ROTOMAGUS — The Sky Turns Red: Complete Anthology (review)

ROTOMAGUS — The Sky Turns Red: Complete Anthology album cover

Boxset / Compilation · 2011 · Proto-Metal

3/5 · 2015-05-13
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These days, CD reissues of proto-metal albums from the late 60’s and early 70’s can be found by the score. When I was in my teens in the 80’s, the choices were limited to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Nazareth, UFO, Aerosmith, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and a few others. But now, thanks to YouTube, Amazon, and web sites like this one, it’s possible to discover obscure bands, some of which never even released a proper album.

Rotomagus were a French band from Rouen, and word is that during Roman times the place was known as Rotomagus. They started out as a vocal harmony group and released two songs in French. They then shifted gears to a heavier sound and released two more songs, “Eros” and “Madame Wanda”. The band dissolved but was reformed by three members and their sound shifted gear once more. With “Fighting Cock” they produced a song that in aggressive nature and speed was unlike almost anything of the time. By this time in their short career, their music had achieved a sound like a blend between the Stooges and Sir Lord Baltimore. They recorded a demo of nine tracks, which never made it to an LP.

This CD is a complete anthology if the title is to be believed and includes on the latter half their French vocal harmony songs as well as their early hard and heavy stuff. But it’s the first part of the CD, their unreleased demo, that should especially grab fans of proto-metal and proto-punk. Except for “The Sky Turns Red”, which is slower tempo but still a very good example of early slower metal songs, the album attempts to totally shock with its full on assault of aggressive rock. Rotomagus manage to run straight over the line that separates punk and metal, providing harsh shouted lyrics, simple but charging guitar riffs with lots of distortion, and knuckle-cramping shredding guitar solos.

The songs were apparently recorded live in studio and without any overdubs. In fact, many of the songs finish on one beat and the next song begins with the next beat. When “Little Green Men” wraps up with the drums slowing down, they pick up speed and then an even louder and wilder version of “Fighting Cock” begins. Many of these old rocker bands make sure to add some slower, radio hit friendly tunes to their albums but Rotomagus seem bent on ripping up the speakers with sheer force song after song. As a close to this all-out bombastic affair, they perform a short instrumental, “The Flufluting Flatmul”, which is an attempt to move the fingers across the guitar fret board as fast as possible and in the process there is a glaring mistake as a gap appears in the machinegun fire of notes. Well, this was after all only a demo.

Because this was never recorded and mixed properly, the sound is rather poor though not un-listenable. Certainly there have been many DIY bands in both punk and metal in subsequent years whose actual albums didn’t sound any better. As an album to recommend, I’d say if you are okay with this unpolished, live, low-budget studio sound and you love heavy, aggressive rock of the early seventies then you’d do well to check out this album. Most of the lyrics are in English, and it’s quite an experience to imagine music with such force, aggression, and at times almost violence in 1971.