Catapilla - CATAPILLA***

Naked Death/Tumbleweed/Promises/Embryonic Fusion

Self titled debut album from the short lived and largely forgotten London progressive band Catapilla. They had links to both Black Sabbath and the Canterbury music scene.

"Catapilla features four sprawling group originals. Tracks such as the brutal lead off Naked Death and Promises offer up an intriguing mix of progressive, jazz-rock and psychedelic influences. Propelled by the female vocalist’s shrill, piercing and occasionally out of control voice and the triple sax line up, this one's simply unlike anything else I've heard. It isn't going to appeal to everyone, but the results are pretty stunning.”

“There is nothing too exiting about this particular release, as it has the same characteristics of most jazz-rock albums of the era. Some long psychedelic jams, loads of bluesy wah-wah noodling and an abundance of wind play. None of it excels in any department; the compositions sound over-extended and aimless, although they aren't utterly poor either.”

“This short-lived and also sadly forgotten progressive rock band is one of my personal favourite artists of the early 70s music scene. Their jazzy and psychedelic prog style is just irresistible. And even if the female vocalist isn't that awesome I still enjoy her vocals a lot. This also includes lots of saxophone which brings a jazzy feeling.”

“These psychedelic tunes are never dull thanks to an emphasis on freak-out sax and aggressive female vocals, but often come across as too rough around the edges.”

“What we have here is eclectic brass prog with some jazzy psychedelic touches giving overall a very interesting atmosphere. The sax has an important role and having lots of space in solos combined with keyboards together with a unique and powerful vocalist.”

“The music itself is, very roughly, a mix between original sounding blues-rock and jazz-rock, with evident hard rock and psychedelia influences as well. One of those vintage, classic albums that are extremely visceral and fierce in some moments, due to the instrumentation. In addition we have guitars, bass, and sax that are accompanying the vocals, without any keyboards anywhere.”