Ozric Tentacles - Erpland (1990)

Genre-bending gem from psychedelic masters

To anyone that hasn’t had the pleasure of listening to Ozric Tentacles, the best word to describe their music is experimental. Meeting at Stonehenge Festival in 1983, and changing lineups several times (with founding member Ed Wynne the only constant) they perform psychedelic-tinged progressive rock in a variety of styles. Erpland sees them throw up some lively tracks littered with tempo changes, ambient songs to chill out to and curious use of electronica alonside exotic, Eastern sounds.

Starting with “Eternal Wheel” draws the listener right in. A gentle track morphs into a trippy dream with wild electric guitars, simmering down into flute and synthesiser sounds. There’s so much going on, but it’s so evenly spaced out that it’s easy to appreciate the softer moments alongside the chaos which develops. It truly is glorious when the Ozrics work themselves into a frenzy, as they also do in the high-paced title track; a glorious crescendo of psychedelic guitars, rhythmic basslines and absorbing keyboard work (with a refrain that sounds like it’s been grabbed straight from a video game boss battle).

But things rarely ever get so lively. In fact, a lot of the material here is at the other end of the tempo scale. Tracks like “Toltec Spring” are delightfully minimal and slow-paced, with a use of tribal drum and flute that works so well so often on this record. Even better, is the ambient spookiness of “Crackerblocks”, drawing you in with a wooden xylophone and harmonising synths.

The Ozrics' use of exotic instruments is remarkable. The complex string arrangements on “Mysticum Arabicola” transport the listener to a Middle Eastern shisha bar, while a haunting xylophone and a steady African beat in “Valley Of A Thousand Thoughts” bring a wild jungle to mind. The tribal sound is most prominent on final track “A Gift Of Wings” with its cerebral dreaminess brought about by the haunting merging of flutes and synthesisers, before an Arabic stringed instrument does battle with a guitar for attention in this ethnic medley.

However, this isn’t the easiest album to listen to. True, the diversity of sounds on here is enough to make the 73 minutes breeze past. The problem is that there a few tracks that take too long to progress. “The Throbbe” is a clear example, with an overly slow build up which is, admittedly, broken up pleasantly by psychedelic whirring and Arabic chanting. Some songs don’t have enough going on; “Valley Of A Thousand Thoughts” is only saved by the eeriness of the xylophone halfway through, while “Sunscape” is a fairly simple track with an acoustic guitar (though this is another example of the Ozrics adding some variety). And while “Mysticum Arabicola” is a decent track, it suffers from being just a bit too long and repetitive.

While the amount of filler does make it harder to sit through the whole album, the diversity of sound on the album wins over. A blend of energetic prog-rock with chilled, absorbing tracks – spiced with enough ethnic flavours to leave lovers of ‘world music’ drooling – makes Erpland one of the most original, intriguing albums that you'll hear for a while.

7/10   





This album was released by Dovetail Records, available on the Ozrics' website.