Corima is a Zeuhl quintet from California that released their first album in 2007, followed by the acclaimed Quetzalcoatl, in 2012, and now 天照 (Amaterasu), which came out on November second, 2016. It features two compositions spanning fifty minutes and split into nine tracks. It was released on the label Soleil Zeuhl and is also available to buy on bandcamp.
I
never was attracted to Zeuhl, at first. I tried to get into the
progenitors of the genre, French band Magma, but was very underwhelmed
and disappointed overall. However, as fellow writer Ignacio put it, it
would be like listening to Black Sabbath to get into metal. The
contemporary scene has evolved a long way from its garden of Eden.
Corima are more influenced by the Japanese wing of Zeuhl than the French
one, making it more energetic, demented, schizophrenic, and just
thrashing you in its incomprehensible maw. Yes, that’s the one that I
like.
天照 is split into two
songs. First, ‘月読’ (Tsukoyomi), represents the Moon God in Japanese
mythology. I believe there’s a slight typo on bandcamp, as it’s written
‘Tsukotomi’, but that word doesn’t lead to any convincing search result.
The song is spread in three movements, adding up to almost twenty
minutes in total. The second one is eponymous to the album title, and
represents the Sun Goddess. This one consists of six parts, and makes up
the bulk of the album, at twenty-nine minutes long. The former is an
instrumental meltdown with its fast-paced odd-time signatures (and
frequent rhythmic modulations), key changes, and intricate melodic and
harmonic framework, and the latter adds an extra layer by including more
vocals from violinist Andrea Calderón, keyboard player Paco Casanova,
and guitarist and saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi.
Since
no lyrics are available on line (and my physical copies are in the
mailing æther), it’s hard for me to write on them at length. However,
based on the more easily-discernible vocals on Quetzalcoatl, I
would bet that they are in Kobaïan, a constructed language by Magma’s
drummer, heavily influenced by German and French languages. However,
there’s also a chance that the lyrics are, in fact, in Japanese. I’ll
write a small update here once I receive the physical package, assuming
that it contains the lyrics.
So, what should you expect, diving into 天照?
Let’s have a look at the instruments on display: violins, keyboards,
organ, saxophone, guitar, glockenspiel, bass, drums, and vocals. That’s
quite a lot, but there can only be five or six of them at once, since
the team consists of five persons. What’s interesting is that the violin
and the saxophone are almost always present, and compliment each other
wonderfully well. For an example of that, listen to ‘Amaterasu V’, where
Andrea’s voice and violin, and Patrick’s saxophone interact to produce a
truly outstanding motif, and serve as the leading role of the track.
In conclusion, Corima‘s third full-length, 天照,
delivers an untamed flow of energetic, Japanese-influenced Zeuhl. The
album is enjoyable to the core and will please anyone seeking a new
musical challenge. Personally, I’m overjoyed to have stumbled upon it
and to finally be able to make a connection with the promising world of
Zeuhl music. I would recommend 天照 to any progressive music lover.
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