AETHER

Reading the most recent review of this album got me going. I was in the process of evaluating the discography of another band and I just had to drop that project - for now - as a result.

Now, I can be rather ruthless and anything that don't fancy my taste are likely to end up on E- Bay, sometimes in the bin, too. I take no prisoners as my shelves are full of quality stuff with little room to spare.

I listen to zillions of albums and I only keep the ones I find due value in. Admittedly, at times I find it hard to keep track of my collection. Having said that, I had the gut feeling that this album was saved - and it was too, neatly filed under A.

The first thing that impresses me about this album that these musicians dare to start off slow, confidently feeling that pointless fireworks and showing off are not needed. Full marks to them for their courage!

The works gradually evolve into something reminiscent of early CAMEL with Latimer influence ahead of Bardens' organ contributions. Indeed, this album could easily fit into the CAMEL discography of the early '70's! Any CAMEL fan would find this as if it was a long lost piece. There are also some Hackett touches here and there. The focus remains largely on the intelligent guitar work supported by the rest of the band quite well.

Emotive violins alongside orchestra and acoustic guitar followed by grand organ and a jazzy outro complements the album quite nicely. There is not a a hint to indicate any Latino rhythms and that this music was conceived in South-America. That's a relief as Yours Truly is not really keen on overrated folksy stuff.

I care little about the production being imperfect, instead I choose to enjoy the music of these talented artists. This is Brasil, not Hollywood.

Highly recommended to any CAMEL fan of the "Mirage" era. Easily a 4, perhaps slightly above. I could listen to music like this endlessly. Very pleasing, indeed.

I too am confused by all of the high ratings for this album. Yes there is a great deal of ambition and effort put forth by the band but, on the whole, this is a badly produced, badly composed DIY album. If these things do not bother you then, by all means, there is probably something worthwhile for you on here... But for me, the production value and often quite lame instrumentation throws me off big time.

'Millenium' starts the album with mindless noise, it's not offensive but by no means is there anything of value there. 'Autumn' which has a nice but muddy sounding beat starting at 1:08 (after a minute of building noise). The instrumentation here is lackluster at best, and this is one of the better songs. At 3:15 it descends back into noise again, giving us about two minutes of a very generic melody. 'Whales' is more my style. I would actually say that this is a good song, pleasant throughout and well worth a listen. 'A Bright New Day' has reasonably good vocals but the production brings the song down a few notches for me. Although this is a decent song, there is nothing here that hasn't been heard before.

'Trinidade Island' has a pleasant enough sound but is relatively uninteresting compositionally. Weaving from one light rhythm to the next. 'Kings and Knights' is another generic track with a slightly interesting bass solo at 3:22. 'November fails to get interesting throughout its entirety but segments nicely (one of the few good segments into 'Altenburg Suite' which feels more like a collection of songs rather than one epic.

On the whole, there are a few decent things on here, but it's covered by a lot of filler. 2.25/5

An album which sharply divides the reviewers......

This is the debut album and a self produced one from this Brazilian band. It is pretty obvious that Camel is the biggest inspiration for these Brazilians. Most of the stuff here is dreamy, almost new-age at places, with some Camel'esque guitar solos and melody lines. There are also a lot of Mike Oldfield in this album.

The sound is good and so is these Brazilians technical abilities on their instruments. Good, but neither great or exciting.

The music has it's many lows and some positive elements. Good melody lines in other words. The music and the pieces of music here, most of them are instrumentals, are spacy and airy. This album is not for those who likes time changes and nifty arrangements where things always happens in the music. Some of this album is like watching paint dry. But those who thinks Camel and Mike Oldfield is great would strongly disagree with these sentiments. I am somewhere inbetween here. Some of the music here is great. Some are pretty dire. But it is a good album nevertheless which really grows on the listener. But not enough in my view.

3 stars

I have to agree with Prog-jester, it's unbelievable that this album got such good reviews. For the life of me I can't imagine how people find this very pompous record similar to Camel, Oldfield and the likes. I would say it's more like Enya or Yanni with some guitar solos here and there. Actually, about half of the songs are average too good, like "Autumn", "Whales" and "Trindade Island" with some good guitar work, but the album is marred by some really embarrassingg tracks. The worst are the "introduction" type of compositions (I couldn't call them music): "Millennium" and specially "The Arrival At The Castle" and "Voices From the Past" which are just annoying random sounds mixed together.

Very nice release from this brazilian symphonic band Aether. In their second release they prove they learned a lot and the overall feeling is very good. There are some great guitar work that reminds od Camel and Pink Floyd, while the keyboards and rhythm section has a more jazz rock feel on most of the songs. The production is quite good and the artwork is beautiful. I feel the songwriting department needs a little boldness and more inventiveness. Still the music is very pleasant and interesting. The only real downside on this album are the vocals: they are ok but nothing more, the band would gain a lot if they had a real singer with the same vocal potential as the instrumentists. Unfortuynatly this is something rather common in a lot of bands that have a very strong instrumental work (should they get rid of all lyrics and become a instrumental only essemble? Certainly they have the chops to do so, if they wish so).

Inner Voyages Between Our Shadows is a good album and Aether is a promising group. I´m looking forward to hear their next work. If you´re into 70´s symphonic rock with some strong Camel and Floyd influences, you should give it a try. 3 stars.

The brazilian Camel has finally arrived!

Usually, when you talk about the major progressive rock acts from the 70's, some bands just seem to be, somehow, forgotten by people, just because they didn't have a flying piano during their live performances or because they didn't sold millions and millions of album or because they didn't have hundreds of copycats back in the days. Camel is one of those bands.

Although that may be true around the world, at least in this part of the Equator Camel is a fairly popular band among progheads and had surely been influential in this sunny land, as Aether can attest with their releases so far. In their debut, the band Aether shows us that they are heavily influenced my Camel's music in many aspects, from being mostly instrumental, to the type of singing (almost monophonic) and to the ethereal guitars and synthesizers. Also, in some degree, they seem to have some Floydian influence as well. However, unlike other modern bands who look to the 70's prog acts for inspiration, their music do not sound derivative.

There is, however, one big problem with this album: some songs sound way too generic. Don't get me wrong, the album is, overall, great, but some songs just sound like the generic 90's prog, like the songs Whales and November. Maybe that happened because they intended to make a broad approach, experimenting and trying the different aspects of their music instead of focusing in just some chosen few. That may be it, because this debut lack some focus, it seems to be everywhere.

The highlights go to: Millenium, Autumn, Kings & Knights, The Altenburg Suite and The Woods.

Grade and Final Thoughts

Being one of many prog bands that came to life in the 90's in Brazil, Aether was able to deliver a solid debut with great overall quality, but still a bit raw and lacking focus. That would be fixed in their next release, but that is another story. For a very good release like this one, i think 4 stars is a fitting grade.

I remember I wrote a review on their debut album, which was rather weak and amateur effort. With this one AETHER got much better; it’s like another band! Imagine CAMEL-influenced Prog with long epics, fusion-leaned instrumentals, fiery guitar/keys interplays and some obvious PINK FLOYD/ALAN PARSONS hints, and you’ll get the idea how AETHER sounds like. They are still a bit amateurish, sometimes they lack tenacity and inner power, but I’m pretty sure they know how to achieve it. Being far from masterpiece, nevertheless this is a solid release in its own nature, and I can recommend it to all CAMEL/FLOYD lovers (well, don’t expect THAT much though ;) ).

Honestly I'm kinda shocked a bit with all these positive reviews. I appreciate efforts of the band, but lets face it - this is DIY self-made product with cheap programmed instruments, lame arrangements and new-agy attitude. A little PARSONS/popppish CAMEL/FLOYD thrown into it, but nothing more. Avoid, if you like something more interesting and care for quality of the record.

I owe tho this one to keep the rating growing! A mellow and romantic amalgalm of brasilian school, Mike Oldfield influence mixed with a "new agey production" but still it never failed to keep my attention and pleasure in the listening. In some ways it reminds me of a "lighter" Tempano, this venezuelian outfit i truly love. Even if it's a collection of songs from various periods, one would hardly notice as there is a sense of unity to the whole record. Hands up!

Nice surprise when this first reached our ears , being hotly recommended by the local prog store, who unbiasedly lives in Brazil 4 months of the year. The prog tradition there is very reminiscent of their attitude , a blend of creativity, passion and relaxation . Most Brazilians are so laid back , no wonder they have only soccer and sex on their minds. Aether features the uniquely melodious guitar stylings of Vinicius Brazil, whose Hackett/Latimer/Falsini style is even more aquatic , very upfront and cascades boldly through some very Camelesque material. The bassist is also a great player (very common to most bands from this country) and both keyboards and drums complement the arrangements well. But the "Guitarra" really steals the show, worth checking out , as this is a pretty original take on the genre. There is also an abundance of atmospherics of all types , very soundtrackish (generally a very good omen of quality)and a deliberate interest in creating astounding sounds and gorgeous melodies. The material has a hard to describe warm Halloweenish/gothic feel , as if a group of Celts and the girl from Ipanema decided to unite their talents !!! In ending, its the originality of their style and their sound that truly deserves praise. Definitely a band to watch. 4 cariocas