Hendrik Eichler’s Manic Anomaly
Hendrik Eichler’s Manic Anomaly
Space sounds, voice samples announcing an anomaly, a series of piano and bass drum strikes—and then this album launches at full speed, hurtling into the infinite expanse of space. The opening track, „Calling Anomaly,“ immediately reveals both the destination and the pace of the journey ahead. The piano plays clusters, the guitar breaks free in dazzling virtuosity, the saxophone waits patiently for its moment before blowing everything wide open. Building up, tearing down, always alternating—and it is something of a small miracle that this music never feels chaotic, even though at least six things are usually happening at once. Instead, it remains intensely focused, densely constructed, and overflowing with ideas.
But let’s start at the beginning. Nova Celestia is the debut album by Manic Anomaly, the project of drummer Hendrik Eichler. „Nova“ means „new,“ while „Celestia“ can be translated as „heavenly“ or „of the heavens.“ The title fits remarkably well. Eichler had already released a solo drum album in 2019, but that record was much more strongly rooted in improvisation. With Nova Celestia, he steps forward for the first time as the bandleader and composer of his own ensemble: his first work of compositions written for a band—and one that possesses something truly celestial.
The music is connected to science fiction in more than one sense. It was composed from impressions, colours, images, and cinematic visuals and sounds. „All these worlds of outer space correspond almost exactly to what I see internally while composing,“ Hendrik Eichler explains. Synaesthetic music. Or, put another way: seven pieces forming a space-jazz odyssey, both through-composed and freely played at the same time. The seven compositions are conceived as stages of an interstellar journey: from the first call of the unknown, via stopovers in alien worlds and encounters with mysterious anomalies, to moments of increasing intensity, loss of control, and transformation.
Manic Anomaly creates music conceived from rhythm outward. Not in the sense that the bandleader pushes his own instrument—the drums—into the foreground. Eichler’s playing, at once delicate and intricately detailed as well as forceful, blends seamlessly into the band’s overall sound. Rather, it is in the sense that every instrument is approached, above all, as a rhythmic instrument. Piano, saxophone, bass, and guitar naturally play melodies, and many of them lodge themselves in the listener’s ear despite the frequently breathtaking tempos. Much of the music is organised around rhythmic patterns from which the melodies seem to emerge. Every instrument delivers rhythmic accents, often in irregular, interlocking patterns and time signatures that fit together so precisely that the combined effect is utterly explosive. Alongside this, however, there are repeatedly open, atmospheric passages in which timbre and spatial resonance come to the fore.
It comes as no surprise, then, that Eichler is also active as a DJ and has immersed himself in the complex structures of drum’n’bass. His affinity for intricate rhythms and high-energy density is clearly audible throughout the compositions. On this foundation, the musicians Eichler has assembled as the crew of his musical spaceship are given maximum freedom to explore. Pianist Kirke Karja, a prominent figure in the European improvised and avant-garde scene, combines freely played high-speed runs with rhythmic clusters on Nova Celestia. Guitarist Teis Semey repeatedly tears apart the musical structures; his playing is often deconstructive, bringing a punk spirit to the music that is rarely heard in jazz-related contexts. Bassist Louise van den Heuvel, whose own work frequently blends jazz, electronics, and krautrock-inspired elements, brings an equally unconventional approach. Rather than simply providing a foundation, her bass creates its own sonic worlds, particularly in the album’s ambient-like pieces such as „Temporal Rift,“ „Nova Celestia,“ and „Gargantua.“
Finally, Angelika Niescier is without question one of Europe’s most influential alto saxophonists today, combining highly complex compositions with uncompromising intensity. Through her playing, Hendrik Eichler’s music also connects to the sound of the Fire Music movement of the 1960s and 1970s. At the same time, through collaborations with musicians from the jazz scenes of Chicago and Washington—including bassist Luke Stewart, flautist Nicole Mitchell, and cellist Tomeka Reid—it also resonates with the contemporary US jazz scene that continues to shape today’s musical landscape.
For all its virtuosity and its delight in science-fiction imagery and metaphors of travel, the music on Nova Celestia possesses an unrestrained quality. Listen, for example, to the way „Alien Hearts“ erupts into an extended high-speed solo after little more than a minute, before culminating in an irresistibly driving piece of jazz-rock. „That unrestrained energy is, for me, the element that unites the entire band,“ says Hendrik Eichler. „Everyone has their own character and their own sound, but that energy is what connects us.“
Without question, this record is not only one of the most musically compelling, imaginative, and surprising jazz debuts of recent years—it is also one of the most exhilarating and thoroughly enjoyable.
Hendrik Eichler – drums, compositions
Kirke Karja – piano, synthesizer
Teis Semey – electric guitar
Louise van den Heuvel – electric bass
Angelika Niescier – saxophone
