BARDO

This USA progrock band is rooted in 1994 and first named EOS, then renamed into SOL in 1997 and finally Zen Carnival a year later. The name is a blend of two opposite worlds: Zen points at the meditation of the Boedhistic world and Carnival at making fun with dance and music and a few things more during the annual Latin American carnival, hot hot hot! The prime mover and musical brainchild is multi-instrumentalist Bill Denison (guitars, keyboards, vocals and flute). The compositions on this album sound strong and varied with lots of exciting soli on guitar and keyboards. It's hard to put Zen Carnival in a category, some examples: first Grand piano with dreamy vocals, then compelling and bombastic and finally pure symphonic prog with sensitive electric guitar and sumptuous keyboards in Blindness, melancholical vocals, intense piano play, a swinging break and fat synthesizer sounds in Pins And Needles and swinging fusion with great work on guitar and keyboards in Zeitgeist. If you are in the mood to discover adventurous prog, Bardo by Zen Carnival is an interesting album to check out! My rating: 3,5 stars.