Twisted guitars, muffled drums, haunted melodies, occult themes and liberal European-style artwork, fucked up free-form psychedelic rock, goat worship, insane and beyond the borders folk and avant-garde.
Sylvester Anfang II is the older and more evolved brother of Silvester Anfang, a Belgian Funeral Folk collective gathered in a free folk droneband, with a very wide approach of music styles. The relatedly name Sylvester Anfang II got the idea for their split-off group from Amon Düül II, recording everything as free-form jams, all in the spirit of their Krautrock mentors, compared to Man, The Grateful Dead, Harvester.
On a recent cheerful Sunday night, a friend played a track from the band’s latest album, ”Perzische Tapijten”, released in 2012 on the London indie vinyl only label called The Great Pop Supplement. Since then, this hooking sound has been obsessing me in my daily winter journeys through the cold and grey Bucharest.
Just to me, it seems that this last album of the band is a little bit more complex and evolved than the previous ones (which I really recommend as well). Each song hides a secret story, and once you’re captured in its sound, you can’t really get out. It is so strong, mature and weird at certain points, that every listening becomes an extraordinary musical journey. There’s no bullshit here, nothing pretentious or amusing, nothing done for the sake of doing it. Even if it sounds like a free form approach, every element of every track has a precise role and guides the listener into subtle and secret corridors of the music’s heart. The guitars lead the listener to an out-of-this-world state of mind euphoria, forging at certain points into extremely intense moments that create the paroxysm of the song. The abundance of psychedelic guitar is perhaps one of the strongest points of this album, considering that it is floating perfectly harmoniously with the bass, the ambiance and the discrete (sometimes only suggested) rhythm.
This is that kind of band and sound that takes a lot of time, effort and struggle to get to, but once you discover it, it fills the soul with beautiful and enthusiastic feelings. There’s still an overwhelming quantity of astonishing music and bands out there that are still unknown and locked for the general public eye; you just have to look for them. Once discovered, it is worth all the time and energy spent in the process.
Tracklist:
A1. BuikdansA2. Schadelijke Sektarische Organisatie
A3. Episch
B1. Assassijn
B2. Etherik
B3. Geschudde Kaarten Liegen Niet