Whilst very much the underground label so beloved of the scribes of Ave Noctum, and by extension your good selves reading this, Heavy Psych Sounds is definitely building up a solid and interesting catalogue of artists, to the extent that just the association with the label is becoming a mark of quality. Milan’s own Giöbia is no exception, and ‘Plasmatic Idol’ is an album that should not only appeal to the label’s fan base, but hopefully expand it.
‘Parhelion’ opens the proceedings with a synth heavy sound, the keyboards not trying to imitate traditional instruments, but rather retaining an unashamedly electronic sound hearkening back to the seventies when artists across the whole musical spectrum were experimenting with the new technology. Indeed, I regularly kept expecting Richard Burton’s rumbling tones to come out of the speakers and tell of the atrocities of the Martian war machines crashing across the home counties of England. In contrast, ‘In The Dawn Light’ is altogether more mellow and acid drenched, mixing tripped out vocals, mellow beats, and a Hammond sound interweaving through a blissed out guitar, melding into the remarkably short instrument title track that on its own sounds like it could be one of the pieces Genesis worked into their classic ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ to accompany the light show and allow for Peter Gabriel to change costumes.
Further timeless influences are mined with ‘Haridwar’, evoking the psychedelic pop of The Byrds with jangling guitars and laid back vocals mixed with the addition of a middle break that could have come from the heyday of Messrs Manzarek and Krieger; like far out man! Things then travel into the realms of Pink Floyd’s early days of happenings with ‘The Escape’, a track that practically demands to be presented to a hairy and flarey audience with a background of ink drop acid projections, as indeed does the following ‘Far Behind’, continuing as it does with the insistent drum pattern that Nick Mason employed back in the day to power forward sweeping soundscapes created by the band.
Giöbia is a band that are clearly massively influenced by the psychedelia of the sixties, but by weaving an eighties synth sound add a new layer to their music, and helps them to stand out from some of their contemporaries. Never having heard of the band before, as part of my research into the review I was surprised to find that this was in fact their fourth album, with a five year gap since the suitably retro named ‘The Magnifier’. On the basis of ‘Plasmatic Idol’, I have a feeling my wallet is going to take a bit of a battering as I seek out their prior releases, and suggest you might well want to do the same.
(8/10 Spenny)
Leave a Reply