Ozric Tentacles - Technicians of the Sacred

by Keith How

published: 8 / 6 / 2015

Ozric Tentacles - Technicians of the Sacred

Label: Madfish Music
Format: CD

Cosmic latest double CD offering from durable instrumental space rockers, Ozric Tentacles

Review

Ozric Tentacles are like Marmite. You either love them or you hate them. My introduction to the band goes way back twenty-five or so years. I found myself clutching a mug of herb tea and a digestive in an old Bedford Camper van on a traveller site situated at a sacred site near my home. I was visiting a young couple who had joined the camp, who were all army surplus and dreadlocks but delightful folk. We got on well, so I was not treated like the enemy! They had a pile of cassettes and a battered old player and from it was flowing some amazing cosmic sounds. It was the Ozric Tentacles and I was hooked. They have been purveying their brand of head music for over thirty years now through free festivals and the rave scene, cheekily sticking one or two fingers up at modern music trends by adhering to their cosmic principles. If anyone was in any doubt that the Ozrics were perhaps past their best or in danger or selling out, the album opener 'The High Pass' blows away any worries. Bearing all the hallmarks of classic Tentacles, the spacey synths drift in before bubbling excitable keyboard samples take you away on an incredible journey. A characteristic trait of any Ozric Tentacles recording is the high energy levels of live performance, and those levels are here in this 90+ minute double album extravaganza of tones,textures and rhythms. 'Switchback' burns like a forest fire, while 'The Unusual Village' fizzles and sparkles like a Roman candle. Ed Wynne’s guitar shreds like a comet hurtling through space while the rhythm section pulsates and sizzles with a joyous energy. 'Technicians of the Sacred' show just how the Ozrics have developed through different line-up changes by developing consistency and the art of dynamics, giving this work a real sense of invention and exploration. You may not wish to buy into the myth that the Ozric Tentacles create “portals for astral travel”, but there are moments here when you might just wonder. 'Smiling Potion' is a massive slab of space dub growling and crawling through an unknown universe - oh, it is heady stuff this. 'Rubbing Shoulders with the Absolute' seems to do just that with its infectious galactic strut that soars joyously overhead. 'Technicians of the Sacred' is heavily influenced by Mayan Astrology (as you might expect),and is progressive and full of textures, beats and grooves; psychedelic, layered and ambient in equal measure. A total trip. A nod also to the magnificent album artwork - far out.

Track Listing:-

1 The High Pass
2 Butterfly Garden
3 Far Memory
4 Changa Masala
5 Zingbong
6 Switchback
7 Epiphlioy
8 The Unusual Village
9 Smiling Potion
10 Rubbing Shoulders With The Absolute
11 Zenlike Creature