The UK's "Demon Fuzz - Afreaka"

[visuals]

Demon Fuzz - Afreaka Janus Records 1970©
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Straight out of the vaults of obscurity is a group of brothers from the UK calling themselves "Demon Fuzz"...A 7 piece outfit whose styles range from progressive funk to black rock. This is a full course meal prepared & served to those with acquired taste and appreciation for groups like early westbound-era Funkadelic, early Stax/Volt-era Bar-Kays, early Chicago Transit Authority, Cymande and a dash of Santana inspired latin/afro rhythm & percussion.

Unlike other groups that released simular sounding offerings during the same era, Demon Fuzz's focus was more so on rhythm and not on the popular rock virtuoso screamin guitar.* This is what I feel gives the group a paramount status of originallity & uniqueness. Other Afro rooted groups often worked fiery guitar into their signature sound (which is a quality that I usually welcome), But Demon Fuzz will drop off into a deep zone with a nice groove going and keep you there until out of nowhere, the rhythm changes and settles into a totally different direction and trust...It works.
Speaking on the groups versatility, The band members are masters of creating a diverse blend of funk, black rock, afro jazz, afro beat & african/latin percussion. They tend to employ unorthodox time signatures, alternating tempo changes, nasty breaks & highly syncopated beats, shifting rhythms (in a dubby/ska type way) starts & stops, pickups & drops and other treats...Full of surprises and tricks waiting to be discovered.

It should be noted that there is a certain quality of "darkness" to this groups sound...there are eerie ritual type moments with somewhat esoteric & tribal arrangements. The first 10 strums of the electric bass at the beginning of the opening track "Past, Present & Future" lets you know what type of vibe these guys are trying to create....A mildly evil headhunter/executioner-type theme that steadily elevates & progresses through many changes,styles and stages. Both the domestic & import cd pressings contain the original wax album's 5 tracks + 3 bonus unreleased cuts.
The disc's total runtime is under an hour but these 8 tracks are stretched out fully loaded jam sessions that usually spill over the 6 minuite mark. The album is also mostly instrumental with sparingly recited vocals that at times remind me of Bob Marley (though a more appropriate comparison would be Ray King or Joey Dee of "Cymande" due to the British accents.) This vocal testament is excercised on the 2nd track "Dissolutioned". It kicks off with a nice conga interlude complimented by soft acoustic guitar leads and sweet organ work. The truly heartfelt writing and lyricism here involves the vivid aspirations of a man and his pride experiencing hard times in a cruel & lonely universe while drowning in his own lament and as a result, almost loses his mind.

The next cut "Another Country" finds the band speeding things up a little and alternating tempos. Most of the piece is upbeat with those Chicago'y horns blaring in the background. Midway through, They drop off into a semi-psychedelic almost trance-like stretch that seems to last about 3-4 mins and is quite reminiscent of the Meter's "Dry Spell" in terms of tone & speed. The organist is holding one note that sounds like it belongs behind a bagpipe section while there is some funky sax riffing along in sort of an egyptian/snake charming type way with bass and drummer in tow slow-grinding on the bottom. Just as you get lost in the hypnotic groove, the rhythm changes and shifts back to a faster grove that speeds up and gets faster once again before taking you back to the original song tempo.

Never over the top, Never too hard or out of place...different? yes. innovative? yes. progressive and ahead of their time? yes...Just simply good ambrosia for those who like to induldge in the obscure undergroud genre of head music. Jazz, Funk, Afrobeat, Afro/Latin Percussion, World Music & Black Rock lovers, Treat yourself to a slice. Clic pic for samples

[eddie]

I have a friend who is totally nuts about this however you lost me on this one. I'm not really into Black rock and progressive rock but I realize the album is in high esteem. Eddie Hazel's one solo album, Games Dames and Guitar thangs, from the late 70's was another one this friend held in high regard. Not my cup of tea but definitely a worth post.

[visuals]

Originally Posted by eddie

I have a friend who is totally nuts about this however you lost me on this one. I'm not really into Black rock and progressive rock but I realize the album is in high esteem. Eddie Hazel's one solo album, Games Dames and Guitar thangs, from the late 70's was another one this friend held in high regard. Not my cup of tea but definitely a worth post.

eddie: As I mentioned in another thread, I have been waiting for the reissue of Games, Dames and Guitar Thangs for quite some time and after many push backs and delayed release dates, I noticed last week that it has officially been released. Definately a very near future purchase for me*
As for Demon Fuzz, I think your freind has good taste and an ear for unique & rare stuff that sounds good but maybe wasn't easily swallowed by the general music lover/collector. The liner notes mention that the cause of the groups split and unrecognised talent lies within the fact that during 1970 when it was released, The world really wasn't ready for this type of sound. Even Funkadelic and other like-sounding outfits were still in the embryonic defining stages of pulling off the progression of black rock. Understandably so, Most people were put off by the idea of culture crossover groups and as a result, Stuff like this was tossed aside for the cunsumption of the stoner/hippie/drugged-out & bugged out crowd. The sad part is LOTS of good stuff that was released simply didn't have a chance due to those narrow standards.