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Exposé (Nr. 32, September 2005)

Trigon - "Continuum"
Trigon - "Herzberg 2004"

As their names suggests, Trigon has long been an instrumental power trio, led by brothers Rainer and Stefan Lange (on guitar and bass respectively), with drummer Tihomir Lozanovski tying it all together, but in between these two releases they've added a fourthmember on keyboards, further expanding their sound. Hailing from Karlsruhe, Germany, with no less than 24 previous studio and live releases, these two represent #25 and #26. Their sound is an intensely psychedelic improv-groove based space rock that often calls to mind seminal krautrock classics like Yeti and Schwingungen, with absolutely no commercial aspirations. Acid drenched guitars wave and shred around the rock solid rhythm section, as each piece evolves in real time, ebbing, flowing and swirling in every direction in a truly psychedelic jamming style. The band has a can-do DIY reputation that has earned them respect over the years as they've played at numerous festivals throughout Germans, Europe and beyond. Their spring 2005 performance at the outdoor stage of Baja Prog was captivating and intense as the stunned crowd gathered in awe to witness their set; sales of these two disks were so brisk that by mid-set they were completely sold out. The sound on these two is quite similar, although I'd have to give Herzberg 2004 a slight edge, just because live is the context in which their style is best appreciated, and the energy of their performance seems to feed off the audience. Udo Gerhards' keyboards (synth, organ and piano) fill out the sound a bit more, but make no mistake - the guitar is still the primary solo instrument throughout. Nick Lieto from Frogg Café even joins them on flugelhorn on a couple tracks. The band is extremely profilic, and their next release Emergent will already be available by the time you read this. If you're looking for authentic heavy guitar driven psychedelic rock, Trigon is probably one of the best exponents of this style operating today.

Peter Thelen