One definition of the word cosmic is something that is "inconceivably vast" and that is exactly what you can expect from Berlin, Germany's purveyors of the lysergic and trippy Cosmic Fall. The band, Daniel Sax (drums), Klaus Friedrich (bass/vocals) and Marcin Morawski ( guitar) describe themselves as a psychedelic jam band so the question is can a band who have a tendency, and need, to go off on tangents into the unknown be confined by the parameters placed upon them by studio time and album length, well I guess we will find out by giving their latest release "In Search of Outer Space" a listen.
Deep rolling distorted bass backed by solid insistent percussion introduces first track "Jabberwocky" and is then joined by wailing low pitched guitar only for it to all fall away when the vocals enter. Not wishing to sound rude or of stereotyping a particular style of singing but Friedrich's vocals do have a distinctive Germanic tone, a tone often associated with the work of Kraftwerk, an almost robotic baritone delivery that at first listen sounds slightly at odds with the swirling psych that surrounds them but after their initial shock dissipates seem like the most natural thing in the world. Whether your a fan of Friedrich's vocal stylings or not the real meat and potatoes of Cosmic Fall's sound is their ability to take a groove and twist and bend it into any shape or form they desire, taking off on tangents into hyperspace one minute grooving on the dirtiest of riffs the next while shoehorning elements of jazz, metal, funk and good old fashioned rock into those grooves along the way. Musically these guys are firmly on point with Friedrich holding down the bottom end on songs like "Narcotic Vortex", "Lumberjam" and the aforementioned "Jabberwocky" with a mixture of liquid funky and fuzz heavy distorted bass while Sax's drumming throughout is nothing short of breath-taking, especially on the laid back "Purification" where his jazzy chops are well and truly to the fore. Morawski meantime takes elements from such guitar masters as Gilmour, Hendrix, Page and Holdsworth and blends them together in a mish mash of styles that comes out as pure Morawski, using elements, drawn from a wide musical spectrum, to paint swirling brush strokes of scintillating lead over Friedrich and Sax's ever shifting rhythmic textures.
The title of this album is "In Search Of Outer Space" and they say that the search is half the fun, if they are having this much fun just searching imagine the fun they will have when they finally find what they are looking for
Check it out ...
© 2018 Frazer Jones
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