Review Summary: 25 years later.
Rotor is one of those bands who have followed their own sonic path over the years. Regardless of trends, the German quartet keeps honing its own brand of kraut/stoner rock. Alongside Colour Haze, they are probably the last remaining acts from the respective country that started in the ‘90s, so there is an audible difference in style between them and more recent groups. Following their own timeline, the most important thing for them was to provide quality material. Thankfully, 25 years later they are still delivering. This latest record,
7 wastes no time bursting into trademark grooves with opener “Reibach”. With a syncopated rhythm and buzzing guitar leads, the track switches constantly from sunny twang to punchy riffs. The atmosphere is maintained by “Auf Grund”, which starts smooth, blending a slick bass line that might as well be part of a Causa Sui song, complete with breezy chords. Shortly after, the fuzz starts taking over, offering some hard hitting parts. There is a certain timeless sound in their music that wins you over. More picturesque vibes are explored as we move on to “Aller Tage Abend”, due to pleasant, intertwining guitar leads. The tune gently cruises by, leaning back into heavy territory with “Schabracke”. There is an old school American desert/stoner vibe here and those warm tones are beautiful to listen to. The second half of
7 provides another round of Rotor’s full sonic spectrum, before the title track wraps things up with lovely acoustic guitar licks. The lush progressions are occasionally augmented by a couple of distorted moments, however, they mostly play their way peacefully into the sunset, ending the LP on a sweet note. While previous effort,
Sechs focused mainly on riffs,
7 is considerably more balanced, ending up closer to 2015’s
Funf. Although nothing groundbreaking, it’s always nice to hear a strong album from a veteran act that sounds fresher than younger bands in the genre.
