MUSICAL WITCHCRAFT

Hungarian prog band Solaris' leader and flutist extraordinaire goes on a wondrous little solo excursion, deep into the misty realm of the "Devil's Kitchen" , a baroque-tinged instrumental odyssey of tasty proportions. The opening 19 minute suite wastes no time in establishing the rules of conduct: this is primo stuff indeed, heavily influenced by medieval expanses, led by the magic flute. A curt percussion romp suddenly explodes into a Tull crunching rocker, beefed up with some driving rythm work, clearing the way for a blistering lead solo courtesy of the now sadly departed Csaba Bogdan . dueling with a very Anderson-esque flut solo , culminating in a jolly return to the main theme. What a start! Part 3 then proposes an acoustic guitar/flute duet with the usual pastoral grace associated with baroque tradition. This interlude sets the table for a Part 4 that is simply a devastating slice of pure symph-prog, in hommage to J.S.Bach ( the very first progger,after all) , with Zsolt Vamos' sinewy guitar excursions blasting away with unparalleled frenzy. Couldn't help smiling every time I hear this finale! The constant contrast between muscular and pristine, as expressed on tracks "Music" , "Boleriade" and "Morning Dance", is really highly invigorating, eschewing any attempt at monotone ennui. The musicians really interact well together, in full knowledge that there are strong hints at Jethro Tull here, more due to the instrumental setup than any overt attempts at plagiarism. There are no English folk references, nor are there any Hungarian ones (a rich tradition there by the way!) , the players stay focused on a truly more "Classical" direction that is sharper than anything the Tullies would ever conjure up. The real highlight track is the remarkable"Silent Man's Prayer" , a most seductive concoction that really states the case for such a mega five-star rating. a central theme delicately painted with the leader's windtool, time signatures leading to a serious guitar/flute ping-pong match that pushes all the right sensory buttons and polished off with a restrained bluesy solo (Vamos again) and a complex outro. "Rocks and Waves in St- Malo" does just that : it rocks and it waves powerfully! Vamos shows that he is no slouch , settling any doubts with another display of fiery 6 string firepower. God! Is this a great album or what! 5 spells

If you dont know, Kollar Attila is Solaris`flutist and leader, and this is the first of his two solo albums, called "Musical Witchcraft" which includes other member from Solaris plus friends.

Im not so familiarized with bands or artist from Hungary, but what im sure is that Solaris and this solo album are really great , this solo album is similar to Solasis`releases, but not the same, in fact here in Progarchives we can find Solaris in symphonic rock, and Kollar Attila in prog folk, im not sure if he could be categorized as a prog folk artist, for example this albums has lots of flutes (of course, he`s a flutist), but i mean, maybe you will remind Ian Anderson who is completely folk, but this album isnt, i think the most of this album is symphonic music, folk exists here, but not so much for categorize it as a prog folk album, it has great keyboards and a outstanding guitar work, which is the perfect complement of flute, really electric guitar is great here.

It has 7 songs, the first one is simply called "Musical Witchcraft Suite", but what a suite, is a 19 minutes epic, which has some good changes, powerful passages and very symphonic sound, another thing, here, is the same way as Solaris, instrumental music, it has some voices, in 7th song 2Alchemy" we can find them, but not lyrics here, so is like a musical trip, with some emotional passages , returning to the first song, it is my favorite, its that kind of songs that you have to listen to it entirely, despite the lenght, because you can appreciate all the music, and the complexity of it.

Track 5 "Silent man`s prayer" is another great track, nice bass sound , good arrangements and again an excellent guitar, some tracks are maybe dark tracks, but always into the symphonic sound. This album is great, i like it so much, all the songs are good and well placed, so i enjoy them every time i listeng to them.

If you like Solaris, then you should try this album, i repeat, it is not the same sound, but is similar,it is innovating and maybe a bit experimental, and you can enjoy the work of Kollar Attila.

For all that reasons, i am sure this album deserves at least 4 stars, i would give it 4.5 stars really, but it doesn`t reach the name of masterpiece of progressive rock, so 4 stars, excellent addtion to any prog fan.

I highly recommend it!

Once you've gotten past the eclectic and potent "Musical Witchcraft Suite", this CD falls into the trap of many instrumental recordings - ideas just seem to repeat themselves in various guises for the remaining 26 minutes. Atitila Kollar's foray outside of Solaris is more folky than the music of the mother band but also more metallic in parts.

Like Artsruni's Cruzaid which I have previously reviewed, that harsh tone gets recycled a bit too often for its own good. Eventually I pretty much know what is going to happen next, which is tolerable when I like it, but otherwise not so much fun. In the end "Musical Witchcraft", for all its wizardry, falls short of the aforementioned Armenian album because the material does not really impress further upon repeated listens, and because Artsruni included the vocal instrument on a few tracks. Witchcraft that is less than spellbinding. 2.5 stars rounded down.

Widely known as the flutist of Solaris, Attila Kollar had a solid and consistent career as a musician and after Solaris were put on ice he went on to perform with the Art Pop act Napoleon Boulevard (along with most of the Solaris members).In 1998 Kollar attempted his first solo effort entitled ''Musical Witchcraft'' and released on Periferic Records.He was supported by all his Solaris bandmates except Istvan Cziglan, who sadly passed away the same year.

One would think that this would be a more flute-based version of the Hungarian legends.This is partly true as half about of the album sounds a lot like a slightly heavier version of SOLARIS minus the huge symphonic passages.Strong guitar solos with Shred and Classical tendencies are blended with dominant flute-drives performed by Kollar, the grooves are interesting and catchy and the delivery tight and highly energetic.Symphonic influences are not absent, just not that evident as in Solaris' early formation.So some very cool Classical-inspired flute parts along with some symphonic/orchestral synthersizers are still included and then is when the style is very reminiscent of SOLARIS.Add also the very dynamic flute/guitar battles throughout the release in the picture.But Kollar performs also many parts in a mostly Medieval enviroment with some lovely folky tunes and an ethereal archaic mood characterizing these moments.All these elements are epitomized on the long and interesting 19-min. ''Musical Witchcraft Suite'', which opens the album.Not much to be said about the rest of the album, as it follows more or less the same vein as the suite's movements: Alternating Folk and Heavy/Symph tracks of decent inspiration.

Lovers of the flute sound should definitely check out this album as well as dedicated SOLARIS fans.This first Attila Kollar work is mostly very nice all instrumental Progressive/Art Rock with plenty of folky vibes.Recommended.