The following, along with a few necessary comments from me in certain places, are the reviews from various magazines worldwide, for the Krel CD 'Out Of Space'. They have been largely reprinted as written, occasionally edited to cut out any irrelevant bits (NOT criticism - they stay!). The Krel momentum continues.......
Krel - Out of Space
Ah, Hawkwind - my all time favourite band in an all
time favourite kind of way. Granted, ill health has
kept me from following them around the country on tour
this year, so I need to get my kicks in a housebound
manner. And in the absence of new Hawkwind music, what
better than a new collection of Krel tunes.
And I say collection, because it's not really a new
album, with a mixture of unreleased studio and live
songs from the band formerly known as the Purple Otter
Trotters, who made their name playing a Travellers Aid
Trust gig in Manchester and releasing a low-key tape
of Hawkwind covers. So deranged hippies it is. You
also know you're in hippy territory when an audio
album credits someone for dance and mime!
"Barricades" gives you a Margaret Thatcher sample in
between the wibbly wobbly synths and driving guitars,
which are based in late 70s / early 80s Hawkwind, when
Dave Brock was at his riffmeister best. Elsewhere,
they go for the trippy jams approach, especially on
the rather obviously titled "Space Trip". Sometimes
they go for the Ozric Tentacles approach, but they
rarely stray far from the guitar driven space rock
template created by Mr Brock.
Having said that, if you're going to be derivative,
then steal from the best, so I'm a happy man. There's
nothing better than a forceful psychedelic guitar
sound, swirling through the speakers. The production
values are a bit hit and miss, but I doubt any major
conglomerates are sitting around waiting for a
psychedelic space rock revival, so needs must.
SPACEROCK.CO.UK webzine/Added: May 2nd 2005/Reviewer: Stuart aka Zeitgeist/Score: 4/5
Read the best one yet (if you know Russian!!)
Review courtesy of Space Mirrors' Alisa Coral
This release from 2005 mixes live recordings and studio sessions to produce 54 minutes of dazzling space rock. Krel is: Martin M, Mr Dibs, Floyd, and Mike Man. Esoteric electronics spin in a pulsating darkness, like orbiting satellites incorporating catches of radio programs, NASA signals and other stratospheric flotsam. This astral intro explodes into a display of sturdy hard rock with pounding drums, squealing guitar, and subdermal basslines. Krel’s voyage back to Earth has begun.
Vigorous percussion surges and refuses to abate. Rhythms unfurl with manic determination, defining luscious tangles of emotional tempos that offer more than adequate propulsion to achieve escape velocity.
Savage guitar licks split the air with their emphatic cries. Riffs spiral and twirl, generating an ascending enthusiasm that seethes with otherworldly airs. Some of these riffs belong to the teeth-gritting variety, while others (sliding steel and delicate strumming) explore fascinating fugues of delivery to higher consciousness. The bass rumbles from subatomic origins, spreading visceral vibrations throughout the dynamic music like an infection, unseen but not unfelt.
Supported by a crooning chorus, the vocals are manly and adventurous. The voice rings with the authority of a space cruiser commander who has witnessed stars collapse and planets blossom from stellar ejecta. His urgent lyrics communicate deep secrets of coping with zero gravity, while softer passages lovingly recall things that have yet to happen.
The electronics ooze from unnoticed niches in the tight compositions, spilling forth with a bevy of trembling oscillations and gurgling cosmic bubbles.
As with most space rock, a vibrant Hawkwind milieu is undeniably present. But Krel reaches farther, forcing their own style on the music and delivering upheavals of gritty stamina glistening with alien slime and twitching long-range antennae.
MATT HOWARTH for SONIC CURIOSITY webzine (he of the spectacular album covers and general amazing artwork)
Taking the lead from the masters of the genre, Hawkwind, Krel play blitzed out space rock with great heart and soul. Although there are huge echoes of Mr Brock and Co, the band do leave an imprint of their own as they adapt electronic music to their needs as well. At times it is almost like an amalgam of Hawkwind and Tangerine Dream as the band adopts a more robotic approach, in a good way that is! The overall effect works well, the music is well played and inventive, and what's more it was all done live at Manchester Apollo and Liverpool Playhouse. Who knows, you might even have been there!
BERNARD LAW for CLASSIC ROCK SOCIETY (UK) Issue 147
Das Bester, was das All zu bieten hat! Na ja, vielleicht nicht ganz, aber immerhin das Beste, was das Archiv von Krel, den britischen Spacerock-Uberfliegern von 1995, zu bieten hat 1995 erschien das Debut "Ad Astra" und schlug ein wie ein Meteroit. Ahnliches Potential besitzt auch das neue Werk "Out Of Space", welches altes Material von 1992 (die lange unveroffentlichten "Shed"-sessions) mit Live-Tracks (im Vorprogramm von Hawkwind eingespielt) und einigen brandneuen Studioaufnahmen verbindet in der Tat fallt es schwer, die zwolf Tracks ihrem jewelligen. Ursprung zuzuordnen, da "Out Of Space" erstaunlicherweise wie aus einem Guss klingt. Krel haben ihre straksten Momente wenn sie ruhige Stucke ("The Visit"), oder gar nur spharische Soundscapes ("Mober", "Golden Tether" oder "Release") prasentieren doch augh die schnellere angart mit firrenden Gitarrenriffs und -soli, atherischen Vocals sowie wirbeinden Synthies ( wie in "Space Trip" oder "It's Alive")beherrschen sie.
An einigen wenigen Stellen hakt die produktionsqualitat etwas, doch "Out Of Space" hinterlasst einen auberordentlich positiven Eindruck, vieilleicht auch weil alle Songs ineinander ubergehen und so den Horer auf eine zusammenhangende Reise in die unendlichen Weiten entschweben lassen.
BERND SIEVERS for ECLIPSED magazine, Germany - Issue 69
Krel's stock-in trade is psychedelic space-rock, not at all unlike that of the original Hawkwind (albeit without the sax), a band who they have opened for numerous times and even toured with on the '92 "Teepee" tour.The five piece (plus two dancers) has been around since the late 1980's, at first releasing a number of cassete albums amid headline and supporting gigs in their native England. The band features Radar Dave (guitars), Mr Dibs (bass), Floyd (synth) and Mike Man (drums), with afifth memebr (founder Martin M.), split bewteen guitars and synths, nearly all the members sharing vocals.Their first CD, "Ad Astra" was released on Dead Earnest in '95; nearly ten years later, 'Out Of Space" is their second, The material here is not all new, however - some of it is from unreelased studio sessions and live gigs from around '92, the remainder being new recordings, and of course there's nothing in the liner notes stating which songs are old, new, studio, live, etc, and it's produced well enough that one can't really tell (ED: "that was the whole idea!!!").The twelve tracks ebb and flow between heady and aggressive space-rockers with blazing guitars, and more laid-back, synth-driven numbers nearly void of rhythm.Key to this, however, is that all are joined seamlessly into one lengthy continuum lasting nearly an hour. Hawkfans old and new, as well as fans of Hillage-era Gong and Ozrics, will likely find Krel's brand of manic, spacy, driving rock to their liking.
PETER THELEN for EXPOSE MAGAZINE, USA - Issue 31 (getting his facts totally wrong re Ad Astra, but we'll forgive him)
KREL. Out Of Space. Dead Earnest Records DERNCD55.
I guess any band in this style will either be pissed off, or highly delighted by the comparisons they get to Hawkwind. It's a bad generalisation in some ways, but it is a good place to start. Arguably, y'see, Hawkwind were the first to get the right balance of synth, atmosphere, imagery and lyrics, of which combined, created space rock. As one might guess, though, there are many different styles, again, a few covered by Hawkwind originally, such as guitar led and synth led, and ambient. Krel seem to manage a pretty good balance inbetween, capturing the snazzier and dreamier ambient styles, and sticking some (almost) classic period Hawkwind rock inbetween. It goes without saying that Krel are certainly keeping the 'classic' Hawkwind sound alive, obviously not copying, but in many ways enhancing. If Hawkwind hadn't maybe gone off the true Space Rock rails for a period, then Krel is probably what they'd have sounded like. A subtle mix of studio and live tracks, featuring such stella songs as the massive 16 minute plus It's Alive, the superbly ambient Mober, Space Trip and Trees. Lush stuff.
Dave W for MODERN DANCE MAGAZINE, UK (www.modern-dance.co.uk) - Issue 50 (and online too!!)
This is an unusual album, as although it isn't stated in the rather sparse 4 page booklet, the recordings themselves have been taken from different sources and then put together in a fashion that sounds like brand new music. Some of it is taken from material recorded on the 1992 'Electric Tepee' tour where they supported Hawkwind, as well as old studio recordings and newer music recorded by the current line-up. It has been mooted that the holders of the true space rock crown are no longer Hawkwind, but Krel, and one can certainly hear where that argument has some justification. Songs like "Star Of Last" combine both delicate guitar solos and pounding space rhythms with the vocalists vying for attention as it pounds through and into the brain.
There are times when it doesn't come through exactly as it should, but there are others where it works perfectly and the result is a fine album indeed for those who enjoy this style of music. There are plenty of synths as well as a full on rock band and while some of the jams may not always be as powerful as they could the overall result is well worth investigation.
Review courtesy of Kev Rowland for FEEDBACK MAGAZINE, UK - issue 87. Contact feedbackfanzine@hotmail.com.
If you've been hankering after some classic Hawkwind, then this new release
from Krel should certainly hit the spot! In 1992, Krel supported Hawkwind on
their ELECTRIC TEPEE tour, winning over audiences every night with their
heady brand of space-rock. At the time Krel consisted of Martin M. (guitar,
synths), Radar Dave (guitar), Mr. Dibs (bass), Floyd (synths) with drummer
Mike Mann and a couple of dancers completing the line-up. (Mr Dibs since
formed his own, similarly Hawkwind influenced band, called Spacehead).
OUT OF SPACE is a superb collection of previously unreleased live recordings
from the tour and studio material dating from the same period. Martin has
also inserted some brand new material, merging it seamlessly with the
vintage recordings. In fact, apart from a slightly poorer sound quality on a
couple of the live numbers, it's hard to tell which is which.
After a suitably cosmic opening number, Barricades launches spaceship Krel
into outer space in classic Hawkwind fashion (circa LEVITATION). This is
first-class, guitar-driven space rock with plenty of spacey synths, and a
riff worthy of Brock and co. Star Of Last and It's Alive continue the
onslaught, delivering some soaring guitar solos along the way. (Its not
quite up there with SPACE RITUAL, but it's definitely heading in the right
direction!) We get to float for a while in Zero G, a short, almost laid-back
jazzy piece, before Androids explodes on the scene (which, in keeping with
the albums sci-fi tone, inevitably begs the question; "Do androids dream of
electric sheep?"). A few spacey synth based instrumentals follow, taking us
deeper and deeper into the cosmos until a countdown forewarns the arrival of
Space Trip, an out and out assault on the senses, strongly reminiscent of
Hawkwind's Magnu off WARRIOR ON THE EDGE OF TIME. Trees offers a brief
interlude, and then what can best be described as a couple of minutes of
barely controlled chaos closes the album. Welcome to the Future..?
Review for AUDION (UK) Issue 51 (Spring 2006) by DAVE GRIFFITH