Cobra Verde (Werner Herzog)

Cobra Verde, the final collaboration between Popol Vuh and director Werner Herzog, was previously released only in Europe, so this release is a welcome one. (Incidentally, Cobra Verde — which literally translates as Green Cobra — was the final collaboration between Herzog and the actor Klaus Kinski.) Released in 1987, the album begins with a simple yet regal chant by Chor der Bauerischen Staatsoper on "Der Tod des Cobra Verde," accompanied by hand drums, guitars, piano, and clavier in a repetitive, sacred manner. The next two themes are programmed on a synthesizer and are less interesting, but they are quietly tense and dramatic, serving more than the band's other work as simple film cues. The two different styles combine on "Eine Andere Welt," to haunting effect. The overtone chanting on "Grab der Mutter" is the most moving thing on the disc and among Florian Fricke's finest compositions. African ceremonial music and singing are brought to light in "Die Singenden Mädchen von Ho, Ziavi" (since the film is set in Africa, it's a wonder that the folk styles didn't come into play earlier than this). The album's final cut is — at nine and half minutes — a long meditative piece that considers all the elements previously employed and comments on them with piano, voices, percussion, guitar, and some electronics. It's quite beautiful, but it meanders. The American edition also comes with a bonus track that doesn't quite fit, "Om Mani Padme Hum 4," for solo piano (the most sacred public mantra in Tibetan Buddhism). For Popol Vuh fans, this is a necessary purchase; for Herzog soundtrack collectors, this may also be worth it. For the rest, this one is — as hard as it is to say it — forgettable.