Acid Rooster – Flowers And Dead Souls

Tonzonen / Cardinal Fuzz / Little Cloud

The nights are drawing in and the stars shine ever bright in the autumnal skies, amidst the gathering gloom and pale light that catches leaves slowly making their way to the ground there is a sound … a big heavy psychedelic sound … this can only mean one thing: a new album from Germany’s Acid Rooster has dropped and is here to light our way through dark evenings.

A warm synth sound and chiming guitars introduce “Sounds Of Illusion”. Its rolling rhythm courtesy of Steffen Schmidt on the drums means the track almost cruises into being like a giant craft entering the Earth’s atmosphere after a long trawl through hyperspace. Echoed guitar from Sebastian Vath calls out across the solar system, as if trying to send a message to its home world. Max Leicht’s bass and synthesizer flesh out the sound, helping it springboard beyond Kuiper Belt objects to the farthest reaches of our solar system.

“On The Run” starts with morse code-sounding synth before multi-echoed guitar takes over, and then the foot stomp of drums kicks in. Here we have a combination of a NEU!-style motorik combined with Hawkwind‘s planetary otherness and a soupcon of Electric Moon‘s spiralling madness. The guitar works out a heavy lead and then gentle organ chords intervene, giving us a late ’60s Pink Floyd vibe that transcends up into the heavens before crashing down to the riff again.

“Scattenspiel” has a slightly more Klaus Schulze hanging gardens of Babylon synth chords to open and sets things up for the powerhouse electric guitar fugues that dance over the top of the steady rhythm being pounded out beneath. Then the guitar plays a series of gentle chords, uplifted by a synth string sound that makes the whole thing seem utterly sublime and takes you drifting on the cosmic winds as you float along to some beautiful lead guitar.

“Dead Bodies” has a big bass synth drone intro that cuts to some dramatic desert guitar sound and the kind of banging drum that will have you shaking you head in a psychedelic frenzy. This is a foot-tapping head-shaker that mashes a ’50s rock’n’roll sound with space rock and takes you on a violent trip between the two. It’s big … heavy … and totally out there, like the colliding of two suns to create a supernova.

Echoed ringing guitars introduce “Good Mourning”, which has a slightly more laid back feel to it and has comforting analogue sound, to it like a warm summer’s afternoon. Notes ring out across wide open vistas as bass and drums keep things nicely grounded. Here and there the fluttering of synths sounds like birds on the wing as the guitar leaves trails in the sky behind them; I felt there was even a little touch of early Pink Fairies in the sound and playing.

The album finishes with “Heaven Scent”, with Tangerine Dream-style synths layered beneath guitar chords with a sound reminiscent of early Acid Mothers Temple in the way it conjures up images of eastern spirituality. The music takes us downstream on the rivers of belief, where we drift far away from the worries of the world. Even when the track gets slightly heavier, it feels like an uplifting experience, as if you are about to start lift off on the trip of a lifetime. The track meanders its way down slowly, giving the perfect ending to the album and leaving the listener on a high.

Another stunning release from Acid Rooster that takes you on an aural journey; not just outward in to the cosmic night, but inward to your own self realisation. The album comes in glorious coloured vinyl with a free print / poster and a download card as well.

As you read this, Acid Rooster are currently on tour, including a handful of dates in the UK. They are the band to take you to the beautiful beyond and Flowers And Dead Souls certainly is the soundtrack to the trip there.

-Gary Parsons-