Thursday, September 20, 2007

Review: Kosmos


Label: The End Records

Released: September 4, 2007

For anyone truly familiar with Kosmos' drummer Michel "Away" Langevin's longer term project, Voivod, this album should come as no real surprise. For those who think of Voivod as merely a metal band, Kosmos will be a shock though.

The self-titled debut is an organ-heavy tribute to 70s prog rock dipping heavily into ELP and pre-Dark Side Pink Floyd with lesser nods to Yes, King Crimson and Mahavishnu Orchestra. Needless to say, this one is trippy as all get-out, but it never gets bogged down in its psychedelic trappings. Even the album's least accessible track, the Eastern influenced "Indu Kush" could stand on its own. Fabulous production and good use of ambient electronics as well as the ability to actually rock despite its technical elements help to bring this homage to the past into the same league as its influences.

Kosmos doesn't seem likely to wrest the keys to prog's future away from the Mars Volta, but they nonetheless add a valuable addition to the genre's catalog which has been spotty at best over the last 30 years or so.

Rating: 8/10

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