Short Reviews [Electric Mud - 2018 - "The Deconstruction of Light"]

This is the first time I have come across this German trio, although it is actually their third album and was released earlier this year. Hagen Bretschneider provides bass, Lennart Huper rhythm guitar, and Nico Walser everything else. Given that the photos in the CD show him playing electric guitar, I presume he is responsible for the guitar leads and the keyboards and drums. More of that in a minute. In some ways Floydian, others Tangerine Dream, others Porcupine Tree, this is an unusual album in many ways. It is complex, yet also incredibly simplistic, with often repeated themes and patterns. They have taken ideas from areas such as krautrock, and then combined them with post rock and more traditional regressive progressive ideas so the listener is never sure where the album is going go next. At times incredibly dark and brooding, at others light and almost fragile, it goes from almost drone to jagged crescendos without taking a breath. With a filthy bass sound reminiscent of Chris Squire, the sound is very much rooted to the floor, with the result being a sound that really isn’t quite like anyone else around. There are even three songs more than eleven minutes long, and the album starts with two of these, so it really gets the proghead into the band straight away. But, for me I do have an issue with some of the drumming. There are times when it is just way too pedestrian and needs to have far more drive and passion, and having a more skilled exponent behind the skins would definitely push them to another level. As it is I am incredibly pleased to have finally come across this band. I have this on CD, but this and their other albums are available digitally so why not give them a try? And if you don’t think that the introduction to “Black Dog” sound incredibly like classic Purple then you need yours ear testing…