DATURA (Visions For The Celestial) CD
Originally released in 1999 on Cranium Records, the excellent US label Brainticket has taken the chance to release this album now in 2001 again. DATURA were formed back in 1995, and after three demos they released the mini CD "Allisone", also on Cranium Records. This band is from New Zealand and they are influenced by 70´s acts like Hawkwind,Blue Cheer, Sir Lord Baltimore or Mountain. If you want to compare them with 90´s bands, then you can find DATURA somewhere between Kyuss, mid-90´s Sleep and Monster Magnet, but these three guys are talented enough to present us their own 70´s influenced heavy brew. Check out the fastest track "Reaching Out", a heavy fuzzed-out rocker or the melancholic "Voyage".
The album ends with the nearly fifteen minutes long track "Mantra", a psychedelic space song where they use additional instruments, like flute, keyboards, clarinet and percussion. "Visions For The Celestial" offers nothing new, but it´s interesting enough and you can hear, that the musicians want to create their own blend. The only thing that´s really disturbing for me is the sound of the drums, especially the snare. The snare is louder, than anything else and aside of the last track, the drummer isn´t very varied in his style of drumming. So, it´s very boring when you listen to the whole CD. But that´s only my personal critic, so check it out for yourself. You can order this disc directly from Brainticket or Cranium.
(KK)