Samsara Blues
Experiment
Live at Rockpalast
Electric
Magic Records
April
2013
The
songs:
1.
Singata Mystic Queen
2.
Hangin´ On The Wire
3.
Army Of Ignorance
4.
For The Lost Souls
5.
Into The Black
6.
Center Of The Sun
7.
Outside Insight Blues
8.
Double Freedom
9.
Singata Mystic Queen (Unplugged)
The
band:
Christian
Peters - vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, sitar, synthesizer
Richard
Behrens - bass guitar
Thomas
Vedder - drums and percussion
Hans
Eiselt - electric and acoustic guitars, percussion
Hmmm
this is a first for me. Prior to Live
At Rockpalast I had never listened to Samsara Blues Experiment. So what would it be
like to review these Germans' brand new live album having no clue
what was in store? On my part it was a revelation to hear them
unleash their sonic and groovy jammed-out doom-blues. Even more so in
the live format where they can go all-out and, as with so many other
bands, the stage is where they seem to be at their best. Like I said
though I haven't heard any of their studio efforts yet so I can't
really compare....which is a good thing.
Singata
Mystic Queen
lives up to it's name as the song starts off with a mystic feel to it
mixed with South Eastern influences and spacey undertones. In a way
it's very monotonous but at the same time seductive and entrancing
which is further enhanced as the song gradually builds up. And while
being in trance the band likes to jam and does so fantastically good.
There are some out-of-this world soloing backed up by earthshaking
riffs. Once Christian Peters start to sing the band adds another
element to their magic namely the Dutch space gods Golden Earring.
Christian reminds me so much of frontman Barry Hay.
He does have a
rasp to his voice that Hay doesn't, still the similarity is quite
apparent. And that works great for me because when Samsara Blues
Experiment unleashes this ecclectic mix of sonic doom-blues, South
Eastern influences and Golden Earring I'm left thunderstruck and
awestruck. Hangin'
On The Wire
changes gear and goes full throttle in this fuzzed out riff fest.
This is by far the fastest and probably heaviest track on the album.
Great stuff!
Instrumental brain frying is next up in Army
Of Ignorance
where SBE zapps my brain completely in a pretty fast space trip which
continues in For
The Lost Souls.
The tempo has been brought down considerably though the space trip is
still on where Christian Peters sounds totally deranged. Awesome! The
band picks it up a bit on Into
The Black
going more for boogie-blues-doom. It works great as they bulldoze
their way through galaxies on this fantastic space journey.
Slow,
trippy, spacey and extremely heavy is all I can say about Center
Of The Sun.
One of the longest songs on Live
At Rockpalats
it is definitely an out-of-body experience. Weaving back and forth
between psychedelic and led-heavy passages it pummels me and pulls me
apart only to piece me back together. Opting for fuzzy heavy blues
Outside
Insight Blues
they jam incessantly and do I need to say it...excellently! The live
part of the album ends with the 17 mins+ beast that is Double
Freedom and
like the title suggests this is freedom. We come to the end of the
journey as changed people and that is freedom if we have embraced
SBE's healing powers. They are electric, sonic and intergalactic
healing powers and presented in the way these Germans do we won't
need any other remedies. Tune in to this and you will heal physically
and mentally...I just love this band. Truly amazing stuff is on
display here.
We're
treated to a delicacy in shape of Singata
Mystic Queen
in acoustic form to end Live
At Rockpalast.
SBE utilizes more percussion on this version and there's even more
South Eastern touches than before. And that's great cause it shows
even more what fantastic musicians the guys are. The changes aren't
many or overly profound but they are enough to show how easily SBE
can tweak their songs into something different without losing the
original identity. Instead the songs improve further.
This
was an extremely nice introduction for me to this great band. Why I
never paid attention to them before is up for debate, personally I'm
going to hit myself over the head with a frying pan. Well, that was
an exaggeration....instead I'm going to get my hands on SBE's
previous releases and embrace their healing powers. So should
you...because this is too good to be ignored.
Håkan
Nyman
Live At Rockpalast is available to buy from the band directly from their official webstore here.
Thanks to Chris from the band for hooking us up. This album is fucking immense. Highly Recommended.
Check The Band From The Links Below:
