horse
5. esophagus overdrive
6. spirit & crown
7. my funeral procession
8. I desert
9. dance like a volcano
10. stanislav petrov
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