JOURNEY OF THE SHAMAN

Nemrud, one of those bands every proghead should have heard about. Last few weeks I tried to get the two Nemrud albums. I guess I'm a bit of an old cynic when I hear claims that a band is the reincarnation of the great days of the 70s or that they have somehow reinvented their own genre.

I consider Nemrud's music to be modest, nothing is missing, nothing bothers me, just moody. I really love the fine guitar-work, truly awesome. The mixture between beautiful, mellow parts and weird, crazy almost wild sections.

"Part I" begins with grasshopper sounds and then ambient spaciness building with menace. The echoed 12 strings guitar grasshopper sounds over, a drum beat settles into a aggressively measured pace. The clement like guitars of M.Gocay begin an improvised psychedelic melody. A riff locks in with twin guitars overlayed, and a synth of keyboards smolders along tinging the edges of the sound. The music is uplifting as it builds to a faster cadence. The repetition of the riff is broken by a frantic keyboard and guitar run with fast arpeggios. An intonation of lead guitar swells over and then is saturated by a bubble bath of synths. A wonderful melody takes over and flatter my soul, and I am in prog heaven. This is an painstaking of prog excess, some instrumental parts are very distinct 70s style sound, with odd time tempos, and percolating liquid keys. This awesome opener to the album with full of melodies.

"Part II" The beginning is very mysterious, in the vein of classic Nemrud. Fantastic mellow melody turn aronund with moog and guitar.After the thunder, the rain starts and vocal kicked in very gentle. Very good job to reach crescendo, then the rythm changes suddenly and gets angrier, but always in a mystical feel. Alternating peaceful and powerful passages with efficient guitar improvisations and special sound effects, the song is evolving, enchanting, stoning, and announces Nemrud's future direction towards space music. It is much more rock- oriented, very melancholic to become surprisingly trippy and rocky.

"Part III" This is the over 17 minute side long epic. Features some great melodies and up and downs. I love the instrumental part in the middle of the song. It opens ominously bringing Eloy to mind.The mood changes slightly 3 minutes in when the synth comes in and the vocals come to life. Then the tempo picks up 3 minutes in followed by heavy riffs as the drums pound with powerful organ runs in tow. Back to the slower, darker sound from earlier with reserved vocals. Love the guitar melody after 6 minutes. It's building...cool section. Things calm right down 8 minutes in and end up getting a little experimental and psychedelic. It kicks back in after 9 minutes as the drums come in and build again. The guitar lights it up a minute later. Nice. The guitar and organ seem to simply jam. Vocals are back before 10 minutes. When the organ driven rock and mystical vocals would still have been refreshingly new and innovative. The blending of lead guitar riffs, Hammond organ and a strong powerhouse remind us of bands such as Uriah Heep, Atomic Rooster, Eloy and Nektar from the 70s. The guitar and moog are prominant the rest of the way.In the end the vocals appear again.

The composition on this album is fantastic, the production is good all the instruments are nicely separated and perceivable without it sounding overproduced. The songs mainly rely on guitar and organs to create a sort of backdrop or sound-scape. The drums from the get go are top notch stuff, I especially enjoy the flanged krautrock style hi-hat sound on 'Part III'. The bass is nice and fat and contributes some nice grooves and is well up in the mix, which is a great thing to see. The guitar work likewise exemplary, I really enjoy prog style guitar that is very calculated and musical whilst not being overbearing, merely occupying it's place and contributing.

'Journey of The Shaman' should clearly be one of the essential purchases for Turkish progressive rock.