posted 4/4/2008 6:39:15 PM

Night Sun: Mournin

by Eduardo Rivadavia

Ask your average music lover to name some of the 1970s' best proponents of organ-laced heavy rock with progressive tendencies and you're likely to hear names such as Deep Purple or Rush; maybe Uriah Heep, Atomic Rooster, and, pushing your luck a little, possibly Lucifer's Friend, but what about Night Sun? Probably not, but then, that's why you're here.

This group from Manheim, Germany didn't go completely overlooked when they released their one and only, spine-tingling album, Mournin', in 1972, but subsequently vanished into virtual oblivion; joining the nebulous ranks of promising, but ultimately cult-bound hard rock acts who sparked out quickly, where other 70s giants like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath flamed on forever.

Night Sun evolved from a late-60s jazz band called Take Five; initially into Night Sun Mournin‚, then dropping the last word for use as their LP title, by which time members Bruno Schaab (vocals, bass), Walter Kirchgassner (guitar), Knut Rossler (organ, piano, trumpet, bassoon) and Ulrich Staudt (drums), had embraced the orgasmic power of hard rock and heavy metal in all its nascent excitement, wild-eyed inventiveness, and shameless cacophony. All that, and some other idiosyncratic elements besides (abstract Kraut rock-isms or horn sections, anyone?) can be found in the once again resurrected Mournin‚ which was produced by the legendary Conny Plank, incidentally, and also showcases Night Sun's adrenalin-fueled assaults on the early 70s‚ template for dueling guitars and organs, topped with Bruno Schaab's versatile, at times Robert Plant-like vocals. Unfortunately, these compelling qualities still weren‚t enough to single out the band at a time when heavy rock behemoths walked the earth, and their substandard promotion by Polydor's Zebra imprint didn‚t help matters, either. So it was that, by 1973, Night Sun had sadly broken up, with Schaab finding a brief musical afterlife with Kraut rock ensemble Guru Guru.

At least Night Sun's misfortune was to become the good fortune of present day listeners, who can now discover the beguiling treasures contained in Mournin‚ as though they materialized, magically and pristine, out of some proto-metal parallel universe - enjoy!

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