Despite its unassuming cover, Dom's 'Edge of Time' is a very interesting and well done LP. They were a 4 piece, who only put this out in the early 70s. It's very thought out and well put together with many different sections. It has only 4 tracks but all are pretty long and make every minute count.
1. Introitus
2. Silence
3. Edge of Time
4. Dream
The album has a nice dreamy quality to it, with excellent use of acoustic guitar over organ drones, as well as many out of this world synth textures. I really like the wispy magical quality to 'Silence' with the whispers and moans of the vocals, and how they meld into the hypnotic organ during the first section. The next section has some REALLY awesome tape experimentations that sound like an aircraft, with a flute playing over it while the guitar just slowly plucks away. The combination of sounds here works amazingly well, creating a mood that's hard to describe. A truly unforgettable piece.
This isn't the first time German psychedelic rock has reminded me of industrial. Especially with their early experimention in sound effects and tape loops. The title-track starts with this mesmerizing combination of the eeriest soundscapes over a wavering organ. It then goes into this slow acoustic jam that seems to float over this strange and evil soundscape. When it picks up with the drums, the synth makes this incredible harmonic buzzing noise that's hard to describe. The female vocals are a nice touch, and I dig the spoken word. And the flute near the end is great too.
The last track goes totally off the rails with chaotic dissonance for about 1 minute. After that is a nice progression of acoustic guitar and a sustained synth pad, backed by some excellent bass guitar. It's probably the most jam oriented section of the whole album and they do it really well, although the creative decision to suddenly cut it off at about the 5 minute mark into something entirely different is kind of strange. The section after that sounds like dissonant xylophone noodling and all manner of exotic cymbal hits, some prepared piano, and a timpani (perhaps this being where they fiddled around with the studio's on-hand equipment. just a hunch). It's a much more random seeming piece than tracks 2 and 3, which are by far the standouts on this album.
Dom incorporates a number of great folk elements without quite falling into the category of folk itself. It's very concisely organized while maintaining a mood that is both mellow and uneasy at the same time. There's really no other sound quite like it. It's not particularly long but it makes its point effectively with memorable parts especially in tracks 2 and 3, although 1 and 4 are alright as well. 7/10
