This isn't a metal album, but it might as well be. Caspar Brötzmann is the son of Peter Brötzmann, a noted German free jazz saxophonist whose work in the 1960s put him on the map. Caspar's instrument of choice is the guitar, and his three-piece Massaker project focuses on mostly instrumental, experimental music that's dark and heavy, sort of jazzy, sometimes with a fair amount of punk attitude, and with lots of guitar feedback manipulation.

One of the things that makes Brötzmann the younger remarkable is his ability to take this feedback and somehow transform it into something grounding and meditative. Brötzmann's lyrics are chillingly delivered in a naturally low and brooding, spoken voice that is an ideal complement to the dynamics of the music. Being in German, I have no idea what Brötzmann is talking about, but for me that makes the album all the more cool. I generally prefer appreciating vocals for their sound rather than their content.

The vocals play the biggest role on the second track, "Wiege." This track starts with a beat played on some sort of bongos that sounds like the headhunter tribe is about to close in on you. Then the vocals begin, soft and sinister. Brötzmann incorporates the word "come" - very softly at first but growing ever louder and more intense - as a rhythmic element. Gradually Brötzmann's guitar kicks in, followed by the bass guitar. By now the track has become a swirling storm of the-natives-are-restless beats, dark bass lines, intense vocals and rhythmic utterings of the word "come" so intense you wish you could run away if you weren't so hypnotized by the track. Then the music cuts out, except for the bongos, the element that began the track.

The songs on Koksofen are long, with "Wiege" being the shortest at eight minutes. Three of the other four songs are jazzy, experimental explorations on guitar/bass/drums. Each track has its own unique flavor within the album. The opening "Hymne" begins with dark and fascinating guitar manipulations that set the tone for the remaining album. After some minutes of gripping spinning around in circles, the music takes a direction with a driving beat, only to start spinning again and again.

"Kerkersong" is the most melodic and song-like of the bunch. In it Brötzmann sings an almost playful, melodic, would-be chorus. "Schlaf" has the most guitar experimentation and features a cool, extended drum solo.

The album closes with the industrial, dark ambient track "Koksofen." I believe this word means "furnace" in German. If you can't imagine the sound and terror of being in a furnace, then listening to this track will give you a pretty good image. Massive machinery operates with a cavernous sound, letting off steam at every motion. Heavy, reverberating clangs on metal echo throughout the iron confines. You can almost picture volcanic eruptions within the gargantuan soundscape. "Koksofen" has an entirely different tone and approach than the rest of the album, but still manages to fit in.

Koksofen is heavy and brooding, but doesn't feature the kinds of over-the-top musical elements or production values that extreme metal tends to have. This gives the album its simultaneously relaxing and meditative feel. Caspar Brötzmann has made at least four other albums under his Massaker moniker, all of them great, but Koksofen is the best, and for sure one of my favorite albums ever.