| Concreteweb - The Curse of Lord Space Devil (en) |
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Band : Cosmic Trip Machine Album Title : The Curse Of Lord Space Devil Label : Nasoni Distributor : Clearspot Release Date : 2011 Review : CD Between 2009 and 2010, Will Z. and Majnun worked on Son of Lord Space Devil, a double album with four different suites : on its original concept, the first side told the story of Rothbart, an evil sorcerer, with musical quotations from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake ballet and references to B-movies and occult themes (like the Voynich manuscript or Basile Valentin’s twelve philosophical keys) ; the second part was composed by three progressive tracks, melting instrumentals and new versions from Lord Space Devil songs and ideas based on improvisations ; the next side was an acoustic one, based on philosophy texts, poetries, Buddhist goddess Quàn thê âm and Can Am Des Puig folk 70’s band’s Book of Am ; then, album conclusion was the 20 minutes master piece Amethyst. Cosmic Trip Machine had many difficulties with Son of Lord Space Devil preparation (disease, depression, technical problems...). The early takes were judged as "poor". Son of Lord Space Devil was shelved on March 2010: the two musicians thought this album (and Amethyst in particular) possesses a negative power. However, some of the tracks were salvaged and rearranged. Majnun insisted to change the album title as The Curse of Lord Space Devil, which included electric and acoustic fragments intended for the lost original project plus new material, floating on Corpus Hermeticum, The Book of Am, poetries and mystic texts. The Curse of Lord Space Devil recording was finished on April after one month of intensive work, but Will Z. and Majnun expressed dissatisfaction with the result. So, OG was hired as a producer and an "exorcist" to stop negative forces and finish the work. (www.cosmictripmachine.be) This is a pleasant album to listen to, but it is remarkably uneven, especially the first half of the tracks. “Quiet night thoughts”, “Strange is….” and “Cosmic travel” have an almost Syd Barrett/Sam Gopal kind of thing going on for example, including the very dated but pleasant hippie-harmonizing vocals of Will Z and Manjun. Compared with their previous album Vampyros Roussos (read review 22/02/2010) The Curse Of Lord Space Devil is a clear progression in acoustic and percussive techniques and studio wizardry (“Remains of amethyst”, “Fragment residuel” and “Jessica’s nightmare”). But “Hear the voice of am” and the title track are fully developed and guitar-driven psychedelic works. By the end of the album the band settles into a very psych-influenced sound with sitar, Theremin, e-bow,,. Cosmic Trip Machine are making imaginative music featuring plenty of interesting chord progressions, psych guitars, bizarre lyrics, and smart production trickery. If you’re intrigued by psychedelic, progressive or folk sounds, this disc is not to be missed. 80/100 COSMIC TRIP MACHINE — The Curse of Lord Space Devil, Concreteweb |
