| Origin |  Germany |
|---|---|
| Genres | Heavy metal Hard rock Progressive Metal |
| Years active | 19?? – 1972 |
| Labels | Zebra Second Battle |
| Members | Bruno Schaab Walter Kirchgassner Knut Rossler Ulrich Staudt |
| Past members | [n/a] |
| Website | [n/a] |
A heavy rock group consisting of Bruno Schaab (vocals, bass), Walter Kirchgassner (guitar), Knut Rossler (organ, piano, trumpet, bassoon) and Ulrich Staudt (drums).
This is an incredible find for any rock fans. A german band, in 1972 they mixed up frantic prog and early doom metal, to make some of the most exciting and heavy music i`ve ever heard from the period. They will intrigue anyone who’s into the early development of hard rock and metal.
The first two tracks show off twisting proggy start-stop dynamics. Metal is perfectly represented on Track 3 `Got A Bone Of My Own`, which has a long haunting build up to fantastically sludgy riff, and track 5 `Living With The Dying`, which has an evil intro and doomy staccato riffing. Then there is track 6, the beautiful affecting mellow song ‘Come down’. All the other tracks demonstrate various combinations of these elements.
All over this album there is amazing talent and variation, the vocals range from loosing-it screaming, power metal shrieking, to hauntingly emotional. The guitar playing shows equal ability between weightiness, complexity and fragility. The songs all contain considered pauses and spaces, which makes their heaviness even more jarring. There is also a general air of extremity and nastiness that I’m yet to hear on anything else this old, barring Sabbath. In some ways I would consider their sound to be more complete than Sabbath in that they show a more disparate range of styles, including the frantic keyboard playing which complements the riffs perfectly. This range of dynamics gives them more in common with the complexity and progressive nature of modern extreme metal than Sabbath has.
I feel they were way-ahead of their time and that if this band had developed beyond this 1972 album release, it would have benefitted heavy metal the world over, alas they only made one album and gained no notoriety. They are an amazingly well kept secret and a joy to discover.
Their only album, "Mournin'", was released in 1972 on Polydor's Zebra label. Schaab's vocals recalled the screams of Ian Gillan. The group played a loud, Deep Purple-like rock, with a characteristic "heavy progressive" instrumentation of twin guitars, organ, bass and drums. The album was produced by Konrad Plank at the Windrose Studio, Hamburg.
With their sudden shifts of rhythm structures, guitar-with-organ riffing style and some studio effects, particularly phasing, Night Sun fortunately never went too close to the ordinary boogie and rock'n'roll trap.
After the demise of the group, Bruno Schaab briefly joined Guru Guru, where his contribution was notable on the track, "The Story Of Life".
Releases
edit1972 "Mournin'" - LP Zebra (2949 004) 1997 "Mournin'" (reissue) - CD Second Battle (SB 041)
Post Night Sun
editThe singer, Bruno Schaab, went on to join another german prog group Guru Guru
- A heavy rock group consisting of Bruno Schaab (vocals, bass), Walter Kirchgassner (guitar), Knut Rossler (organ, piano, trumpet, bassoon) and Ulrich Staudt (drums). Their only album, "Mournin'", was released in 1972 on Polydor's Zebra label. Schaab's vocals were creaky and recalled the screams of Ian Gillan. In addition, the group played a loud, Deep Purple-like rock, with a characteristic "heavy progressive" instrumentation of twin guitars, organ, bass and drums. With their sudden shifts of rhythm structures, guitar coupled with organ riffing style and some studio effects (particularly phasing) courtesy of Plank, Night Sun fortunately never went too close to the ordinary boogie and rock'n'roll trap. The album was produced by Konrad Plank at the Windrose Studio, Hamburg. After the demise of the group, Bruno Schaab briefly joined Guru Guru, where his contribution was notable on the track, "The Story Of Life".[1]
References
edit- ^ Cosmic Dreams at Play - A guide to German Progressive and Electronic Rock - Dag Erik Asbjørnsen, Borderline Productions, ISBN 1-899855-01-7
Category:Heavy metal musical groups Category:German heavy metal musical groups Category:1970s music groups