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ALBATROS

Heavy Prog • Spain


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Albatros biography
Founded in Barcelona, Spain in 2000 - Disbanded in 2014

Spanish prog formation ALBATROS is rooted in 2000 when five friends decided to make music they love, rock, blues and heavy metal from the Seventies. In the beginning they played covers from LED ZEPPELIN, METALLICA and PINK FLOYD,but soon the members started to write their own songs. After three months the drummer call it a day so ALBATROS continued as a four piece band.

In 2002 the band went into the studio to record the first demo entitled "Quién colgó a los lobos". It was an exciting time and all members contributed with challenging musical ideas, like adding voices or using strange sounds. Between the release of the demo tape (2002) and the first album "Pentadelia" (2008) is a gap of six years. That is a result of the difficult time ALBATROS went through, due to different opinions, personal circumstances, and other duties than music.

The band was even a few times on the brink of dissolving, and only two members from the original line-up remained part of ALBATROS that recorded "Pentadelia" in 2008. ALBATROS describes its music "as a search for an unique sound that translates our personalities".

In 2011 they released their second album entitled "Ursus", the title is derived from the book "The Clan Of The Cave Bear" from Jean M. Auel. Acording to the band many outside influences resulted in tension and musical disputes, these were sublimated into the music on "Ursus". And ALBATROS wanted to do more improvisations in the studio, a kind of jams, like the exciting final track Planeta Prohibido, with the combination of a vocoder and synthesizer (it sound like PETER FRAMPTON Goes Psych Andaluz). About the reactions on the ALBATROS albums, most were from outside Spain, and French prog label Musea decided to do the distribution. The band stated "that you have to make fiesta music or music with political lyrics to have some commercial success in Spain".

Despite the passion and interesting ideas the band only released one other album after "Ursus", this was entitled "Mundo Bosque", from 2014. It looks this is the bands its swansong. Unfortunately, because ALBATROS is a captivating example of the often unique sounding Spanish progressive rock.

Updated in 2019

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ALBATROS discography


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ALBATROS top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.45 | 33 ratings
Pentadelia
2008
3.86 | 95 ratings
Ursus
2011
3.47 | 25 ratings
Mundo Bosque
2014

ALBATROS Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

ALBATROS Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

ALBATROS Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

ALBATROS Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

2.14 | 2 ratings
¿Quién colgó a los lobos?
2001

ALBATROS Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Pentadelia by ALBATROS album cover Studio Album, 2008
3.45 | 33 ratings

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Pentadelia
Albatros Heavy Prog

Review by TenYearsAfter

4 stars "Overlooked new Spanish prog"

I discovered this Spanish five-piece formation on The Spanish Progressive Rock Page (I wrote a few years for this website that looks dead and burried since 2016) ) in the New Releases section, like I did with other promising new Spanish bands Zaguan, Neverness, Bijou and the excellent Senogul. I was very curious to Albatros their sound when I read about their psychedelic oriented blend of several styles, from Rock Andalus to prog metal. Well, during my first listening session I got impressed from the very first moment. Although I trace elements from early Led Zeppelin, Seventies Hawkwind, Pink Floyd (Pompeii-era) and Eighties Rush, I notice that Albatros (the name points at five guys who wants to make psychedelic inspired music) has developped an own musical identity: their trademarks are great dynamics and building up compelling or hypnotizing atmospheres, topped with surprising musical ideas, an adventurous rhythm- section, powerful guitarwork and inventive keyboard play. The album contains 8 songs, I am delighted about 6 tracks because these showcase Albatros their exciting eclectic musical approach.

The instrumental 48: It starts with the sound of the sea and birds, blended with powerful saxophone work and then climates that shift from propulsive with prog metal guitar/drums to a slow rhythm with sensitive electric guitar/mellow organ and a dreamy atmosphere with twanging guitar and soaring keyboards. This culminates into a very compelling psychedelic mood featuring great interplay, fiery guitar and hypnotizing synthesizers.

Supernova: A strong and catchy beat in a hypnotizing climate (evoking early Hawkwind) with wah-wah guitar and lots of dynamics, the second part is mellow with Floydian guitar and warm Spanish vocals, ending in a lush finale delivering a sensitive electric guitar solo and a fluent rhythm-section.

Santuario: First a mellow climate with twanging acoustic guitar, then an accellaration featuring fluent drums, inspired Spanish vocals and tasteful interplay between guitar and keyboards.

The instrumental Ensor: Tasteful and varied with sensational interplay between a bombastic choir-Mellotron-like sound and wah-wah drenched guitar with obvious psychedelic undertones.

Waiting For A Sign: First wailing distorted vocals and bluesy Fender Rhodes piano, then more and more dynamic with a slow but exciting psychedelic inspired synthesizer solo, very compelling music.

And finally the instrumental Mehari: Dynamic and varied with excellent work on guitar and keyboards, the climate sounds like Heavy Psychedelic Prog.

The other two songs also deliver good and captivating moments but Hombre Menguante suffers from mediocre English vocals and the final track Las Tripas de Goliat sounds a bit too fragmentic to me (too many ideas in one song in my opinion) and I am not pleased with the theatrical way of singing.

Nonetheless, I still consider Albatros its debut album as a very promising effort: cascades of interesting musical ideas, it generates a lot of excitement and the band succeeds to keep an own face in a fascinating way. Unfortunately no more albums after its second Ursus from 2011 and Mundo Bosque from 2014.

 Mundo Bosque by ALBATROS album cover Studio Album, 2014
3.47 | 25 ratings

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Mundo Bosque
Albatros Heavy Prog

Review by TenYearsAfter

3 stars In an almost euphoric mood I wrote about Ursus their previous effort: "Especially the final composition on Ursus gives me goose bumps, due to a mindblowing duel between the vocoder and Arabian sounding synthesizer. To me it sounds like "Peter Frampton Goes Psych Andaluz"! So how about the sound on Albatros their third release named Hombre Bosque, in 2014 released on the Chilean progrock label Mylodon?

After a few listening sessions my conclusion is that Albatros sounds like .... Albatros. Although I notice elements of known bands (especially early Pink Floyd), in my opinion again Albatros have succeeded to develop an own sound, a few examples.

Hijos De Los Hombres : propulsive rhythm with inventive work on guitar and keyboards.

Caminante De Luz : mid-tempo with fiery guitar and floods of Hammond organ.

And the strongly build up and dynamic final composition Cómo Estás Cuando Estás Bien : alternating with warm vocals, howling slide guitar and a varied keyboard sound.

The captivating instrumental track Tardis delivers an omnipresent Fender Rhodes electric piano sound, along sensitive electric guitar.

In contrary, the following Ende sounds song-oriented, a bit polished but with wonderful, very sensitive electric guitarwork.

My conclusion. The great thing about Albatros is that they present an original and adventurous sound, like so many Spanish prog bands, from Triana to Kotebel. In comparison to the two previous albums a bit less adventurous and experimental, in my view. But listening to Albatros remains an exciting musical experience, also on this new album. Check out if you are up to discover interesting, genuine new progressive rock!

My rating: 3,5 star.

 Ursus by ALBATROS album cover Studio Album, 2011
3.86 | 95 ratings

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Ursus
Albatros Heavy Prog

Review by TenYearsAfter

4 stars As a huge fan of the Spanish progrock, I often search on speciliazed websites for old and new bands. On The Spanish Progressive Rock Page I noticed positive words about Albatros their debut CD Pentadelia (2008). It was just released so I directly ordered it, when I got it and played Pentadelia at home, it remained in my CD player for weeks!

In the spring of 2011 Albatros released the successor entitled Ursus, high expectations! During my first listening session the music didn't succeed to generate the same excitement as on Pentadelia, although the sound is pretty similar. But good progrock needs time and patience so I played it again and again. And then Ursus started to evoke that good feeling as on Pentadelia, in the end I am even more excited.

The album starts in the tradition of Pentadelia: first a compelling atmosphere with fiery wah-wah guitar and subtle Fender electric piano runs, then a huge tension between the bombastic prog and Floydian psychedelia, followed by a harder-edged guitar solo (evoking Alex Lifeson) and eventually heavy Hammond with distinctive Spanish vocals and again that fiery wah-wah guitar sound. The next track El Camino De Swann is another story: no Heavy Prog but music between neo-prog and melodic rock with delicate Fender piano, bombastic synthesizer flights and a fine guitar solo. The following compositions deliver more Albatros trademark. First heavy (with hints of Medina Azahara) in Loki featuring fat synthesizer runs and a part with prog metal and then the compelling La Ciénaga with heavy Hammond, catchy Spanish vocals and in the end a very moving guitar solo, I am on my way to Prog Heaven. The next track is also pretty surprising, this time we can enjoy a swinging Albatros in Rey Lombriz : fluent interplay between guitar and keyboards and again those distinctive Spanish vocals.

And now my highlight, the epic Icaro with some great musical surprises like an intricate duel between the Fender electric piano and slide guitar, along emotional vocals, fiery guitar and a flashy synthesizer solo, excellent work senores! The final composition of this album is exciting with the strongly build-up Planeta Prohibido. It features decent English vocals, especially the second part evokes goose bumps due to a mindblowing duel between the vocals on the vocoder and Arabian sounding synthesizer flights. This sounds like "Peter Frampton Goes Prog Andaluz", goose bumps!

So I needed some time to get into this new Albatros album but in the end I came to the conclusion that Albatros has released another strong and original progrock album. At some moments I feel the same thrilling excitement and pure motion as on the albums of early Uriah Heep, 76-83 Rush and early Riverside. This makes Ursus to a very exciting musical experience: adventurous, lots of ideas, guts, variety, strong work on guitar and keyboards ... all elements that match with genuine progressive rock.

If you are up to Spanish vocals this album could turn into a very pleasant listening session, highly recommended!

 Ursus by ALBATROS album cover Studio Album, 2011
3.86 | 95 ratings

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Ursus
Albatros Heavy Prog

Review by b_olariu
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Second full lenght album or third from their career, named Ursus issued in 2011 at Musea records. Keeping the same attitude as on previous album and aswell the maner of composing, Ursus is another worthy heavy prog album from today prog realm. The compositions are not necesarly overly complex with lots of unnecesary instrumental noodlings but offers an unique musical side of the band who really knew to make an album worth investigated. Same heavy prog arrangements , going from slow to more up tempo moments one of the highlights is for sure La ciénaga or Loki with energic palying and overall great sound. Not better then previous one in my opinion but not weaker either but in same league for sure. 3 stars is well desearved.
 Pentadelia by ALBATROS album cover Studio Album, 2008
3.45 | 33 ratings

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Pentadelia
Albatros Heavy Prog

Review by b_olariu
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Albatros from Spain got my atention when they release their first full lenght album in 2008 named Pendadelia. This is a great debute album, heavy prog is what is all about here with killer guitar chops and some intresting instrumental passages. Mostly instrumental with some vocals here and there Pentadelia really kicks with the opening track, an instrumental one named simply 48, is a fantastic well crafted tune who sets the mood for the rest of the album, really great musicianship, fantastic guitar passages. So, all pieces stands as good, no weak moments here, I like what Albatros offer on this debute and they will keep the same attitude with the second album released few years later. 3 stars in some parts 3.5
 Pentadelia by ALBATROS album cover Studio Album, 2008
3.45 | 33 ratings

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Pentadelia
Albatros Heavy Prog

Review by memowakeman
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars A cool debut!

This is the first album by Spanish outfit Albatros, which was released in 2008 and can be downloaded for free from their website. Here, they gathered eight compositions that together make a total time of 55 minutes of excellent music. The first track is entitled "48" and starts with a cool atmospheric background, with some birds and wind over there; later guitars enter in a heavy way and the song actually takes off. It flows and continues with that cool heavy guitar complemented by a psychedelic tune. This is a very good introductory track, and a pure instrumental one, by the way,

Once the first track ends, we are already listening to "Supernova" , I mean they did not let us take a breath, instead, they implemented a repetitive but addictive tune in this second track that will make us feel truly interested in what's next. The first four minutes are exhaustive, powerful, and then it slows down a little bit and for the first time the voice appears. It continues like this until the song finishes.

"Santuario" has a nice environment and an atmosphere that actually make us feel in a sanctuary. After some seconds acoustic guitar joins as well as drums and bass, creating a soft and friendly sound. Later the vocals enter and add that particular sound that Spanish bands (and language) share, it is not flamenco, but the tone has a slice of it. The last minute is special, a totally different track is here with a kind of electronic and even post- rockish feeling. The next track is "Ensor", a short composition that shares a friendly tune with nice guitars and a soft atmosphere, though later there are heavier moments, mostly due to the guitar, and even a somber one where keyboards create a dark ambience.

"Hombre menguante" is a great track that progresses little by little until it takes us completely to its realm, I mean, with the pass of the seconds, the music is involving us, hypnotizing us until we cannot escape. The psychedelic and spacey sound is evident here, with the addition of that energy and heavy touch they band always implement. Here, the vocals are in English, something I don't love but don't dislike either, I think the native language is always the best one to sing. This is without a doubt one of the finest tracks of this album, or at least, one of my favorite.

I cannot say the same about "Waiting for a Sign", firstly because I don't like the distorted voice here at all, I would have preferred a clean one (and better with Spanish lyrics), the music is good, a bit slow at the beginning but it progresses later and create that inherent heavy sound complemented by psych, however I believe there are moments where I lose interest in this track, something that had not happened to me before. After seven minutes there is a pause and a curious change, the sound of an old tape appears with a singer of the 50s, sorry for my ignorance if I don't know who he is. Later, another change appears with an instrumental passage that makes us travel to mid-east lands.

So now we are in "Mehari" a wonderful five-minute crazy trip to the psychedelic realm. It is an instrumental track that will make you shake your head and feel in a different land, so close your eyes, and let the music do the rest. The last track is "Las tripas de Goliath", a nine- minute song where the band put together a challenging tune, with a mixture of sounds, nuances and textures, and even of languages. The music has some soft passages, some rockier moments and some heavier ones. The compositional skills of the band cannot pass unnoticed, and here is an example of their quality.

Pentadelia is an excellent album, with a couple of weak moments, but overall with a strong and solid sound. Albatros are without a doubt a band that most people should listen, so I truly invite you to do it, first with this album, and later with their 2011 record entitled "Ursus", which is better in my honest opinion. My final grade will be four stars.

Enjoy it!

 Ursus by ALBATROS album cover Studio Album, 2011
3.86 | 95 ratings

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Ursus
Albatros Heavy Prog

Review by memowakeman
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

4 stars Excellent album!

"Ursus" is the name of the second full-length album released by Spanish band Albatros, who back in 2008 had shared the wonderful "Pentadelia". With this return, three years later, they have created a strong album with wise compositions, complex tracks and an ambitious sound overall in which a mixture of elements can be appreciated. Here they put together seven songs that make a total time of 46 minutes. Be prepared for this great experience.

The album kicks off with "Ursus", it is great to have lyrics in Spanish, I always prefer bands singing in their native language, it adds a more personal touch where the cultural phonetics play a crucial role. The music is excellent, sometimes soft and mostly with that heavy prog sound with an emotional tune included. The guitar work is excellent, and I love how in the last minute we can listen to both, male and female vocals in the chorus. Great opener track.

"El camino de Swann" starts with a delicate sound, piano, guitars and a soft voice for the first minute. Later it makes a considerable change, becoming faster, heavier and with a great symphonic sound made by keyboards. The song perfectly flows, in these four minutes it takes us to a journey where different nuances and textures are shared by these talented musicians. Another thing I would like to remark, is that the lyrical passages are actually short, but they distribute them very well so in the whole track we can appreciate them.

Since the first second of "Loki" we can listen to a powerful sound where keyboards, guitars, bass and drums put together a sensational structure. A minute later the voice enters with the same energy and power. A wonderful intercalation between the instrumental passages and the ones with vocals can be appreciated here; after three minutes there is a crazy moment where the music is a complete trip, with that symphonic sound, complemented by heavy rock and of course a psychedelic touch. This is without a doubt a track that I would like to highlight, excellent composition.

"La ciénaga" is one of the longer tracks here. In these seven and a half minutes we will have different passages, firstly we will listen to two introductory instrumental minutes where guitars create a great melody, later the music slows down a little bit and the voice appears (with the female chorus included) and create a delicious softer passage with a charming atmosphere that takes with itself a psychedelic touch. After five minutes where the voice returns, the music becomes more emotional and makes you want to sing "necesito otra ración, algo que me de calor, que me acompañe hasta ti, porque eres tú mi eternal fe, necesito otra ración"; this particular moment is one of my favorites of the whole album.

"Rey Lombriz" is, on the other hand, the shortest song here. However, the intensity is high in the three minutes, so in spite it is short, we can easily enjoy this particular energy they share almost every moment. It finishes with some cool keyboards, and then, all of a sudden when guitars and drums appear again, we are actually listening now to "Ícaro". This track is excellent, and sums up what Albatros' sound is about, great heavy prog with symphonic tendencies created by keyboards, powerful vocals that put emotional atmospheres, cool instrumental moments with psychedelic nuances, and of course, great lyrics. After six minutes the music slows down, sharing a calm, relaxing atmospheric passage that contrasts with the inherent energy of the band, which is something really cool actually, because they show they can easily build up structures with some changes but without losing their essence, I mean, all the moments are little jigsaws that are necessary to complete the puzzle.

The album finishes with "Planeta prohibido" which will surely remind us to some older bands due to the great keyboard style that create a kind of retro-prog sound (though Albatros is not a retro-prog band). After a bombastic two-minute introduction, the music slows down a little bit and seconds later the vocals appear, here, with English lyrics that I honestly don't know why they decide to use. The keyboard work is fantastic here, as well as the dynamic and always constant drums. A psychedelic sound is now what dominates here, and perfectly finishes this extraordinary album.

What a great work by Albatros, I liked a lot "Pentadelia" but now I think I enjoyed even more Ursus, it is solid album that any progressive rock fan should appreciate. And though I would not consider it a true masterpiece, it deserves at least four stars without a doubt (4.5 would be better). So get it if you can, you will not regret.

Enjoy it!

 Ursus by ALBATROS album cover Studio Album, 2011
3.86 | 95 ratings

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Ursus
Albatros Heavy Prog

Review by ProgShine
Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

5 stars WOW! This is the first thing that came into my mind after finished my first listen to the new Albatros record, Ursus.

This band from Spain totally blew me off in the first spin of the record. Released my Musea it's their 2º full release and they've got an demo/ep as well.

The fact they're singing in spanish (the only exception being the last track 'Planeta Prohibido') makes the record gain so much life. And the vocals on this track are amazing as well.

The whole album have a 70's feel to it, but in any moment you feel that kind of 'I've heard it before', and that's amazing in my opinion, the band acomplished such a hard work with a whole 'new feeling' to Ursus.

The title track 'Ursus' is trippy, reflexive and have some Opeth, Riverside, Porcupine Tree moments. 'El Camino' follow the same path but with more keyboards.

'Loki' sound like a 80's metal mixed with Progressive and video game soundtracks (like Megadrive games), and... it works! 'La Ciénaga' is a beautiful instrumental piece with a psychedelic feel to it.

'Rey Lombriz' come with a lot of synths and a bit of a latin touch, a simple and direct song and open the path for 'Icaro', an amazing epic, full of 70's on it.

Neal Morse and Opeth, you've got a new friend on the top 3 this year!

 Pentadelia by ALBATROS album cover Studio Album, 2008
3.45 | 33 ratings

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Pentadelia
Albatros Heavy Prog

Review by Andy Webb
Special Collaborator Retired Admin

3 stars Goliath breadth

Albatros is a Spanish band formed back in 2000. The band had little security in their lineup until around 2002 when they released their first demo. After that, the band developed an eclectic sound based upon the principles of hard rock and the vast styles of progressive rock. In 2008, the band finally released their debut full length record, Pentadelia. The band emerged onto the progressive rock scene with a rather eclectic offering; the album displays such varying influences as blues rock, hard rock, metal, and psychedelic and symphonic prog. The band audibly draws influence from the likes of Rush, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. The album is chock full of dense, killer music, with the diversity of the music truly being as free as the namesake of the band.

The album opens with two incredibly dense, killer tracks, brimming with a massive multitude of influences and feels ranging from psychedelic to heavy to jazzy to avant and much more. The vocals debuting in "Supernova" are mellow and melodic, adding a wonderful tone to the eclectic music presented in the track. Throughout the album this vocal style is heard, and is a defining factor in the band's sound. Although at times these vocals sound a bit strained, overall they present a wonderful dynamic to the diverse musical tastes presented all along the album.

The album's instrumental side is equally strong. Although the band is not full of virtuosos or music theory maniacs, they have a wonderful sense of what feels right when crafting a song. The music is not technically insane, and has a great sense of ease in it, as if the band is relaxing as they play the nice music they have crafted. Obviously this is not a bad thing, as this sense of purpose in creating delectably minimal and wonderfully progressive music has made this album a great heavy progressive rock album. The diverse aspects of the album are the most easily identifiable pro to this album, with the diversity growing as the album continues to spin, from track one to track eight.

Overall, this album may not be the most incredible piece of progressive rock to emerge from Europe in past few years, but it is truly an exceptional release from this up-and-coming Spanish act. The alarming amount of maturity and professionalism put into the release is comforting, as many debuts tend to lack in those very fields; debuts tend to suffer from production flaws, weak songwriting, and other newbie traits, while this album floats above the drabble like an albatross above the sea. I'll be on the lookout for new stuff by this band, and all of you should go and get this album ? and with good reason; it's free! 3+ stars.

 Pentadelia by ALBATROS album cover Studio Album, 2008
3.45 | 33 ratings

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Pentadelia
Albatros Heavy Prog

Review by toroddfuglesteg

3 stars Gosh....... I am on thin ice when it comes to trying to describe this album. But I hope my review will make others download this album (it is free) and write a more concise review than this one.

Well, Albatros, this band from Spain, is as free spirited as the bird with the same name. They also flies high and wide. Which makes my task here not particular easy.

Ouch........ Well, take a blend of Pink Floyd and Deep Purple. Add some Hawkwind, jazz and in particular; the free spirited Canterbury Scene. Include some Frank Zappa too and....... you are confused now ? Well, download the album and put yourself in my situation. My two braincells is sweating over this album. I do not know what to make out of it, other than calling it a free spirited album which has taken all the best of the progressive rock ethos.

The quality of the material though is very good. The opening two songs 48 and Supernova is brilliant space rock songs in the Hawkwind vein. Then the album dips a bit in form. Some avant-garde nodding off in the Canterbury Scene vein (Matching Mole) is very much evident here. But this album never gets dull. Frankly, you never know what will hit you next from this album. Jazz or harder rock ? Your guess is as good as mine. This makes it a worthy download and I am eagerly awaiting their new album. With Albatros, you never know what they will turn up with. This makes prog rock the scene it is these days. Can I get some more of this, please ?

3.5 stars

Thanks to raff for the artist addition. and to TenYearsAfter (w/ Quinino help) for the last updates

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