GORGO

Ukrainian band GORGO's second album is like the mirror image of their first, "Once Upon a Time". Early on it is more electronic, suggesting a new philosophy, coinciding with their wider distribution on Musea. Not that this has resulted in a flood of English or Euro reviews mind you. Like the first, it's essentially all instrumental.

While the title implies a tense dance between tradition and modernity, in most tracks one wins out over the other, For the first few, the old school is rarely in evidence beyond a few motifs that might be drawn from a synthesizer board or a shading on traditional instrumentation. The overall sound is dark wave/industrial, with myriad percussion and rhythm guitars hastening breathlessly to some finish line. that's a bit too far in the future. Still, the opening track is a superb MOODY BLUES on steroids romp.

The latter half of the album glances backwards, like the Celtic sounding "Road to Lubetch" with its pipe-like melody, and the wonderful Klezmer-Celtic blend of the closing number "Dance Tonight Die Tomorrow". The other soft tracks like "Morning Star" are more ambient than pastoral.

Initially my assessment of this disk was less favorable than the first, and it does seem even more schizophrenic, but you are bound to find at least some of it to your taste. Personally I think it would have been better to combine the mellower numbers on one album and the more frantic ones on another, but that would have effectively severed the chain between the two. Perhaps on the next release they can better blend their disparate passions, so that the clash is more within than between.

— First review of this album —

Is there a separate internet for the Ukraine, or for music from the Ukraine? Perhaps searches using Cyrillic would yield more than a terse and inadequate bio for GORGO, most of which is concentrated on their second release via Musea Records. While I cannot find any Latin alphabet reviews for "Once upon a time", one well worn cliche deserves another: the music on this instrumental production speaks for itself.

Without the benefit of the instrument list let alone credits, I can describe this as generally pastoral chamber prog with plenty of flute and oboe along with strings and prominent bass, perhaps of the acoustic variety. Winds from across Asia, Africa and the Middle East are swept into the mix. The themes are relatively simple without being simplistic, but "Orch" is a bit too Bolero-like, leaving me to wonder if other composers are also targets. The succinctness of "Tiny Greatness" draws me in the most, with a fragile then dancing flute over acoustic guitar, working in some unobtrusive organ and harp along the way. Similar to HOSTSONATEN's seasonal works, I find GORGO a less frustrating listen, more successfully negotiating the at times disparate influences.

More electronic elements blend in as the album matures, taking a shape that would become more familiar on the following album. These include synthesizers, even a quavering mellotron perhaps on "Toy", and an arsenal of percussion on the closing number. The moody "Crusade" is not without similarities to eventual label mates ARTSRUNI who interestingly released an album called "Cruzaid" some years ago. ATILA KOLLAR also comes to mind.

While not as earth shattering as earth spanning, "Once Upon a Time" is a promising start to an eclectic story, but where it leads and ends is anyone's guess.