Search - Embryo :: Embryo's Rache

EMBYRO's Psychedelic "Revenge"

W. T. Hoffman | Pennsylvania, United States | 03/19/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is EMBRYO's second album, recorded in 1971, with a line up mostly different than their first album. The single new member, who had the biggest influence on the sound and direction that Embryo took on this music, was Hansi Fischer. Recognise the name? He was the Flute player, and main member of XHOL CARAVAN. His previous album was Xhol's ELECTRIP from 1969. And that album was incredibley psychedelic, sounding if nothing else, like Frank Zappa's MOTHERS OF INVENTION around 1968. So, XHOL had sort of fallen apart by 1971, and Hansi joined Embryo, and turned RACHE into the wierdest album in the whole catalogue of this band. For those who really love this band, the songs from this album are mostly available on Garden of Delight's release EMBRYO "BREMEN 1971". It's a radio show, and the RACHE songs are played as straight jazz-rock songs. I was used to hearing these songs live. When I finally found a copy of RACHE, and played it for the first time, I was STUNNED. The mix on EMBRYO's RACHE is so bizarre, compaired to the straight ahead mix from the radio show version of the songs. On RACHE it's hard to hear the drums, or the sax, flutes, guitars, etc, playing these beautiful, intricate songs, because the mix was screwed up. Instead of hearing Burchard's incredible drumming, you might hear at one moment, CLAVES clicking horribly loud. Then, a few seconds later, the organ/moog is so loud, that it clouds out the rest of the mix. When you look at who produced the album, the reason is clear--PRODUCED BY EMBRYO. And by that, you can BET it means, HANSI and the others tripping at the mix desk. I say this, because if you listen to ELECTRIP by XHOL right after RACHE, it sounds pretty much the same. Perhaps you are familiar with the Grateful Dead's ANTHEM OF THE SUN? Do you know how the mix keeps swirling around, and changing which instrument you hear at any one time? Well, I think that is what they were attempting. That, and i think that perhaps they wanted to get that sound you hear on MILES DAVIS' BITCHES BREW. Of course, that was achieved with careful editing and splicing, which i dont hear on this album. It doesn't ruin the music, actually. If you are into a tripped out sound, it's great. Perhaps what i am saying, is that this concept of "psychedelic" can seem a bit trite, or perhaps dated, for an album from 1971. Naturally, Hansi Fischer didnt stay with EMBRYO. After this album was recorded, he went back to XHOL, and EMBRYO went on, adding and subtracting members, with the core of Burchard and Hoffmann remaining relatively untouched over the years. So, if you want to hear what this band is like as they attempt to sound flipped out, this is the album. However, if you are interested in the songs, but played as legitimate jazzrock songs, try to track down the Garden of Delights BREMEN 1971 radio show. If for no other reason, the RACHE album is of very important significance, because it forms a bridge between the jazzrock masterpiece of OPAL, and the incredibley fecund period EMBRYO achieved in 1972, when they recorded their 4 best albums--STEIG AUS, ROCKSESSION, Father Son and Holy Ghost, and WE KEEP ON. Really, I wish i could give it four and a half stars. If you are convinced that you MUST have this CD, then go to AMAZON.DE, and you can order it from a german dealer. By the way, the two bonus tracks, are from 1991, and are suppose to show many of the same musicians, after 20 years of musical maturity. They definately DO show, just how far out this album is, if nothing else. Studio outtakes from the period, or perhaps other live songs from 1971, would have been more appropiate, but then again, bonus songs are FREEBIES."