Siloah - Sukram Gurk (Kraut-Rock 1972)

Siloah was an almost completely different band when they recorded Sukram Gurk, their second and final album. On the record, released in 1972, the group turns up the volume a couple notches as the acoustic guitars are traded in, and the group is pared down to an electric three-piece of organ, bass, and drums, with an extra percussionist thrown in. The record is darker and edgier than the earlier album, but at the same time, it is not a complete about-face, as Siloah retains their unpolished sound, amateurish playing, and loose improvisational feel, with long instrumental jamming and bare-bone riffs. The record opens with the garage-band attack of "Milk Blue Mind," with vocal chorus caterwauling "Mother, I'm dying," before the piece drifts into long improvisations, more energetic vocal screams and wails, and even a drum solo. Except for some more rough vocals on "Feast of the Pickpockets," the rest of the record is instrumental, though no less effective, whether the mid-paced "Magic carpet Ride" or the slowly building organ grind that begins "Feast of the Pickpockets," or the avant-funk of "Stony," with its thundering drums and driving bassline. The bonus track, "She Is on My Mind," done a year later by a couple members of Siloah with a couple members of Os Mundi, sounds like a wretched attempt at a commercial pop song, and not at all up the standards of the material on the CD, and does neither Siloah nor Os Mundi any justice.

AMG Review by Rolf Semprebon