Review: 2 from Sulatron - Strobe - Bunker Sessions / Zone Six - Zone Six

This album from Strobe is a great find by Sulatron. This UK band were active in the 1990s releasing several albums, all to great acclaim. In 1994 they recorded the 'Bunker Sessions' as a live album - in one session with no overdubs. It never saw the light of day until now, Sulatron has given it a lush vinyl and CD release, out on October 6th.

The album opens with the ten minute 'Sun Birth', a real slow burner of a track that starts with some hazy psychedelia and a prominent bass line. As it grows the band's 3 guitar attack really comes to the fore..intertwining and playing off each other to create a dreamy fog of fuzz and reverb. It is a truly excellent jam and well worth the admission price on its own and all credit to Dave / Sulatron for giving it a well deserved release. 'Into Your Skin' is a more 'indie' affair whilst still retaining its psychedelic roots. It is a vocal track that is way too short!...the guitars are strident and forceful and the vocals have that distinct 1990's feel about them but it is a blinding track. 'Obsession' opens with lovely tribalesque drums that come across a bit like Bauhaus but the guitar dispels any lingering goth vibes and the track builds into a psychedelic post-punk gem. The guitars wail and weave about over those primal drums and the vocals, used sparingly on this track, flit in and out of proceedings. However, It is the guitars that are the stars....they manage to mix a distinct psych feel with post-punk and even some noise rock and it all becomes very intense. 'Chameleon Earth' has real chiaroscuro about it; the dark vibes of the vocals and the rhythm section balanced beautifully by the sparkling guitar. There's no denying that it sounds 'of its time' but that's no bad thing. 'Opium Dreams' has guest vocals from Helen that imbue things with an ethereal beauty and the track initially comes across as dreampop but as it progresses it grows into something far more psychedelic. The wah-wah guitar builds and builds and it all becomes a heady mix. The vocals really are beautiful and maintain their grace and composure throughout while the guitars weave their psychedelic tapestry. The album is closed by 'Sun Death', thus bringing things full circle. It starts in a foreboding manner....stabs of reverbed guitar, the skittering of cymbals and a bass line that throbs like a heart beat...it builds a sense of suspense, a feeling that things are going to kick off. This feeling is dispelled when the guitars kick in and the track morphs into a blistering sonic attack of guitar and drums...way heavier than anything else on the album. It is a triumphant conclusion to an exceptionally pleasing album.

Sulatron have saved 'Bunker Sessions' for posterity and for that we should all be grateful. It is a damn fine album that fully deserves to have its moment in the sun. There are times throughout when one can tell it dates from the nineties, but there are also a great many occasions when you could be forgiven for thinking it was a thoroughly contemporary album. It is released October 6th on 180g, blue vinyl (limited to 500) and CD and will be available from the Sulatron webshop.



Zone Six are twenty years old! Initially formed when the band Liquid Visions were asked to play a gig but some members were unable to make it so Dave 'Sula Bassana' Schmidt formed a new band...and the rest, as they say, is history. The band has had many, many personnal changes in those twenty years but this, their debut album (instrumental version!), sees the original lineup of Hans-Peter Ringholz (also a member of Liquid Visions) on guitar, Claus Buhler on drums and Dave on bass and synths. The original instrumental sessions were released as a small run tape and has since become a thing of myth - later the vocals were added and released as a CD by Early Bird. To celebrate the twentieth anniversary Sulatron are releasing the original instrumental version (hallelujah!) on vinyl and CD.

The album is just two tracks to replicate the 'feel' of the original tape..they have not been cut into the tracks found on the CD vocal version...and that, to me, is a fine decision...it gives the album a flow that separate tracks do not give. 'Side A' showcases this perfectly; opening with some spacey effects and gentle guitar from Ringholz, it slowly builds into a space rock masterpiece...Ringholz is pretty damn deft at swinging that guitar, ably accompanied by Schmidt and Buhler. There are distinct passages throughout that do not interrupt the course but add different dimensions to the track, giving it a discernible ebb and flow. At one stage Dave provides a bassline that is noir blues around which Ringholz weaves some acid guitar that, at times, borders on the experimental. 'Side B' opens with some pure dub....the bass and drums combining to create a pure dub base for Ringholz to again weave his guitar magic. The dub is authentic to the extreme...it could have come from the Black Ark Studios...like Scratch Perry gone (even more) sci-fi. As the the track progresses the dub stylings are replaced by more straight-up psychedelia/space rock but, as with 'Side A', there is huge variety within the one track...passages of flamenco like guitar sit cheek by jowl with acid jams and sci-fi movie soundtracks. It is a wonderful listen!

'Zone Six' serves two purposes...in and of itself it is a great record filled with spectacular playing and huge invention but it also serves as an historical document...the nascent birth of one the premier spacerock outfits ever. I listened to this and then 'Forever Hugo' back to back and you can hear the evolution that the band has been through (mainly due to the personnel changes) and there is a naive charm about this album that has been gradually replaced by a more straight-up, and masterly, psychedelic jam approach. This is a pretty essential purchase for anyone interested in a. great music and b. the historical context that it highlights. It will be available from the Sulatron Webstore on October 6th and comes in 180g, green vinyl (limited to 500) and CD. Below is a track from the released vocal version.....you'll have to buy the album to hear the glorious instrumental version!