Cyborg [Original recording remastered] [Import]

Track Listings

1. Synphara

2. Comphara

3. Chromengel

4. Neuronengesang

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
French reissue for one of the founding fathers of contemporary electronic (Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream), originally released in 1973. Over 90 minutes of 'Cosmic Orchestra'.

Cyborg,Klaus Schulze,Spala,Electronic,New Age

Tracks:

Exospacial Psionic Aura
Estrogen/Pathogen Exchange Program
Sensory Amusia
Alcoholocaust
You Will Be Reincarnated As An Imperial Attack Spaceturtle
Alcoholcaust (LIVE)
You Will Be Reincarnated As An Imperial Attack Spaceturtle (LIVE)
Exospacial Psionic Aura (LIVE)
Sensory Amusia (LIVE)

Customer Reviews:

Crazy technical progressive grind metal........2007-03-11

If Frank Zappa and King Crimson birthed a schizophrenic, demonoid love child it would resemble this band. Its dark and chaotic, but unique and grotesquely beautiful. An oxymoron, yes. Does it describe the music aptly, possibly. This cd is noisy but exact. Its a compilation of their two previous cds, which only consisted of 3 or 4 songs each, plus a live set. Yes they can reproduce these songs live, they are not just studio productions. Quite an accomplishment for the old school power trio. It helps having an astonishing bass player, who technically plays a Warr Guitar. For those that don't know, a Warr giutar is a seven to fifteen stringed guitar/bass like instrument with the range of both a guitar and bass that is usually played by touch or tapping the frettboard using both hands but can be played other traditional ways as well. Thus giving this band a unique sound. The drummer is insane and flows through each tempo change naturally and the guitar player (standard guitar) plays counter-point to the warr guitar franticly, like a Larry Lalonde (Primus) on meth. I can't wait for a full length cd of original material from these guys. Until then buy and enjoy this cd. Keep an open mind. This is hardly for the average music fan.

Avant-Garde Music at it's Best.......2007-03-09

Progressive mind blowing insanity. A must have for fans of Dysrhythmia, Colon Marston never fails to amaze.

Relentless Intensity.......2006-09-29

I haven't been this blown away by a new release in years! Both the chops and compsition on this disc are way over the top. Although they are often described as progressive metal, I agree with reviewers who point out that the don't play any of the "routine" metal stuff you hear on alot of other CDs in this category. The closest musical comparison I can make is with King Crimson. Infact I find there music satisfying in some of the same ways. However, they maintain a level of relentless intensity that I've never heard on a Crimson record. Think what it might sound like If Buckethead recorded an album with The Ruins and you might get the picture!

What The !!?%$#@^!!?.......2006-09-22

(Instrumental Proficiency 6 stars)

Holy.....!? Well, I don't really know how to start this one. This band and album would probably not appeal to about 98% of the music-buying public out there, but it is simply incredible. If the band's name and album title weren't enough to give you the impression that these guys simply aren't interested in commercial success or pop appeal, wait until you get a load of the music. Whew! I am exhausted just thinking about it. Behold the Arctopus play an unbelievably intense brand of experimental/progressive/metal/post-rock/ambient/funk/techno/trance/fusion/whatever that will instantly appeal to any musician by sheer force of it's ballsy, I-can-play-better-than-anyone-youv'e-ever-seen brashness. Insanely convoluted, technical, original, and just plain weird, this album is worth checking out, especially for anyone who likes displays of virtuoso musicianship. Plus, the new Metal Blade reissue version contains live versions as well, proving that they can pull this stuff off live. Progressive jazz-metal on Ritalin. Since these guys are now apparently signed to a relatively big label which releases a lot of super heavy music, it should be interesting to see what they do next. These guys can play.

Schizophrenic Jazz Metal of the Not So Distant Future.......2006-08-24

This is my first experience with the Arctopus, and I'm sure it won't be my last. Behold...THE ARCTOPUS have a great combination of technical metal/jazz metal going on; Sometimes it will rend and flay your head and upper torso into a steaming pile of fleshy tissue, and at others it will sound like very laid back, melodic type of Jazz/Jazz metal. They Kinda remind me of "Cynic", That is If Cynic lost the keyboards and robo voices, and shot themselves up with steroids and Caffine.

This touch guitar stuff is crazy, its got me very interested in finding out more about the instrument, as I have never heard of them before. And another amazing thing about this band is that it is a three piece. I could swear that they have 2 guitarists and a bass going sometimes. The only thing I have against them is that the guitarist is prone to go into wild shred-fests every now and then, which can get on my nerves sometimes.

But everything else about this EP is top-notch stuff. It might not be very long, but when you listen to it, every second feels like three because of the insane complexity of it all. But also not to be overshadowed are the beautiful mellow passages like in Sensory Amusia...Man its so relaxing and peacefull, you could listen to that in a cafe...although 60 seconds down the line you might listen to it at a destruction durby, or at a construction site.

Now, the obvious reason that we are being given a re-issue of This Ep from last year is because Metal Blade (the record company that recently signed the arctopus) wasn't recieving any profit off of any of the arctopus's pre Metalblade releases. But that being said, this is a fair price for an EP reissue, with more material on it then the original, and at a lower price. So If you already own the original you needn't worry about picking this up. But if you haven't got the original then you've got a pretty good deal here.

If you like this EP, keep Your eyes on these guys. I am sure that a full length release by the arctopus is just around the corner.

Average customer rating:

I get chills just thinking about the album
When this album is on, I'm glued to my chair, salivating, and drooling, and my eyes are rolling in the back of my head
Cool Beauty
"Cyborg" Reissued!!!

Cyborg
Klaus Schulze
Manufacturer: Inside Out U.S.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

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Timewind
Inter*Face
Irrlicht
Moondawn
Blackdance

ASIN: B000H0M53S
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Tracks:

Synph 22:48
Conph 25:51
Chromengel 23:49

Tracks:

Neuronengesang 24:43
But Beautiful (bonus track) 50:55

Album Description

Klaus Schulze's second album was originally a double L.P. released in October 1973 and the new Revisited Records definitive release finally places the tracks in the correct sequencing, previously impossible to due the time constraints of the vinyl running time. Schulze fans who have yet to discover his very early work really should give this a listen; Cyborg is certainly a stunning recording, always challenging, often preposterous, sometimes disturbing, this is Schulze at his absolute purest.

The Revisited Records new deluxe edition includes the 51 minute bonus track, But Beautiful, recorded four years after Cyborg at the famous concert in Brussels' St. Michael Cathedral on the 17th of October 1977. This audience recording is the last not yet released from this historic event and it fits perfectly here, with both its length and atmosphere, as it gives the sometimes harsh avantgarde sounds of Cyborg a more beautiful conclusion.

Klaus Schulze first attracted attention as a member of the German progressive rock band, Tangerine Dream. Following the release of their debut LP, Electronic Meditation, he departed for a solo career. Klaus' recorded work typically features extended pieces sometimes filling an entire album built around computer-generated synthesizers and other specially programmed electronic effects. Klaus Schulze remains a cult figure in the United States, where the bulk of his prolific output has until now been available only through the import bins. He is widely considered an avant-garde mainstay as well as a founding father of both the new-age space music and electronica genres.

Customer Reviews:

I get chills just thinking about the album.......2007-02-12

What an album. What a sound. The album title is definitely a good description for what the album sounds like. And what it feels like. It's totally alien. It's.....quite frankly beyond words. No amount of words is ever going to give you an idea of how the music should sound and if there were then they would totally destroy the whole ethos and the whole mystique around the music. It's just something you need to experience.....absolutely no words can do this album justice at all.

When this album is on, I'm glued to my chair, salivating, and drooling, and my eyes are rolling in the back of my head.......2007-02-02

This is probably my most favorite CD of Klaus Schulze. However, of all my favorite CD's of Klaus Schulze, this is the one new re-mastered re-release of his albums that I find less desirable.

First of all, let's talk about the re-mastering. My original copy from SPALAX Music (France) 14922, is recorded very well and it's even a little louder in the mastering than this new release. All four of the original tracks on this double CD are some of Klaus Schulze's most intricate work. So, therefore, what is kind of disappointing about this new re-issue of "Cyborg" is the bonus track itself. The bonus track "But Beautiful" is a live recording recorded about 5 years later than "Cyborg." And this bonus track has some inherent tape flaws. Even, just about 10 minutes into it, you'll hear a part where it sounds like the tape was crinkled in the machine. And there are some other sound flaws throughout its entire 50 minute recording.

I would have enjoyed this re-release more if it didn't have "But Beautiful" added as a bonus track. What I would have rather had was maybe that totally obscure recording from about 1970 called "Searching," It is only currently available on Rhino's 5 CD collection called "Supernatural Fairytales: The Progressive Rock Era". However, I believe even that's out of print now.

The recording called "Searching" is about 12 minutes long but I can't help but think that it might have been edited for Rhino's Box Set. If there is a complete version of "Searching" available somewhere, I'd sure like to see that made available as a bonus track on a re-issue of these Klaus Schulze CD's.

Cool Beauty.......2006-11-10

Prolific as he is, Klaus Schulze is yet to surpass this masterpiece - a nearly perfect blend of orchestral samples and chilly, fluttering electronics.

Long, hypnotic pieces that can initially seem fearsome but which - on acquaintance - reveal a certain beauty.

I don't know if this is the best place to start with KS: it's not an easy album. I'd suggest "Mirage" if you have yet to explore the man's work. But when you do get this you'll have found an album for life.

"Cyborg" Reissued!!!.......2006-09-15

"Cyborg" is Klaus Schulze's second solo album and is an epic piece of avant-garde mastery. The original album consisted of four long tracks taking up one side each on vinyl. Musically, it picks up where his debut "Irrlicht" left off and includes many innovative and orchestral music experiments.
For the latest CD reissue, the music has been remastered from superior tape copies and removes a lot of the hiss and hum heard in the original CD version (which didn't sound too bad at the time either). Also, the track titles and their running order are presented on CD for the first time in their correct order as they appeared on the very first LP issue. Therefore, what most fans thought was "Synphara" in later years was actually "Chromengel". The track titles now correspond to the correct music. Also, the reissue includes an excellent 51-minute bonus track which will be discussed below.
"Cyborg" opens with the beautiful "Synphara". Klaus's Farfisa organ dominates this piece accompanied by a percussive rhythm from his newly acquired VCS3 synthesizer. The mood of this piece is extremely dark and funeral-like. At the same time, it reminded me of walking into a giant cathedral with a large pipe organ playing consistently. There is very little change throughout this piece but it's themes and variations along with it's synthetic rhythms are superb.
The next track, "Conphara" is a 26 minute drone-fest opening with a chaotic cacophony of what sounds like air-raid sirens. Underneath, a steady bass pulse emerges which sets the tone for the rest of the piece. After the 'air-raid siren' intro fades out, the orchestra comes charging in with a long dramatic theme. This is music that would not sound out of place in a horror film of some sort. Towards the end of the piece, things settle down a bit as the orchestra backs off and some delicate flutes take over. The buzzing pulse heard throughout the piece then fades into silence.
The second half of the album opens with "Chromengel" (supposedly German for "Chromium Angel"). Here, the orchestra is up front and center with a beautiful wandering progression. Throughout the piece, Klaus creates an endless series of drones, bleeps and wind storms with his VCS3 synthesizer. This piece maintains the same mood throughout except when it moves towards the end. For the final six minutes, the orchestra drops out and Klaus is left alone in the mix conjuring up seas of white noise from his synth.
The closing track on the album is the experimental "Neuronengesang" ("Brain Song??"). Throughout the course of its 25 minutes, dark and grunting drones drift in and out the mix accompanied by a wandering Farfisa organ. Sharp synthetic bursts scatter throughout the piece sounding like an alien game of laser-tag. There are brief moments of calmness but for the most part, it is layer upon layer of droning pulsating tones creating an intense atmosphere. There are similarities between this piece and Tangerine Dream's "Nebulous Dawn" from their 1972 classic "Zeit". Both tracks feature the same idea of droning notes pulsing in and out of the mix.
The long bonus track, "But Beautiful" was recorded live in October 1977 at St. Michael's Cathedral in Brussels, Belgium. In contrast to the harsh experimentation heard on the original "Cyborg" album, this live piece is a calming atmospheric sequencer-style piece that is typical of Klaus's music ala "Timewind", "Moondawn" and "Body Love". There are enough changes, spontaneous playing and energtic passages to make this long epic piece flow by like shooting stars. This is some great classic Schulze here.
"Cyborg" was definitely ahead of its time when it was released back in 1973. It is still highly regarded as an avant-garde masterwork. Klaus wasn't finished after "Cyborg" though. After this, he went on to produce timeless classics such as "Picture Music", the groundbreaking "Timewind", "Moondawn", "Mirage" and "X", all of which are regarded as important works from this important musical genius.
The recent reissue captures "Cyborg" in its best quality yet. The sound is sharp and clear and is a real treat to be listened to with headphones. The new liner notes from Klaus Schulze and Klaus Mueller are also great too.
Classic Early Klaus Schulze and a true Avant-Garde Masterwork!!!

Average customer rating:

Cyborg Acoustics
Raz Mesinai
Manufacturer: Tzadik
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

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Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0002IQITM
Release Date: 2004-08-24

Tracks:

Ghosts Of The Gulag I
Ghosts Of The Gulag II
Ghosts Of The Gulag III
Ghosts Of The Gulag IV
Ghosts Of The Gulag V
The Reanimator
Ghosts Of The Gulag-Reprise

Average customer rating:

R.A.B. vol. 2 [CD & DVD] 28 Tracks Plus 6 Short political short films that you just have to see...
Favorite Son - Green Day (unreleased) / Let Them Eat War - Bad Religion / Unity - Operation Ivy / Necrotism: Decanting the Insalubrious (Cyborg Midnight) Part 7 - The Lawrence Arms (unreleased) , We Got the Power - Dropkick Murphys (rare) / Drunken Lullabies - Flogging Molly / Doomsday Breach - Only Crime / Gas Chamber - Foo Fighters (rare) , Status Pools - Lagwagon (unreleased) / What You Say - Sugarcult / 7 Years Down - Rancid / Off With Your Head - Sleater-Kinney (rare) , Scream Out - The Unseen (unreleased) / Violins - Yellowcard (unreleased) / Like Sprewells on a Wheelchair - Dillinger Four (unreleased) / Chesterfield King live - Jawbreaker (unreleased) , Born Free live - Bouncing Souls (unreleased) / No Hope live - Mad Caddies (unreleased) / Kids Today - The Dwarves (unreleased) / Can't Wait to Quit - Sick of It All (rare) , Comforting Lie - No Doubt / State of Fear - Useless ID (unreleased) / I'm Thinking - Autopilot Off (unreleased) / My Star - The International Noise Conspiracy (unreleased) , and Time's Up - Donots (unreleased) / Kill the Night - Hot Water Music (unreleased) / You're Gonna Die - Thought Riot / Fields of Agony acoustic - No Use For a Name (unreleased)
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Short Sleeves | Sleeve Length Browse (feature_browse-bin) | Refinements | Apparel
ASIN: B000QXKUWE

Average customer rating:

Cyborg 009: Legend of the Super Galaxy
Japanimation
Manufacturer: Columbia
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0007MCHJS
Release Date: 2005-04-04

Tracks:

Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle
Japanese Tittle

Album Description

Details TBA. Col. 2005.

Average customer rating:

Gracias a Dios que este album existe
Interesting album, but not easy to get in to
An Early Piece of Avant-Best from Klaus Schulze.
Fine ambience album
Full Frontal Schulze

Cyborg
Klaus Schulze
Manufacturer: Spala
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

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Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music
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Mirage
Picture Music
Moonlake
Timewind
X

ASIN: B00005ALK9
Release Date: 1999-08-26

Tracks:

Synph
Conph

Tracks:

Chromengel
Neuronengesang

Album Description

French reissue for one of the founding fathers of contemporary electronic (Ash Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream), originally released in 1973. Over 90 minutes of 'Cosmic Orchestra'.

Album Details

Digtally remastered edition.

Customer Reviews:

Gracias a Dios que este album existe.......2004-08-01

Tal vez uno de los discos mas interesantes de Schulze, donde nos demuestra como llegar a nuevso mundos sonicos, con esos paisajes, equiparables a la pntura de Ives Tanguy. Todos los temas son piezas maestras y nos preparan para la gran epoca de Shulze que se avecina

Interesting album, but not easy to get in to.......2003-12-09

There is no getting around the fact that Klaus Schulze was one of the pioneering figures in the Krautrock and electronic movement. He was involved in Tangerine Dream for the album Electronic Meditation (which sounds very little like anything else TD had ever done) and Ash Ra Tempel (for their 1971 debut, and later on for the 1973 album Join Inn, which was basically a one-time reunion of the original ART members). Between Ash Ra Tempel's debut and Join Inn, he released his debut, Irrlicht, on the Ohr label (which featured a totally different cover from the more familiar Salvador Dali-esque artwork from Urs Amman on the Brain label). After Join Inn, Schulze went back to business recording a second solo album, and this time trying to pull a Zeit (as in TD's infamous third album from 1972) on everyone by making it a double with one lengthy cut per side. The album was called Cyborg and was released on the Kosmiche Musik label (which was basically Ohr Records with a new name as Rolf Ulrich Kaiser wanted a more "cosmic" image for his label, with objections by some, specifically Tangerine Dream and Schulze). Again, the later version of this LP was released on Brain Records, with new artwork from Swiss artist Urs Amman (again, much in the style of Dali). Here Schulze uses a Farfisa organ and an EMS Synthi A synthesizer, and no other keyboards. He also included a string orchestra, but he so purposely distorted the sounds of the strings that you could swear he used Mellotron. The album starts off with "Synphära". The droning organ is positively mindblowing, and he keeps plastering it with lots of electronic effects. "Conphära" is mainly one long mechanical drone with the strings. Now this piece is a reason why I give the album only a three star rating: the music is quite interesting, but there's times the music just drags on much longer than needs to, making it really difficult to sit through all four sides. The next two pieces are largely experiments in spacy electronic effects that are quite trippy. Interesting album indeed, but Blackdance is the better album since it's much in the same style, but shorter, perhaps not so "out there", and with tighter playing. Still, I can recommend Cyborg to the more adventurous listeners.

An Early Piece of Avant-Best from Klaus Schulze........2003-05-11

After the release of his 1972 solo debut "Irrlicht", Klaus Schulze ventured out into epic proportions with the follow-up album "Cyborg". Released as a double-album in 1973, "Cyborg" finds Klaus expanding his musical horizons breaking down many barriers in the process. Throughout its 98 minutes, "Cyborg" mixes elements of avant-garde classical music a la Stockhausen with experimental often droning electronics. 30 years after its release, it still does not disappoint.
"Cyborg" opens with the beautiful "Synphara". Here, Klaus uses a 40-piece orchestra which sounds as if it were recorded on a cheap radio. Throughout the piece, Klaus creates an endless series of drones, bleeps and wind storms with his then newly acquired VCS3 synthesizer. This piece maintains the same mood throughout except when it moves towards the end. For the final six minutes, the orchestra drops out and Klaus is left alone in the mix conjuring up seas of white noise from his synth.
The next track, "Conphara" is a 26 minute drone-fest opening with a chaotic cacophony of what sounds like air-raid sirens. Underneath, a steady bass pulse emerges which sets the tone for the rest of the piece. After the 'air-raid siren' intro fades out, the orchestra returns with a long dramatic theme. This is music that would not sound out of place in a horror film of some sort. Towards the end of the piece, things settle down a bit as the orchestra backs off and some delicate flutes take over. The buzzing pulse heard throughout the piece then fades into silence.
The second half of the album opens with "Chromengel" (supposedly German for "Chromium Angel"). Klaus's Farfisa organ dominates this piece accompanied by a percussive rhythm from his VCS3 synthesizer. The mood of this piece is extremely dark and funeral-like. At the same time, it reminded me of walking into a giant cathedral with a large pipe organ playing consistently.
There is very little change throughout this piece but it's themes and variations along with it's synthetic rhythms are superb.
The closing track on the album is the experimental "Neuronengesang" ("Brain Song??"). Throughout the course of its 25 minutes, dark and grunting drones drift in and out the mix accompanied by a wandering Farfisa organ. Sharp synthetic bursts scatter throughout the piece sounding like an alien game of laser-tag. There are brief moments of calmness but for the most part, it is layer upon layer of droning pulsating tones creating an intense atmosphere. There are similarities between this piece and Tangerine Dream's "Nebulous Dawn" from their 1972 classic "Zeit". Both tracks feature the same idea of droning notes pulsing in and out of the mix.
"Cyborg" was definitely ahead of its time when it was released back in 1973. Also the fact that it was a double album clocking in at nearly 100 minutes with nearly 25 minutes+ of music accompanying each side was considered quite generous for the time. It is still highly regarded as an avant-garde masterwork. Klaus wasn't finished after "Cyborg" though. After this, he went on to produce timeless classics such as "Picture Music", the groundbreaking "Timewind", "Moondawn", "Mirage" and "X", all of which are regarded as important works from this important musical genius.

Fine ambience album.......2002-06-10

This cd es good. 2 cd's w/ excellent music made by one of the most respected musicians in the ambience genre, Klaus Schulze.

I'll say one thing here because someitmes i'm not really into making a real long review, this 2 cd set is one of the best works he did/does. And the first song Synphara was simply my favorite, the other three very good too (!).

I recommend it = )

3 1/2 *

Full Frontal Schulze.......2002-01-28

An unapologetic excursion into ambient monotony, Klaus Schulze's follow-up to his densely layered debut album "Irrlicht" is in many ways it's opposite. Longer, thinner, and more repetative, "Cyborg" has the potential to bore most listeners, even those who would consider themselves Schulze fans. However, this album's frankness and repetition are often it's strength. It's sound palate consists mostly of distorted organs and odd whinning noises, but the strange machine-like puzzle this album creates make it Schulze's most frank and disturbing work. The exposition on most tracks is often annoying, relying too heavily on gee-whiz electronic effects, but for those with patience the middle of these tracks are worth the wait. Simple chord progressions eventually come in, played on blurred and ascendent organ and mellotron combinations, and make you unsure whether you're at the gates of Heaven or Hell. Cyborg could not be called essential or classic in the Schulze cannon, but it does have a beautiful, disturbing, and enduring quality that many of us stranger listeners enjoy.

Average customer rating:

I'm a Cyborg, but That's OK
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Fargo Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000LYE808

Product Description

Korean Exclusive Release. Original Soundtrack to Chan-Woo Park's (director of Oldboy) 2006 Film. Stars Korean Pop Singer 'Rain'. 25 Tracks. Digi-pak

Average customer rating:

Cyborg 009 40th Anniversary Super Best
Japanimation
Manufacturer: Sony/Columbia
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00023GSZ6
Release Date: 2004-07-05

Average customer rating:

Not so tech-prog-metal, not so interesting
Schizophrenic Jazz Metal of the Not So Distant Future
short but sweet - tech metal masterpiece
Behold...insanity
BEHOLD.... THE ARCTOPUS (Seriously BEHOLD this!)

Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning
Behold... The Arctopus
Manufacturer: Troubleman Unlimited
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

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Progressive Metal | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

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Thrash & Speed Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
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Sublimation
Cloak of Love
Spatial/Design
Penumbra Diffuse
Pretest

ASIN: B0007M229S
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Tracks:

Nano Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning
Exospacial Psionic Aura
Estrogen/Pathogen Exchange Program
Sensory Amusia

Album Description

This instrumental trio of guitar, drums, and touch guitar combine the furious virtuosity of tech metal, the improvised soloing of jazz, and certain writing techniques of contemporary classical music to give their insanity a compositional cohesion rarely heard in rock music. Despite their technical nature, their sound is accessible to musicians and non-musicians alike. Limited to 800 copies.

Customer Reviews:

Not so tech-prog-metal, not so interesting.......2006-09-16

"Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning" - I can definitely hear the Voivod influence, aside from that there are a lot of generic parts all thrown together one after another. There are some good riffs but they aren't arranged well with the others to stand out or flow well within the list like format that they are arranged in within these songs. Warr guitar or not this just doesn't do it for me and there is nothing about this that makes me want to recommend it or even listen to it again.

If you have not heard them already, try the following albums-

Voivod - Killing Technology, Dimension Hatross
Death - Human, The Sound of Perseverance
Atheist - Unquestionable Presence, Piece Of Time or Elements
Necrophagist - Onset Of Putrefication, Epitaph
Gorguts - From Wisdom To Hate
Demilich - Nespithe
Darkthrone - Goatlord, Soulside Journey
Ved Buenes Ende - Those Who Caress The Pale
Negura Bunget - Maiastru Sfetnic
Dodheimsgard - 666 International

Schizophrenic Jazz Metal of the Not So Distant Future.......2006-05-15

This is my first experience with the Arctopus, and I'm sure it won't be my last. Behold...THE ARCTOPUS have a great combination of technical metal/jazz metal going on; Sometimes it will rend and flay your head and upper torso into a steaming pile of fleshy tissue, and at others it will sound like very laid back, melodic type of Jazz/Jazz metal. They Kinda remind me of "Cynic", That is If Cynic lost the keyboards and robo voices, and shot themselves up with steroids and Caffine.

This touch guitar stuff is crazy, its got me very interested in finding out more about the instrument, as I have never heard of them before. And another amazing thing about this band is that it is a three piece. I could swear that they have 2 guitarists and a bass going sometimes. The only thing I have against them is that the guitarist is prone to go into wild shred-fests every now and then, which can get on my nerves sometimes.

But everything else about this EP is top-notch stuff. It might not be very long, but when you listen to it, every second feels like three because of the insane complexity of it all. But also not to be overshadowed are the beautiful mellow passages like in Sensory Amusia...Man its so relaxing and peacefull, you could listen to that in a cafe...although 60 seconds down the line you might listen to it at a destruction durby, or at a construction site.

The arctopus has also recently signed to Metal Blade records,(Home of Cannibal Corpse, The Black Dahlia murder, etc)
So If you enjoyed this Ep like I did, Im sure that even better material will be coming from the Arctopus in the very near future. Keep Your eyes on these guys.

short but sweet - tech metal masterpiece.......2006-04-10

After proving themselves adept at blending the odd, triumphant melodies and flowing instrumental blasts of King Crimson with the breakneck speed and dissonance of The Dillinger Escape Plan on their debut EP Arctopocalypse Now..Warmageddon Later Behold... The Arctopus (I'll opt out of commenting on their album, band, and song names.) are once again back, although sadly not in full-length album form yet. Despite Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning not being a full album, it does show that the band are progressing (yay) and in the right direction too (yay!!!).

Featuring Mike Lerner on guitar, Colin Marston of Dysrhythmia on Warr Guitar (like a guitar put on top of a bass, 12 strings, meant to be played touch-style) and the formidable Charlie Zeleny on drums, Behold... The Arctopus create music that is insanely technical, but also very energetic, strangely melodic, and accesible. Mixed in with the rhythmic complexity are some strange melodies and the overwhelming energy that they put into this music. The songs here test your ability to headbang and decipher continuosly-changing, lightning fast riffs at the same time for seven and a half minutes straight.

And you're not the only one being tested here - it must take some extreme athleticism of both the fingers and the brain to write and perform this music. Colin's fingers fly over his guitar at breakneck speeds as he provides the base of the song. Mike Lerner then does everything from harmonizing with Colin's "riffs", although a riff implies repetition, which does not appear on this EP, to blasts of meticulously tight shredding. Charlie Zeleny is quite simply formidable, staying synchronized with the other two thirds of the band through the fastest of speeds and most complex of rhythms. While it is quite easy to get lost in the depths of this bands complexity, they still manage to remain solid. Its quite obvoius these guys are amazing musicians.

One thing I cannot overstate enough is that these guys are not musical wankers. Their songs include drawn out buildups, musical chops, and more than fleeting forrays into the realms of noise style blasts of distortion, but it suits them perfectly. Their songs are not the seemingly random Changes of The Dillinger Escape Plan, but rather well thought out compositions that flow from one idea to the next very logically. "Estrogen/Pathogen Exchange Program" is a prime example of this with its crescendo from silence into a spastic blast of technical metal and then finally climaxing with a jaw-dropping drum solo.

I strongly recommend Behold... The Arctopus to prog, math, tech, instrumental or whatever you want to call it metal fans. Their EP flows perfectly over its 17 minutes and will simply compel you to listen to it over and over. Tech-metal mastpiece indeed.

Behold...insanity.......2006-04-03

This truly is a gem. Off all the places, I found this EP sitting right there in the open on a shelf at my local Border's. Very strange. Having heard some good things about the band, I picked up the album, went home, popped it in, and was blown away. What we have here is a mindblowingly skillful tech-thrash band with a guitarist/bassist combo that any band would die for. They manage to go from crazy thrash to laid-back acid rock, to almost progressive emotional guitar solos, to Fantomas-esque crashing riffs that just smack right into you. The latter are probably the worst kind of riffs on this album. Unfortunately the second song has quite a lot of this. Anyway.

The opener starts with a band, tells you to wake and Behold...THE ARCTOPUS! (I had to). Anyway, it begins with mind-numbing speed and technicality. At 2:21 it goes into a great acid-rock bass section. Otherwise it blasts along at 1000 BPM with some great melodies but most of all amazing chops. Think Necrophagist without vocals and with more interesting guitar parts. At around 5:24 it heads into a great keyboard-driven portion with some excellent emotional guitar and solid drumming. It's very atmospheric. The song ends like that and simply fades into the next song.

The next song starts slow with some foreboding sounds and whatnot before launching into more craziness about halfway through. Not a strong offering compared to the first song. It pretty much seems like the guys from BTA blew their load on the first song with no steam left for the rest. Fortunataely the third song proves this wrong. It blasts out, goes crazy, does cool stuff, more great guitar work, then busts out into an awesome acid rock section with soem nice jazzy guitar. Then it kinda starts blowing up. This next section makes it feel like the album is blowing up. It's a bunch of heavy, foreboding Fantomas-esque eerie riffs with all sorts of discord for a little while. Then they fall back near the end and go crazy and it's over.

So basically, this is a brilliant display of technical ability with the occassional ear for excellent and powerful songwriting, but it seems like occassionally BTA got lazy and kinda decided to play around with some discord and sound effects. It varies things up a bit, but more keyboard driven stuff like the end of the first song would be cool. Oh, and the drummer isn't quite up to par with the rest of the band, but his stuff works. Of course, kudos to him for keeping up with the other two in the first place.

BEHOLD.... THE ARCTOPUS (Seriously BEHOLD this!).......2006-02-18

BEHOLD THE ARCTOPUS - Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning.
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This is 3 piece instru-metal Act, which takes influences from such Tech-Metal greats as Death, Atheist, Cynic, and Voivod. And even some influence from the Larks Tongue or the Discipline-era King Crimson days. They employ the use of a Warr Guitar which to my knowledge has like 10+ Strings and is about as big as a Ford Focus. (Essentially it is a bass and a guitar and so much more all in one.) Then they use another regular guitar and, of course, the drummer. Sound wise it is incredible and only further gives the band a sense of originality. This EP alone puts them up with the musicianship of modern greats such as Dillinger Escape Plan or the, also instrumental, Canvas Solaris.

As amazing as this album I do cite 2 minor flaws:
1.) The production does not give this band the justice they deserve (probably due to budget constraints... which leads to point #2)
2.) They only made like 800 copies... Which is a sin, a band this talented deserves more way recognition.

The potential these guys is through the roof - Honestly any fans of insanely technical yet smooth flowing music should keep their eyes and ears out for this fine young band.

Favorite Songs: There are only 4 Tracks and they are all equally amazing!
-4.5 Stars

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