Zone Six was founded in 1997 by Dave Schmidt of Sula Bassana. They classify themselves as Neo-Krautrock and Improrock. It is no surprise to learn that they have been joined in the past by Huw Lloyd Langton and Nik Turner of HAWKWIND in the past, as the near 20-minute opener ’Slingshot‘ attests. Sula Bassana plays space-bass and provides the fx and loops, with lots of evocative, meandering synth sounds; the membership of Zone Six is mutable, the current line-up is completed by guitarist Manu Wohlrab of YANOS and Pablo Carneval of ELECTRIC MOON and INTERKOSMOS on drums producing a whirlwind of sound, conjuring up images of the exotic east and thoroughly hypnotic.
The title track is half this length, more atmospheric to begin with, with otherworldly synth sounds, shimmering organ quietly bubbling away until an eruption of sounds around two minutes in, an insistent repetitive guitar riff and solid drumming, three organ chords with variations creating a haunting effect, fluttering synth joining the affray; again, the listener is pulled in by the sheer intensity of it all, like getting too close to a black hole; but now my imagination is running away with me which is what this spaced out music facilitates, a nice escape from everyday life.‘ Chrono Trigger‘ completes the album. The gradual crescendo to a wall of sound is less in evidence after a long slow burn, echoing guitar notes to an undertow of solid rhythm transmogrifying into a guitar riff with ascending synths and bleeps, a nice melodic hook before the guitar becomes more coruscating, a menacing ending to an accomplished and very addictive album of space rock.
The contacts are: www.zonesix.de; BANDCAMP, SOUNDCLOUD and the SULATRON RECORDS website and the usual social media sites. You will find that Zone Six have released a prolific number of CDs and some vinyls, some of them sold out, so please act fast if you want to discover more.
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