Paternoster -

Paternoster was an Austrian hard-rock/psych band that released a 1972 self-titled album on CBS.

Members: Gerhart Walenta (drums), Gerhard Walter (guitar, vocals), Franz Wippel (organ, vocals), Haimo Wisser (bass)

Formation

Paternoster formed in 1970 in Wein (Vienna), Austria, where organist/songwriter Franz Wippel teamed with guitarist Gerhard Walter, bassist Haimo Wisser (b. February 10, 1952), and drummer Gerhart Walenta. Their name derived from a 19th-century loop elevator.

In 1971, Paternoster recorded music for Die Ersten Tage (The First Days), a psychedelic sci-fi film by director Herbert Holba.

Paternoster

Paternoster released their self-titled album in 1972 on the Austrian branch of CBS. It contains seven originals by Franz Wippel.

The album unfolds in long, organ-driven pieces that balance stark, chant-like vocals with shifting instrumental passages. Guitar enters in jagged, angular bursts against bass and drums, alternating between subdued textures and sudden surges of distortion. Extended sections stretch into tense, unresolved climaxes where organ cycles and rhythmic patterns dominate.

A1. “Paternoster” (3:56) – Opens with a Latin chant over sustained organ before English lyrics emerge in a strained, mournful tone. Midway, the pace lifts into a brief organ-and-guitar jam that carries a submerged psychedelic edge.

A2. “Realization” (3:34) – Drums set the pulse as guitar cuts sharply across bass and organ. The track alternates between urgent drive and subdued passages, with the voice returning near the end over grinding guitar lines.

A3. “Stop These Lines” (6:57) – Slow-moving organ chords and dirge-like vocals open the piece. Guitar enters with clipped, angular phrases as the arrangement shifts between sparse verses and heavier sections marked by distorted guitar surges.

A4. “Blind Children” (6:16) – A descending organ figure underpins the vocal line. The rhythm gradually accelerates, breaking into a tense instrumental bridge where guitar and organ trade motifs.

B1. “Old Danube” (4:16) – A tranquil introduction on organ and guitar gives way to a darker section with stark vocal delivery. The midsection stretches into an extended instrumental with dynamic contrasts between hushed and forceful passages.

B2. “The Pope Is Wrong” (6:02) – Opens with chanted vocals over minor-key organ. The arrangement builds into dense interplay of guitar, organ, and bass, with repeated rhythmic figures driving toward a dissonant climax.

B3. “Mammoth Opus O” (8:55) – Instrumental built on cyclical organ chords and shifting rhythmic accents. Guitar enters in jagged bursts while the drums push forward in uneven metric patterns, creating a tense, unresolved atmosphere.

Paternoster recorded the album on March 9-10, 1972, at Quodlibet-Studio, a Wein facility also used for the 1973 Poljazz release Inner Silence by the Leszek Zadlo Ensemble.

Paternoster features a tree-side cover illustration by one Bernhard Paul. The backside contains lyrics and a fisheye sepia group photo. CBS moved some 270 units of the original album, which commanded four-figure sums after reissues appeared on Orhwaschl (2004) and Now Again (2015).

After the band folded, bassist Haimo Wisser issued a folk/psych solo album in 1976 on Preiser Records. Guitarist/vocalist Gerhard Walter later surfaced in the Viennese punk act Mordbuben AG.

Discography: