Artist: BunChakeze
Label: Self-released
Release: year
Running time: 47:17
Rating: 4.5/5
The newcomer that more and more people in prog rock circles are talking about, BunChakeze, is slowly winning over the hearts of devoted fans of seventies and eighties music. The Londoners are totally unknown, yet they’ve been around far too long to brag about just one album. Still, that’s the reality. What speaks very much in their favor, though, is that this one and only album of theirs is truly phenomenal, which can’t be said for most bands with a far bigger discography.
BunChakeze were formed back in the early eighties, 1984 to be exact, only back then they were called Odin of London. Even then they recorded most of the material they played to death at their well-attended and much-praised gigs. Sadly, they sank into oblivion too quickly, and the band fell apart as a result. And after more than twenty years of “existence,” the time finally came for the renamed BunChakeze to put their creations on CD as well.
2010 is thus a landmark year for BunChakeze, as their debut “Whose Dream?” came out. Right from the start it’s graced by a great cover, worthy of the album’s musical side. Interestingly, the album can actually be described really quickly. One sentence would say it all – it’s Pink Floyd with the singer of the legendary Genesis, Peter Gabriel. For the vast majority of music connoisseurs, that alone should be enough reason to give the record a spin. Still, BunChakeze have more than enough personality of their own in the music itself to set them apart from both of those bands.
BunChakeze have a huge range when it comes to arrangements. They can show an aggressive, forceful, complex and virtuosic side, full of adrenaline, speed and explosiveness, like the opening track “BunChakeze” (which is entirely instrumental); on the other hand, there are those slow, melancholic, ambient lullabies, packed with emotion and gorgeous vocals, which work in complete contrast to the first kind. That contrast kicks in right after the track “BunChakeze” – the title track “Whose Dream?” takes us to a higher level of dreaminess. BunChakeze wander between these two extremes of the prog world, and they manage to go a step further, blending both into a symbiosis called “Walk in Paradise”, which isn’t the only one. They probably push past the limits of their own comfort zone with “The Deal”, a dark, atmospheric nightmare full of great guitar “riffs” and “licks”. The harmoniously dreamy aggression also shows in the vocals, which constantly shift in speed and pitch, both on “The Deal” and on “Walk in Paradise”. It’s very noticeable that the band focuses mainly on the instrumental side of the creative process, so the lyrics are often average, lacking an innovative delivery of thoughts, ideas and meanings that aren’t exactly profound. That’s really the only complaint, but it falls under minor details rather than big flaws.
BunChakeze thus mix quite a few influences into their progressive rock approach, but above all they stay true to themselves – plenty of elements aren’t exactly unfamiliar, but they’re definitely welcome in today’s music. “Whose Dream” is therefore an excellent start to the “new” career of the old cats, who can only get better.
Lineup
Colin Tench – guitars, keyboards, vocals
Gary Derrick – bass guitar
Cliff Deighton – drums
Joey Lugassy – vocals
Production
BunChakeze
Track List
1. Bun Chakeze (1:57)
2. Whose Dream? (4:05)
3. Walk in Paradise (6:57)
4. Handful of Rice (5:10)
5. Flight of the Phoenix (6:20)
6. Midnight Skies (6:25)
7. Long Distance Runner (6:09)
8. The Deal (7:50)
9. Bun Chakeze (reprise instrumental) (2:24)
