Review: Cosmic Fall - In Search Of Outer Space

Over the past couple of years Cosmic Fall have been making a real name for themselves. With three albums under their collective belts ('First Fall', 'Kick Out The Jams' and the 'Starsplit' Lp with Aphodyl as well as a NYOP download only 'Jams For Free') their brand of heavy, psychedelic stoner rock has gained them a horde of followers that increases with every release...and it is easy to see why. With comparisons having been made to Earthless, Colour Haze & Samsara Blues Experiment, they take the heavy psych sound of the seventies and the freakout jams of modern spacerock and combine them to make something really very special. 'In Search Of Outer Space' is the first album with new guitar player Martin and he certainly seems to have settled in nicely!! The full line is now: Daniel Sax (drums), Klaus Friedrich (bass) and Martin Morawski (guitar) and krautrock legend Eroc on mastering duties.

'Jabberwocky' veritably explodes out of the starting blocks with a barrage of hard-as-nails riffs that show no quarter...a real adrenaline rush! Things settle into a spaced-out jam with heavy, fuzzed-up guitars that punctuate the vocal sections. The vocals themselves are deep and sonorous and so add even more gravitas to proceedings but it is the instrumental passages that really stand out....periods of psychedelically charged heavy rock that give way to more laid back but equally trippy sections in which the guitar is positively mellifluous and oh so lush! This is high class jamming, not just relying on power and histrionics but also craft and subtlety....a surefire winner in my book! 'Narcotic Vortex' starts, if possible, in an even more hi-octane manner - bluesy riffs but with the hardness of carborundum and sooo much fuzz! After this exhilarating intro the track falls into a more groove-laden and relaxed affair with some lovely wah-wah and plenty of reverb. Just when you think you have a handle on the track it changes again...a drum solo (don't hear many of them these days) and then a return to the heavy riffage of the intro. It is reminiscent of some of the trippy stuff that was produced in the seventies but maybe a tad more spacey. Of all the tracks on the album it is this one to which that I keep coming back. 'Purification' is a beautiful track; full of rich, chiming guitar that again takes us back to the golden age of heavy psych but with way more atmosphere. Martin's guitar playing is superb throughout this album and he mixes things up nicely so there is not one distinct 'sound' - he is equally at home with all out shredding as well as the more laid back, vibey approach...indeed, the band as a whole are masters of their art. 'Lumberjam' is a real belter of a song, from the groove laden intro (the rhythm section of Daniel and Klaus really coming into their own here) to the freak-out acid jamming. It is a track that really hits the stratosphere, leaving a comet trail of stars behind it...brilliant stuff! 'Spacejam' is exactly that. Opening with some really quite experimental electronica and effects, it builds and builds until it becomes another exemplary jam track...echo is liberally used, resulting in a deeply cosmic sound, the stabs of guitar sounding like intergalactic transmissions from a location a billion light years away. 'Icarus' closes the album in some style...here the band firmly plant their flag into stoner territory. It surges forward like a locomotive with sparks flying from the wheels...the guitar is fuzzy and heavy and the drums and bass combo keep things firmly on track. When the vocals enter it comes as a surprise..a nice one, but a surprise nonetheless but the guitar meltdown that follows the vocals ...wow!....heavy duty stuff indeed.

Germany has produced some of the best contemporary spacerock/psychedelic jam bands....thing Electric Moon, Knall, Spacelords, Samsara etc....and Cosmic Fall can keep pace with any of these guys, and that's saying a lot! 'In Search Of Outer Space' should firmly cement their place as one of the foremost jam bands around....it is full of superb playing but doesn't tie itself down to one particular style....the band have enough nous and creativity to mix things up, to complement some hi-octane, hi-tempo riff-fests with some sumptuous, laid back moments of luxury. It is a truly great album that fits in well with the band's canon of work thus far but also shows some growth and evolution of their style....if they carry on like this then sky really is the limit! 'In Search Of Outer Space' will be released on CD and download on 30th March via the band's Bandcamp page here but pre-orders will go live on 23rd Feb (this coming Friday) so bookmark the page! There are plans for a vinyl release in the future but nothing firm to report at the moment.