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The Worm Ouroboros - Of Things That Never Were CD (album) cover

OF THINGS THAT NEVER WERE

The Worm Ouroboros

 

Eclectic Prog

4.15 | 132 ratings

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Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer
4 stars It was Sagi's recommendation that moved me to pick this album up last year. The cover art is really nice including the pictures in the liner notes, and it's pretty cool that the lyrics for the most part are done by famous people as in Ray Bradbury, Albert Einstein, H.P. Lovecraft and many more. And considering this band is from Belarus I was surprised that the liner notes were all in English. We get four short tracks that are mostly acoustic and I can take or leave them but I will be keeping those seven longer tracks for sure. A Canterbury vibe runs throughout this album especially with the distorted keys and under-stated vocals at times, but the big surprise for me was that strong Zeuhl flavour on two songs that is very impressive. Lots of electric piano and flute on this record and the bass is very upfront along with some stunning guitar passages.

"L'Impasse Sainte Beregonne" opens with electric piano, flute and huge bass lines as drums and more start to help out. There's a Zeuhlish vibe here as well that is really impressive. The guitar replaces the flute 2 1/2 minutes in but the flute is back a minute later. An excellent opening number. "Shelieth" features picked guitar and electric piano early on but it turns fuller after a minute. Distorted keyboards help out along with the guitar. Intricate sounds come and go including some spacey synths, then some synths arrive that are high pitched and rather annoying. I really enjoy that main theme that returns with electric piano and picked guitar. "Ladybird On A Moebius Strip" is a short instrumental with guitar melodies and flute leading the way. "The Pear-Shaped Man" is different. A vocal track that mixes GONG and PHIDEAUX if that makes any sense. Theatrical vocals here at times and the song is quite catchy. Love the instrumental break, especially the Canterbury-like keyboards before 3 minutes. "Dawn Angel" is a short acoustic guitar piece.

"Pirates In Pingaree" is such a bright and enjoyable song, especially the tone of the keyboards. The guitar kicks in before 2 1/2 minutes as the sound becomes more powerful. A beautiful section before 4 minutes then flute and picked guitar take over. It's darker after 5 minutes then back to that flute led passage, guitar is back late. "The Magi" is a short folky piece with vocals part way through. "Soleil Noir" sounds like an extension of the previous song. Reserved vocals and a mellow sound here before it turns dark and powerful after 4 minutes. This sounds so good when that nasty guitar kicks in. "The Curfew" opens with electric piano, bass and more that creates a dark and atmospheric sound. When it kicks in at 2 1/2 minutes we're talking Zeuhl all the way. Even the vocals are Zeuhl-101. I really dig the electric piano/bass section 5 minutes in. "Return To The Cold Sea Of Nothing" opens with organ, bass and drums and man this has a feel-good sound to it. Flute joins in as well then vocals follow and they bring GONG to mind. I like the ending too. "Hope" is a short acoustic guitar and flute piece.

Easily 4 stars and I like how familiar this sounds yet at the same time this is different. Can't wait to hear what they come up with on their next record.

Mellotron Storm | 4/5 |

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