MIND - VOL 2 LIVE

This is one of the strangest kind of music which is labelled under the flag of progressive rock. Isildurs Bane started to record albums in the beginning of the eighties but there's really nothing on this record that makes you aware of that. This is a highly original mixture of classical music, progressive rock, chamber music, folk and fusion. It's hard to make any comparison to progressive artists. On some moments they seem to have elements from ELP or Camel but only slightly. Maybe this proves these guys created a unique sound of their own. After two decades I believe the band is well known amongst listeners to progressive music although I have the impression that many prog fans find this music too obscure for their liking. True, the music needs several spins and even then I must confess I rather like some moments than complete tracks but that's not a bad thing. It's an invitation to play this adventurous music again and again as this music never looses its mystery no matter how much you're listening to it. The music from "Cheval" is an excellent example ; a wide symphonic sound with many complex changes in moods and rhythm in case there is one present cause on some moments you could be confused by thinking this is pure classical. For being the story of a postman building his own palace I do find the overall feeling rather melancholic. On the large orchestral piece "Exit Permit" some parts are rather mellow sounding and could be used as part of a soundtrack while on other moments the music is sounding small like a chamber orchestra. Sometimes the changing of moods is getting so rapidly that you don't know what the hell is going on but later on you'll recognise some of these melodies have been used earlier in the track and the listening experience becomes a bit easier. Listening the album in one shot could be deadly, better play in parts. This stuff is just too complex to show itself in just a couple of turns. Also you'll get 150 minutes of instrumental music and that's quite a lot. You can ask yourself the question if music is intended to ask such an effort of your concentration, the title of this series of albums could not be better chosen. Once you'll get to know the music better, you'll be rewarded in many ways. You'll even wonder if you have ever experienced music which was more beautiful ; technically perfect, atmospheric and warm at the same time.

This is a live album. It's track listing includes some older material of the band as well as some new composed material which wasn't released till now. You can hardly notice the presence of an audience. Nevertheless the sound quality is excellent. The quality level of the music itself throughout the whole album is great, I haven't discovered any flaws so far. Only the "extroversion" parts aren't adding any substance, I suppose they are meant to bring more coherence into the album. Although no tracks are included from their first four albums a track like "The flight onward" grabs the essence of the early I.B. sound though the tracks were a lot shorter back then. The tracks contains energetic keyboard and guitar parts and breathes fusion. The second cd is less orchestrated. Tracks like "Celestial vessel" hold a lush atmospheric sound, like the title suggests. "Unity" and "The Pilot" sound a lot like Camel while the sound of the first album has the same feel of ELP on their works tour but I have the impression the music of I.B. is more subtile and complex and the guitar parts are more important. Also the band has a more varied instrumentation.

An excellent starting point to begin to explore the work of this Swedish band. If you want to get one album of them in your collection this should be the one. 4,5 stars

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