Ainigma: Diluvium (1973)
Taking their name from the Greek word for "enigma," Ainigma was a German three-piece from the small Bavarian town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, whose "career" ranged from 1971-'74, and produced this sole long-player from half-a-century ago.
Its musicians were seventeen-year-old Willy Klüter (vocals, organ), his fifteen-year-old brother Michael (drums), plus Wolfgang Netzer (guitar, bass, also fifteen), and their inexperience is obvious on 1973's Diluvium (Latin for "deluge").
The album consists, by and large, of neoclassical heavy prog that appears to have been recorded in a cluttered garage -- and that's close enough to the truth, as it was captured at the Garmisch parish hall, instead.
Still, this was better that than the boys' regular rehearsal site in the Klüter family basement, which happened to be located underneath their dentist father's home practice, and must have therefore subjected his patients to a racket fit to rattle their fillings!
Like, literally!
Luckily, Ainigma did benefit from adult supervision during the album's recording, as they convinced the affluent Dr. Klüter to hire one Franz Forth -- a Munich-based engineering intern with the Bavarian Broadcasting System -- and a pair of two-track Revox machines.
With all this in mind, one can't help but admire the trio's precocious, if unrefined talents, as it explodes with boundless enthusiasm via domineering Hammond organ (*), surprisingly distorted fuzz guitars, muscular drums ... and pretty terrible lyrics.
And yet, all three cuts found on side one -- "Prejudice," "You Must Run," and "All Things are Fading" -- feature their fair share of memorable moments, even if these were clearly inspired by the likes of Uriah Heep, Stray, and especially Atomic Rooster.
Side two houses the 18-minute-long trip of a title track, complete with a clumsily punched-in drum solo and other technical issues relating to the bass, lead and background vocal overdubs, which don't always mesh with the backing tracks for lack of an equalizer and other common tools available in most professional studios ... but not the parish hall.
Evidently, Dr. Klüter's generosity had its limits, and the members of Ainigma were so dissatisfied with the sessions' end results that they only pressed about 500 copies of Diluvium (**) and then sold them at a discount on account of its shitty sound.
Mama Klüter, likewise, eventually grew tired of driving the teenagers to local gigs, so the band's prospects and resolve gradually dwindled and, after briefly hiring a bassist to flesh out their live shows, Ainigma called it a day sometime in '74.
So, what's the final verdict?
Well, I've heard much better examples of under-funded, under-rehearsed German heavy prog, but I've also heard a lot worse, so give Ainigma and Diluvium a half-dozen virtual "spins" and you too might be tempted to invest in a physical format.
* Although Willy's liner notes amazingly suggest he only secured his first Hammond a few years later and got by here with a Farsifa on these recordings!
** In case you're wondering, the rear sleeve's cryptic acronyms, ARC ALP, stands for "Ainigma Record Company, Ainigma LP Stereo, and its product number of 151715 reflected the boys' ages at the time of recording.
More Early ‘70s Heavy Rock & Prog: Atomic Rooster’s Death Walks Behind You, Birth Control’s Operation, Bodkin's Bodkin, Budgie’s Squawk, Clear Blue Sky’s Clear Blue Sky, Deep Purple’s Fireball, Dies Irae's First, Eloy’s Eloy, Los Dug Dug’s Smog, Estus' Estus, Focus’ Moving Waves, Frumpy’s Frumpy 2, Hammer's Hammer, Hard Meat’s Hard Meat, Head Machine’s Orgasm, High Tide's High Tide, Highway Robbery’s For Love or Money, Holy Moses!!' Holy Moses!!, Irish Coffee's Irish Coffee, Jethro Tull’s Aqualung, Jerusalem’s Jerusalem, Jody Grind’s Far Canal, Kahvas Jute’s Wide Open, Leaf Hound’s Growers of Mushroom, Murphy Blend’s First Loss, Scorpions’ Lonesome Crow, Stray’s Stray, Stray Dog’s Stray Dog, Tapiman’s Tapiman, Tear Gas' Tear Gas, Tempest’s Tempest, Thundermug’s Thundermug Strikes, Tiger B. Smith’s Tiger Rock, Toad’sToad, Toe Fat’s Two, Trapeze’s Medusa Uriah Heep’s The Magician’s Birthday, Warhorse’s Warhorse, Wild Turkey’s Battle Hymn, Wishbone Ash’s Argus, Zarathustra’s Zarathustra.
