ON TRIAL (Forever) LP/CD
ON TRIAL remains my favourite psychedelic rock band of all times, and I wonder, why they still have an underground status today, though they are around for more than 15 years now. They have released five high quality albums, which are timeless masterpieces, due to the reason that ON TRIAL are great songwriters. And every of their past releases are full of passion and emotions, yet they kick ass. Now here we have the new album, and it's the first one without Guf Lorenzen and Anders Skjodt, who left the band to form Baby Woodrose. But this seems to be no problem for the band, because 'Forever' is again a brilliant release. It's more emotional and mellow than its predecessor, and you won't find any epic jam-like songs here, but that's no loss.
This time the songs are shorter, but everything is still here, and if you love the other albums, you won't be disappointed. Bands like The Stooges, Love, and The 13th Floor Elevators are belonging to their main influences, but ON TRIAL never were a faceless retro gang, like a lot of other bands today. I won't pick out any of the included eleven songs, because 'Forever' is a solid unit, that takes the listener to a journey which is rich on different moods and offers an enormous depth.
You will find very melancholic moments, but also some hard rockin' tunes, and not only this diversity makes the album so outstanding. If you belong to the ones, who never checked out an ON TRIAL album, I give you the advice to do it right NOW, before wasting your money for another soulless retro affaire. All of you, who love this band as much as I do will know that this is the real deal!!!! At least, I like to give the band five extra points for the song title 'Morning Sun in Burg Herzberg'!
(KK)