Album Reviews

Not being heavily steeped in progressive rock, I can't say in what esteem the Polish group INDUKTI is held but thanks to the persistence of one young man, Robert Guilarte-Mantellini and his Sunspot Record label (not to be confused by the Washington, D.C. Reggae label of the same name that shuttered in 1994), the band's debut album S.U.S.A.R. ((Suspected Unexpected Serious Adverse Reactions) has gotten a double 180g vinyl release.

Though the group was founded in 1994 it's debut was issued a decade later, with this vinyl release coming in 2013 almost another decade later. The record's inspiration was Fritz Lang's silent movie classic "Metropolis"

While the group is mostly instrumental, there are some vocals that are sung in accent-free English, which helps for domestic consumption though the lyrics are the usual bleak fare: "Black weeds cover dreamy plains/Lost my aim, lost it all" (etc.) that well-compliments the forbidding minor chord musical terrain.

The wiry, blocky, hard rock guitar parts are well stitched together by Ewa Jablonaka's aggressively pleasing electric violin overlay. That plus the chording give many of the tracks a hard-driving Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Metallica, meets Tool feel. Most if not all of the tracks are based on aggressive, pulsating two chord riffs propelled by Wawrzyniec Dramowicz's deeply grooved drumming.

Even though there's not much musical variation in terms of structure, chording, rhythms and the like, the groove these guys and gal lay down is damn addicting. Harpist Anna Faber adds some mystery and her denouement calms things down to end side four. A "hidden" bonus track on the CD gets a locked groove treatment here as the second song on side one. To hear it you have to lift the stylus and lower it past the lock out.

The recording is good but not in the same league as Volto!'s analog production and I'm not sure what the source was used by Stan Ricker to cut lacquers. It might very well have been a CD. However, the vinyl producer has gone all out to make this sound and look as good as possible: with Ricker cutting half-speed, plating and pressing at RTI and "Tip on" Stoughton jacket.

Limited to 500 vinyl copies.