DEMON

With all the bombast available today, sometimes I just need a quiet, delicate album full of consistent melody and crystalline beauty. Gazpacho's new album "Demon" is one such album that has captured my heart more than my rapt attention. It is serene, fragile, and moving; but it also has some surprises up its sleeve.

Gazpacho hails from Norway, which is a surprise for some reason. To me, they sound a bit like Coldplay mixed with Muse and Radiohead. This is just an attempt to explain their sound, as the sound is completely unique to them. The music, as I said, is very quiet. The first few tracks are especially mute and peaceful, as Jan Henrik Ohme's beautiful vocals play the major role. However, this album is intensely eclectic in its subtlety. Accordions, banjos, and mandolins join the array of atmospheric keys, surprisingly dark guitars, amazing bass, and light, yet somehow technical, drums. This makes for an experience unlike any I've had for the past few years at least.

With this array of instruments, the band crafts subtle songs full of feeling and a brooding intensity. Soft, slow rhythms join low instrumentation: Serene vocals smooth the mixture to perfection. Even the inclusion of a choir at points is done delicately. Indeed, "Demon" is elegant in its simplicity, but amazingly complex when you least expect it.

The album is made up of four songs, some of them multi-track. "I've Been Walking", both parts of it, are slow and easy-going. They are ponderous and very mature. "The Wizard of Altai Mountains" is a more upbeat affair with plenty of foot-stomping accordion and mandolin work. It's so beautifully simple, but no one else does this sound! The last song, however, is definitely my favorite. The three-part "Death Room" is sheer genius, and the bass player really shines here. On part 2, especially, the bass player crafts a bass line unlike any I've ever heard, and it's a masterwork and will probably be my favorite of 2014. Slight electronic elements make their way into this song that almost feels like post-metal at times. The third part of "Death Room" opens up with dark riffing that, although never heard in the album beforehand, seems so appropriate and satisfying.

You see, Gazpacho has composed an album that never feels tired. It never overuses any element. Every instrument is used to full effect and never outwears its welcome. There is so much space in "Demon", space that creates a beautiful vacuum for music to live and breathe. As this album progresses more and more in different territory, you will even long for some of the earlier melodies to return. They do not, but this gives you all the more reason to revisit the album again and again.

Gazpacho has offered an album unlike anything you will hear this year, for sure. "Demon" is scarily introspective, beautifully wrought, and surprisingly inventive. The band has taken a stand against bombast and showboating, and I applaud them for it. I hope to see more bands take that plunge.

Gazpacho have been on a roll ever since the excellent Night caught the attention of the prog community, but in retrospect I don't think any of their subsequent releases have quite matched the standards of that one - not until Demon, at any rate. There's really two ways you can go to match the promise of a title like that - take the overt route and go for a more ostentatiously sinister and evil sound, or you take a more subtle path. Wisely, Gazpacho choose the latter option (can you really imagine Gazpacho doing extreme metal? No, nor can I...); rather than energising their music, they produce one of their quietest and most contemplative albums yet.

Indeed, it's a rather bold move all told. Prog is a genre which prizes technical ability, often expressed through soloing and showboating, and whilst Gazpacho have never quite entirely embraced that, here they seem to deliberately turn away from it, producing mood pieces in which all the performances blend together rather than having the individual members make a bid for the spotlight. They'd previously taken steps in this direction on Night, which accounted for the dreamy atmosphere of that album, but here they fully embrace it, producing a style of music which is clearly built on a prog foundation and which is obviously produced by a technically capable group, but at the same time displays this in a holistic manner through the overall sound the group are able to make rather than through individual performances.

On top of that, the band's command of atmosphere has always been one of their strong suits, but it has never been as complete as it is on here except on Night. The titular Demon is not some gore-slick monster from hell, it's the darkness which comes when introspection and contemplation turns in on itself and starts to chew on its own innards, and Gazpacho capture this mood masterfully. Gazpacho is a band with many great albums in their discography, but until now I'd have said they had only one full-blown masterpiece in the form of Night. Now there are two.

Being a huge Gazpacho fan I was rather excited about this new release from the Boheme styled Norwegian band. What could eclipse the magnificent Tick Tock or Night? Or even the excellent Missa Atropas?

Demon is a fine piece of music but herein lies a problem for me, in any event there is nothing new on Demon that makes it stand out from any of it's predecessors. The album seems to just tread water carefully. They have introduced more folk passages to help the dark theme, the violin and mandolin threading in and out, yet this is not enough and I cannot but feel that Ohme's vocals are lethargic or uneventful. No risk taking as such except on ' Death Room'. ' The Wizard of Altai Mountains' sounds like a watered down instrumental with Ohme's vocals from 90's electronica band Deep Forest. The weakest tracks are the ' I've been walking' suite that just never seem to take off, however the album does improve markedly from this juncture.

So in summary a great album from Gazpacho. You can always be guaranteed quality musicianship and attention to minimalist detail, I just feel the album falls a bit short in that no new risks are being taken by the band and we have another safe rerun from them. A solid three stars. Note Gazpacho albums can be very slow burners so give it plenty of time.

Norwegian band GAZPACHO was formed back in 1996, and ever since they started releasing material of their own in 2002 they have quickly established themselves as a popular band both inside the progressive rock environment as well as among those with a taste for sophisticated rock in general that doesn't have a special interest in progressive rock as such. They have been signed with prestigious UK label Kscope for a few years now, and have a total of eight full length studio albums to their name. "Demon" is the most recent of these, and was released in March 2014.

A key element in the music of Gazpacho are the lead vocals of Jan Henrik Ohme. He's got a voice that in terms of vocal approach, delivery and tonal range kind of force comparisons to the likes of Thom Yorke of Radiohead fame, and to some extent towards Marillion's Steve Hogarth as well. He's got the frail, vulnerable part of that vocal approach covered to perfection, albeit without touching grounds with the more extreme angst-ridden delivery that Yorke in particular has been known to utilize. Still, it's a distinct vocal approach that does add a distinct atmosphere to Gazpacho's musical endeavors, and one you need to have a soft spot for to be able to enjoy their music.

On "Demon" Gazpacho have crafted a fairly sophisticated musical foundation as the platform for Ohme's vocals, alternating between sparse, frail passages with standalone careful piano with or without dampened violin support, dampened but sweeping symphonic oriented passages and harder edged, dark guitar driven constructions where the guitar riffs have the occasional organ support creating those majestic, somewhat pompous atmospheres fans of progressive rock in particular tend to favor encountering. The transitions between the various moods flow nicely, freely and naturally, even when the shifts are sudden and unexpected, and the songs all come across as very well developed and cohesive. Some instances of vocal effects enrich the compositions, especially on the second part of I've Been Walking, and I'll add that an impeccable production throughout should please all audiophiles out there. If you are the kind of person that have invested heavily on a top scale music system, this is one of those albums you will appreciate highly on those grounds alone.

Particular features on "Demon" are the use of textured instrument details that adds a slight post rock vibe to the proceedings, both when they explore territories of a more mellow nature as well as when they hit upon grounds of a more layered and elaborate kind, and liberal use of mandolin, violin and accordion gives the compositions and album a distinct folk music flavoring too. Combining the frail, angst-flavored vocals and the stylistic variations previously described with folk music elements gives this album a nice and compelling atmosphere, most often melancholic, more often than not with an underlying feeling of darkness. Concluding epic Death Room is the most intriguing of the compositions in that context, where futuristic, industrial sounding details are used to good and occasionally magical effects to conjure a fairly unique mood, of the kind where you might envision seeing ancient creatures of legend placed in a dystiopian futuristic setting.

I've heard quite a few people raving about this album already, and while I'm not quite as taken with this disc as many others seem to be, this is an extremely well made production. If you enjoy bands that explore dark, melancholic progressive rock of the more sophisticated variety, and especially if you have a soft spot for vocalists who have a style and approach comparable to people like Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Marillion's Steve Hogarth, Gazpacho's eighth studio production "Demon" is a CD you will enjoy, especially if you are a fan of the kind of music the bands of said vocalists explore.

Gazpacho's new album Demon is a monster of a record. March of Ghosts was good, but this is something else altogether, reaching a level of depth and maturity that is beyond what they've done in the past. It's evident from the first moments of the album, "I've Been Walking." It's in the way that, for example, the way the piano ritards between chord changes, creating long breaks in the vocal lines and delivering maximum tension, only to be juxtaposed later by an elegant string section all the while the singer delivers a passionate performance. The record is really built off of simple melodies that really count and carry their wait. "I've Been Walking (part 2)" carries the first motifs even first, this time over swelling, powerful synths that grow into something quite powerful. The variety on the album is always careful and nuanced, never just a gimmick. This is evident in the use of the old gramophone style recording that's used for uncanny effect, building into an eventual climactic ending. "Wizard of Altai Mountain" and the closer, "Death Room" both pull in folk elements, the former moving from a very modern piece to a full out folksy accordion dance. "Death Room," on the other hand uses it to lead into a haunting heavy section, a mood that dominates this piece through and through with the constant sense of uneasiness, beginning from the repetitive syncopated descending pattern in the intro right through flanked by ghostly ambient sound effects, right up through the plodding, dirge-like march that oozes beauty. Demon is one of those 2014 albums that you don't want to pass up. Don't make the mistake I did the first time by listening to it quiet in the background. Put it on loud and you'll be wowed.

. . . In my not so humble opinion . . .

Gazpacho has released another album.

I was a huge fan of The Cure back in the eighties, I think I first picked up 'Disintegration' then 'Staring at the Sea' and loved them both, then I picked up 'Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me' and was mildly appreciative of it. Then I picked up the album after that and was so tired, they pretty much did the same thing over and over again.

Gazpacho has gone into that same category for me. If you love atmospheric emotional melancholy, then you should really listen to Gazpacho. Here's the thing, if you enjoy this type of music, then pick an album from 'Night' to 'Demon' and you'll love it, may even give it a five star rating. Then the next one will be good as well, though not quite as fresh. Now keep in mind, it doesn't really matter which one you chose, maybe 'March of Ghosts' is your first exposure to them and you love it. Maybe 'Demon' is the second one and you don't get to 'Night' until well down the line. Either way, the more you listen, the more it sounds the same. My Uncle coined a phrase that fits here, 'It's never too late to stop reading 'Dune' books'. For me, I've put the book down, Gazpacho just isn't doing it for me anymore.

For me, 'Demon' is kind of like 'Night' without the delicious atmosphere. I listened to it at least five times, trying to like the album, but it got harder and harder to listen to each time. I'm not going to go into a track by track analysis of this album because one morphs into the next one and it's hard to differentiate one song from the next. Again, this concept worked for me on the first couple of albums that I heard from them, but after the fifth in a row, I just get tired.

I'm sorry, but I can only give this a two star rating with the caveat, if this is your first Gazpacho album, you may love it, it's worth the listen. If this is your fifth Gazpacho album then don't expect anything innovative on this one.