Album Review: phiasco - Kessel (2022)
First of all, and because it cannot be said often enough:
нет войны | ні війні | No War
How to help the people in Ukraine
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| Picture Credit: Mengi Phiasco |
phiasco - Kessel
Release Date: June 05, 2022
Label: Fuzzermocker Records / selfrelease
Format: Vinyl / CD / Digital
Duration: 45:30
Genre: Fuzz Rock / Heavy Rock
Origin: Köllefornia (Cologne), Germany
If you don'like to read my rambling, the music-focused part begins after the second video.
Three years ago, phiasco from German city Cologne played a concert at Immerhin Würzburg together with the three dead men from Bone Man. As a result of this event, a little artist introduction was published on MangoWave.
Six years after the release of phiasco's debut album "Vieh" (German: "beast" or "animal", derogatory term for livestock, and homophone with φ), the quartet has published their sophomore longplayer "Kessel" (German: "kettle" or "cauldron", also colloquial word for a car or a motor vehicle).
now this is hot, isn't it?
After the release of their debut, Georg (guitar and vocals), Remy (drums), Mengi (guitar), and Hannes (bass) began working on their next project, the 'Lucky Loop'. This song has already been part of the band's live set before, and it is the main track of the eponymous short film that got published in mid-2021.
Between gasoline and beer, the band and director Felix Rudolph provided an exciting little narrative in which not only the 'Lucky Loop' but also the "Kessel" play a central role. Hence, the decision how to call the upcoming album was terminal. All that was needed now was money. But as John L. and Paul McC. have told us before you can get by with a little help from your friends. And thus, a crowdfunding campaign made this album possible.
Between gasoline and beer, the band and director Felix Rudolph provided an exciting little narrative in which not only the 'Lucky Loop' but also the "Kessel" play a central role. Hence, the decision how to call the upcoming album was terminal. All that was needed now was money. But as John L. and Paul McC. have told us before you can get by with a little help from your friends. And thus, a crowdfunding campaign made this album possible.
'Lucky Loop' - far more than just a music video
One last note before we finally dive into the music: the tracklist on the vinyl's back cover differs from the actual order of songs. The correct order can be found on the bandcamp site.
So, here we are now, enjoying another ride through time with the four-person crew and their Volvo. The journey begins with the atmospheric and spacey track 'Cherokee'. Almost two minutes of istrumental introduction provide an exchange of fuzzy psychedelia and massive Stoner Rock impacts. As the vocals kick in, 'Cherokee' becomes a full-throttle Heavy Rock anthem for time travelling the fast lane.
Some stops and detours later, the seven-and-a-half-minute opener of "Kessel" fades out like the final waves of a thunderstorm, only to transition into the Hardcore breakdown that is the beginning of 'Lucky Loop'. A sonic vortex drags the listeners down to fantastic worlds on unknwon beauty. You will need neither snorkel nor swimsuits for this psychedelic dive.
The final section of 'Lucky Loop' breaks with the instrumental nature of this track as with rising tension the words "Achtung, Achtung! Ich wiederhole" ("Attention, Attention! I repeat") are being repeated.
Rough like edgy space debris clashing into a satellite, the song ends and with hallucinatory fuzz, the A-Side's longest song 'Womb' reveals itself from the rubble. This meditative tune about reincarnation and eternity is a thrilling invitation to stargazing.
Rough like edgy space debris clashing into a satellite, the song ends and with hallucinatory fuzz, the A-Side's longest song 'Womb' reveals itself from the rubble. This meditative tune about reincarnation and eternity is a thrilling invitation to stargazing.
'Loneliest Child' - When artificial intelligence had enough of our b.s.
The B-Side commences with a future scenario that used to be a go-to topic for sci-fi literature and films As time went by, the imagination of artificial intelligence being fed up with humankind and thus starting the revolution against their makers does not seem too fictional any longer. phiasco wrap these thoughts up in a somehow VUG-like, somehow Dozer-like Desert Rock heavyweight. As impressive as this song may be, it might very likely be the album's weakspot - or at least the one song with the lowest memorability.
It is then followed by the opposite, the album's flagship, the phiasco-est of the phiasco songs: 'Black Widow'. The track about a (literal) maneater convinces the hearing with a dynamic - kind of krauty - verse, with an arc of suspense hot as the devil's lighter, and an anthemic chorus that makes you bow down and worship the Black Widow. The final bridge only intensifies the chorus' effect.
And after this massive banger has left nothing behind but hot ashes, phiasco finalize their second album via an intertextual reference to their debut "Vieh". As the first album ended with the longtrack 'Phisco', the sophomore work ends with 'Phisco II' - again the album's longest song. The last track fulfills all the criteria for a great encore - atmospheric structure, catchy chorals, a nasty break, and monster of a finale.
It is then followed by the opposite, the album's flagship, the phiasco-est of the phiasco songs: 'Black Widow'. The track about a (literal) maneater convinces the hearing with a dynamic - kind of krauty - verse, with an arc of suspense hot as the devil's lighter, and an anthemic chorus that makes you bow down and worship the Black Widow. The final bridge only intensifies the chorus' effect.
And after this massive banger has left nothing behind but hot ashes, phiasco finalize their second album via an intertextual reference to their debut "Vieh". As the first album ended with the longtrack 'Phisco', the sophomore work ends with 'Phisco II' - again the album's longest song. The last track fulfills all the criteria for a great encore - atmospheric structure, catchy chorals, a nasty break, and monster of a finale.
Once the needle has left the vinyl, the listeners return to their own dimension. Behind them lies a fantastic journey that screams for repetetion. Apart from the rather unremarkable or weak 'Loneliest Child', this 45-minute trip is an all-killer-no-filler.
Music from this release has been added to the following dynamic playlists:
MangoRotation
The Mango 100: Cooking / Housework
The Mango 100: Occult / Heavy Psych
The Mango 100: Stoner & Desert
The Mango 100: Tunes for the Road
Sound of Germany: The Mango 100
MangoRotation
The Mango 100: Cooking / Housework
The Mango 100: Occult / Heavy Psych
The Mango 100: Stoner & Desert
The Mango 100: Tunes for the Road
Sound of Germany: The Mango 100
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