Hydria Spacefolk - Symbiosis

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Hydria Spacefolk - Symbiosis

Artist:	Hydria Spacefolk
Title:	Symbiosis
Label:	Silence SLC009
Length(s):	53 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2002
Month of review:	[06/2003]

Line up

Unknown

Tracks

1)	Terra Hidria	7.03
2)	Untitled	1.39
2)	Kaneh Bosm	5.12
3)	Kaikados	6.17
4)	Nasha Universos	5.15
5)	Jahwarp	5.47 MP3 or RealAudio
6)	Agents Entropos	3.12
7)	1-Mantra	5.12
8)	Pangaia	11.41

Summary

Next to nothing is known to me of this band, except that their label is Finnish and my feeling is the band is too. The artwork is very nice. I did hear from a friend that this is their second record.

The music

The opener is Terra Hidria and it opens slowly but surely ending with an up-beat passage with wordless female vocals. The music has Indian influences, although the guitar is more like slide guitar and reminiscent of the United States. In addition there is some flute as well, and plenty of organ. The music can very well be compared to Ozric Tentacles, although the sound may be a bit more varied and less guitar dominated. The groove is good. Some Mexican jumping beans just before the orgiastic conclusion. The rock gets a bit harder and rougher here at times and brings Hawkwind to the fore. The song ends with repetitive acoustic guitar work. The next track is short and not mentioned on the artwork. Reversed sounds figure mainly on this one.

Kaneh Bosm is the next one. An extended up-tempo instrumental of keyboards and guitar in the very typical Ozrics style. The same seems to hold for Kaikados, although the band also includes a tension building middle part where the tempo stays high, but the instrumentation goes down in intensity. Then slowly, instruments and volume are added back again. There is some definite marimba like playing and the guitar is a bit rowdier. Again, the music is very groovy and likable.

Nasha Universo is somewhat more relaxed, the sound a bit more woolly. The song also includes quite a bit of panflute, played in a Focus type style, quite up-tempo that is. For the remainder, this is a meandering track, easily to follow and quite light by comparison. The guitar sound is more seventies, and the music can more easily be likened to early seventies psychedelic rock.

With Jahwarp we move into more marimba dominated territories, where also a tinge of jazz (well a big one actually), can be discerned. Later the more usual type of psychedelic rock sets in, but the band knows how to diversify. The rather short Agents Entropos is a repetitive affair revolving around extended guitar soloing. Funny is that they manage to have the guitar sound subdued at points.

I-Mantra opens with fast percussion, seemingly programmed. The keyboard sounds are quite dissonant here. Then straightforward rock sets in with blurpy keyboards accompanying the energetic drums. This is very danceable stuff with some great thematic work on the keyboards hidden between the folds.

The final track is Pangaia, like most other tracks an up-tempo piece, but with some great tension rich and urgent passages. Very filmic, and still up-tempo, a rather rare combination. The song ends with violin.

Conclusion

If you are into Ozrics Tentacles, then this album is for you. Pleasant groovy space rock mainly in the style of Ozrics, but also with a few of their own elements and diversifications, making this album less style steady than most Ozrics albums, but all done with enough flair to let you notice only when really pay attention. Thumbs up.