Walpurgis

Overshadowed by their more experimental and cosmic labelmates, Walpurgis made probably one of the most overlooked items of the Ohr catalogue... This quintet from Berlin formed by Ryszard Kalemba (guitar), Jerzy Sokolowski (guitar, vocals), George Früchtenicht (bass), Jan Sundermeyer (congas, flute) and Manfred Stadelmann (drums, vocals) were helped by the ubiquitous Jürgen Dollase (Wallenstein) on keyboards for the recording sessions of their one and only one album which taking place between May and June 1972 in Dieter Dierks Studio in Stommeln. Obviously inspired by the US West Coast sound but also echoing the more cosmic tendencies of the berlin scene, Walpurgis played a dreamy yet solid space-rock style which recall some of their contemporanies like Wallenstein, Ash Ra Tempel or Agitation Free whilst paying tribute to their american inspirations (Quicksilver Messenger Band, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane) at the same time. Actually, Walpurgis just made those influences more evident as the West Coast sound had a huge impact in shaping the Berlin bands sound, with many a city’s guitar player in debt with John Cippollina's guitar techniques (from Ash Ra Tempel's Manuel Gotsching to Curly Curve's Alex Conti).

Strictly limited to 500 copies - Gatefold cover - Sealed copies w/ info sticker