For decades, Ecstatic Vision have been one of those bands about whom so many legends have arisen, but so little is actually known. Was their attempt to poach him after he laid down some guest vocals the real reason Captain Brock threw Lemmy out Hawkwind? Are they the ones that bought the brown acid to Woodstock and lead to the famous tannoy warnings? Did their interference with the pyros cause the spontaneous combustion of one of Spinal Tap’s many ill fated drummers? For whatever reason, Ecstatic Vision never had a single official release during their tenure before they all perished in a bizarre LSD related incident, the details of which are to this day still hushed up, and all that was ever available were expensively and secretively traded mono tapes from back in the day shows at the legendary Whiskey A Go Go. Now, however, thanks to Relapse Records, their one and only album ‘Sonic Praise’ has finally been found by archivists, freed from the clutches of grasping lawyers and greedy hangers on, polished up, and released onto the world! Sounds too good to be true? Well, I did make most of that up, as whilst their sound may be from another era, this is in fact the debut album from the Philadelphia psyche rockers, and bloody good it is too.
From the start of track one, ‘Journey’, the band set their controls for the heart of the sun, drifting away on a wave of swirling Hammond organ licks layered atop hypnotic riffs, the vocals themselves having more than a hint of pre-Motorhead Kilminster, the guitar solo being slow, fuzzy, distorted, and filtered through a haze of THC smoke. By the time the album ascends to the ‘Astral Plane’ a drum circle has built up, the pseudo tribal beats merging with screaming guitars and frantic bass battering before stoned vocals mumble in at the four and a half minute mark, the point most tracks will be winding down, rather than just getting going, the sound continuing to develop with the background noise of an Arabic bazaar merging with meandering jazzy sax tones, as if Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘Kashmir’ had mated to give rise to a cosmic love child.
Ecstatic Vision are not scared to get their prog on, and on title track ‘Sonic Vision’ sound effects seemingly gleaned from a less technologically advanced yesteryear dominate, practically crying out for Jim Morrison to intone his poetry over the sound-scape the band create. Indeed, when the vocals do finally emerge they could be the chanting of the Lizard King himself, dark foreboding timeless lyrics of space and visions urging the listener to journey with the band, the track merging seamlessly with album closer ‘Cross The Divide’, a near ten minute hippy clarion call to throw away the shackles of reality and enter dreamland, the tripper urged on by the commanding Jaz Coleman style vocal delivery, short, barked polemics punching through the instrumental fuzz, demanding that the listener “choose their side.”
Give this band a TARDIS and they could happily step on stage at the legendary Isle of Wight festival to open for Hendrix, and they would not not seem out of place. July sees a ‘Fare Thee Well’ concert from what remains of the Grateful Dead, and this band seems poised fill the gap. To paraphrase Timothy Leary, turn on Ecstatic Vision, tune into ‘Sonic Praise’, and freak out.
(8/10 Spenny)
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