ZEN BISON — Krautrocker (review)

Album · 2018 · Stoner Rock

3/5 · 2021-05-29
siLLy puPPy

One of the countless modern bands that looks back instead of ahead, the retro band ZEN BISON formed in Rostock, Germany in 2013 by Philipp Ott (guitar, vocals), Steffen Fischer (bass) and Martin Konopka (drums) and decided to take a trip back to the wild wonderful psychedelic timeline where the a1960s met the 1970s. The band actually started out merely as BISON but since it’s getting harder and harder to score a simple one-word band name these days, the much more interesting ZEN BISON came to be. After the addition of two more members: Hans Kirschner (keys, organ) and Bobby Müller (percussion) were added, ZEN BISON was ready to take Germany down memory land.

As the band’s so far only album title KRAUTROCKER suggests, this is indeed a retro journey into Germany’s past where fuzzy guitar riffs painted a bluesy rock pastiche and slowly drifting jam sessions offered transcendental escapism into the perceived promised paths to ascension. While nirvana may or not be experienced during this album’s 42 1/2 minute run, the authenticity of a retro Kraut album endowed with a knack for divine mimicry will leave you wondering if this was indeed a long lost relic released from the obscurity shelves of some long lost recording studio where the tapes had been sitting for some half century. Indeed everything here passes the test. Trippy album cover art, stoner vibe, spaced out jams with ethnic influences. It’s all here for the Krautrock lovers who just can’t get enough.

The album is bookmarked by two vocal tracks. “Blow My Mind” sounds like something out of the Jimi Hendrix playbook with classic wailing psychedelic guitar riffs that bring a smokey club in 1968 to mind. Philipp Ott delivers the perfect dead ringer classic blues rock singing style with that grizzled Groundhogs meets Grand Funk Railroad stylistic approach. The same goes for the closing “Going Down” which perfectly emulates the late 60s but unfortunately the band is so fixated on mimicry that these tracks sound like mere covers rather than original material. The latter track also adds extensive guitar licks and jamming time as it extends past the 10 minute mark. In fact three of the tracks hover around the 10 minute mark leaving only the first two under six.

“Backseat Lovers” doesn’t deviate from the opener’s hard blues rock only the guitar heft is even louder and more distorted as the fuzz and haze only intensifies. This is also a vocal track. The best tracks are the 11-minute title track which is an instrumental journey into the heady authentically German sounds that one would hear from Amon Duul II or other drugged out mind-bending pioneers of the era. The near 10-minute “La Madrugada” offers a more uplifting treat with Santana inspired percussive drive and a Latin flair that gives a bit of joie de vivre to the otherwise spaced out or balls to the wall heaviness. These two instrumental tracks despite being more pleasant to my ears unfortunately are also quite derivative of journeys already taken but for what it’s worth this is quite a pleasant album to get lost in as it satisfies on all levels however it also doesn’t invite repeat listens either. In the end ZEN BISON is a decent retro band but given these types of bands are a dime a dozen these days, this band will have to find its own voice in the wilderness to really remain relevant.