Profil, Germany

Profil - For You. 1982 Brutkasten.

I've felt like an urban Indiana Jones here the last two days, digging through the lost underground of the Japanese scene. I hope to have more to report on, as the archaeological dig is on! In the meantime, here's another gem from Heavyrock's collection, and it's no less relevant.

We've posted on the Brutkasten label before. It's the original German DIY label, like France's FLVM. So there's really no consistency to what's on it - a true grab bag of styles. After listening to Profil for the first time on Saturday, I'd say it's in the top 4 albums I've heard on the label to date, along with Sirius' "Running to Paradise", Gebärväterli's "Im Tal der Emmen" and the label's most famous underground album - Carol of Harvest (and the only one of these to be released legit on CD).

Profil can be simply described as instrumental rock driven by guitar and synthesizer. But what I found fascinating was how expressive the guitarist is, and the choice times when the synthesizer would lay down a fat solo. And the tracks seem to extend longer than usual, but with an irregular rhythm giving off a trance like effect. There's little variation of this sound, save a couple of tracks, including one funky bit. I've been trying to think of a comparison for 3 days now. About the best I can come up with is the debut of Flaming Bess ("Tanz Der Gotter") minus the narration parts of course. You know how that album just keeps driving forward, with guitar solo after guitar solo. It's kind of like that. Despite the rather simplistic and generic description, Profil's album is somewhat unique in this space. I really enjoyed it myself and would love an opportunity to hear it as a remastered CD. A perfect fit for Garden of Delights.

Priority: 2

There's another Profil album from Germany, also strangely from 1982, but I'm pretty certain it's a different group (and supposedly not very good either).