COSMIC LAVA
Macrocosmica - Art of the Black Earth
http://www.cosmiclava.de/MACRO.htm

This was the next surprise for me, when I've found this promo-package in my mailbox, because they were totally unknown for me. The band was formed in Glasgow in 1996 and are now in its third line-up. Since then, the band has played a lot of gigs including a support show for Fugazi in Edinburgh and a festival in Norway. The members were formerly of Teenage Fanclub or Mogwai f.e. and since the beginning in 1996 the band has released the "Ad Astra" mini-album in '97, the "Space Geek" EP in '98 and had played several BBC radio and TV sessions in '99. So I expected something like Space Rock but after listening to this disc I had to change my view. It's not easy to describe this music. They are heavy, but there are so much different elements which makes them fascinating. "Lunarian" is a track with a very obscure hypnotic atmosphere, that turns into an aggressive refrain. In all songs female and male vocals giving a unique touch to the music. "From Hell" knows to please with heavy riffs and dissonant or melodic guitar-themes. Second track "Scar" is the only one that is closer to the abovementioned Space Rock link. I like this interesting heavy mixture of MACROCOSMICA and the band is working on its first full-length album, intended for self-release later this year.