Evil Plan

Ukandanz began as a four-piece rock group based in France, but they have really carved out a unique sound for themselves with the addition of Ethiopian vocalist Asnaké Gebreyes as the fifth member. The resulting sonic blend is fascinating. For sure, there are Ethio-jazz influences here; but Evil Plan is actually more stylistically indebted to the heavy metal of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden than to the jazz of Mulatu Astatke. The music is noisy, thickly textured and emotionally charged right from the opening bars of ‘Yene Felagote’. Their cover of Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’ is particularly memorable in the way it begins with screaming saxophone over thickly distorted electric basslines and driving drums before opening out into an extended punk rock jam. ‘Against the Odds’ is a relentless jazz fusion composition that pitches angular sax melodies alongside jolting guitar riffs, while ‘Hedech Alu’ is perhaps best described as a rock ballad. Thrilling.