Tuesday 11 April 2017

Ecstatic Vision - Raw Rock Fury (Album Review)


Release date: April 7th 2017. Label: Relapse Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Raw Rock Fury – Tracklisting

1.Intro 00:16
2.You Got It Or You Don't 07:42
3.The Electric Step Pt 1 03:11
4.The Electric Step Pt 2 06:08
5.Keep it Loose 04:57
6.Twinkling Eye Pt 1 06:03
7.Twinkling Eye Pt 2 02:53
8.Twinkling Eye Pt 3 05:08

Members:

Doug Sabolik
Michael Field Connor
Jordan Crouse
Kevin Nickles

Review

After their debut album, Sonic Praise (released by Relapse Records in 2015), Ecstatic Vision come back with a new insane trip called Raw Rock Fury (Relapse Records).

In this album, the former Philly trio, originally formed by Doug Sabolik (vocals/guitar), Michael Connor Field (bass) and Jordan Crouse (drums), adds depth to its lineup thanks to the inclusion of Kevin Nickles at sax. The sound is colored and enhanced by an even more jazz/fusion shades, which increase the rate of psychedelic in this album.

Raw Rock Fury has its roots deep in a land made of psychedelia, space rock, punk and garage, all under the sign of Hawkwind. And it is exactly the British band of Dave Brock, Nick Turner & Co. that Ecstatic Vision seem to be worthy successors. In this second chapter of their discography, the band from Philadelphia overwhelmingly confirms the good listened to Sonic Praise. Every single song is a pure concentrate of the good there was in the psychedelic (let's call it even space rock) and progressive music between 60’s and 70’s.

The album opens with the very short (16 seconds) Intro, introducing the first long track, You Got It (Or You Don’t) that, after more than 7 minutes trip, gently falls in the first of two long compositions, The Electric Step (Pt .1 and 2). Keep It Loose divides the latter from Twinkling Eye, a three parts suite where Ecstatic Vision give (to my opinion) their best. In each song, the bass and drums create a lysergic background that hypnotizes and surprises, where the guitars, synths and sax blend to create a unique atmosphere.

The approach of the band to a certain kind of music can also be seen in such a tracklist, with long and structured songs connected to each other, almost forming a unicuum. In the music of Ecstatic Vision we can find not only Hawkwind, but also the MC5 and the Stooges, not forgetting a certain progressive vein where Tangerine Dream and Amon Düül II, but generally the whole krautrock/prog scene is king.

Raw Rock Fury sounds vintage and modern at the same time, is a trip into the past, where the only drug to be taken is the music of Ecstatic Vision. In half an hour, this new release of the Philly quartet is likely to become a masterpiece of the new wave of modern space-rock.

Words by Bruno Bellisario

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