REQUIEM FOR A DREAM

Karnataka has evolved from its benign beginnings in 1998 as a classic British female fronted lead vocal, Neo-prog band into a platform of constant progression, with regularly alternating musicians as well as said new lead vocalists. The continuous (since day one) member is bassist, keyboardist, composer and arranger Ian Jones, who has kept steering the artistic wheel into the future. Rachel Jones, Lisa Fury, Anne-Marie Helder, Hayley Griffiths, and now Sartori have handled the vocal chores with considerable savoir faire, injecting a very high level of quality to the often-poor lead vocal department within the prog genre. Eight long years have passed since the previous album Secrets of Angels, which was a resounding success musically and it was therefore more than time for another chapter, especially in view of the fact that this release is a Covid baby, born out of forced introspective inspiration, and certainly a great amount of reflective patience went into this new recording and it shows.

There are many fans of this style of prog, deeply enjoying the pleasures provided by groups like Mostly Autumn, Cairo, Panic Room, Three Colours Dark, Breathing Space, Iona, The Reasoning, Magenta, Illuminae and Chasing the Monsoon (the latter two fronted by Ian Jones) and so many more?So this is a comfortable option that always delivers mainly because it requires truly exceptional melodies to provide the platform for off the charts vocal performances. I am proud of owning and cherishing all the Karnataka albums as well as the numerous offshoots emanating from that nucleus of talents. The gorgeous cover art only serves to whet the appetite and I remain confident that this will be another cornerstone album for 2023. Ian has also surrounded himself with very capable musicians, what with Gonzalo Carrera on added keys, the deliriously in demand guitarist Luke Machin (The Tangent, Maschine, Cyan, Tiger Moth Tales and Illuminae) drummer Chris Allan formerly of the Sun and Protomythos and finally the obligatory Celtic chieftain Troy Donockley on the lovely Uilleann pipes. To follow up on my first chapter's final "reflection on patience and it shows" comment, there is a phenomenon I have recently noticed as quite the revelation, many bands choosing to kick off their new 2023 album with lengthy epics, perhaps due to the emergence from the lengthy and obligatory hibernation. The 11 and a half epic "All Around the World" offers a liberating post-Covid sonic travelogue, a finally off with the mask intrepidity that certainly galvanizes the spirit and delights the ear. A swooning introduction of sound effects sets the course, as the arrangement evolves into all members entering the stage together, signalling clearly that this will be a team effort. Sartori's voice is immediately impressive, with a strong command and a great tone, putting any worry to rest as she proves to be equal of the great singers before her. Yes, its highly melodic story telling, highlighting lyrics directed at addressing the global concern of our ongoing destruction of our precious blue and green planet! Luke spews out his first of many sizzling, drizzling and fizzing lead guitar solos that litter the set list. As befits a classic prog epic, the peaks and valleys that nature provides are reflected in the contrasts between the bustle and the serene, a "tour du monde" that has all the requisites for sonic seduction.

An ornate piano introduces "Sacrifice", a vocal showcase that displays the wide variety of Sartori's skill and her ability to meander up and down the emotional ladder, with a convincing chorus loaded with celestial conviction. It also possesses a huge melody that remains long after the track has ended its run. Screwdriver guitar solo for the ages, the final surrender. The driving, Chris Allen propelled "Look to the East" could be a reference to the ongoing troubles in Ukraine or is it about the tragedy of Syria. The sweeping Middle Eastern influences are overt and ongoing, as expressed in their previous opus opener "Road to Cairo", a similarly sandstorm of sound and fury, once again sprinkled with imaginative words, sounds and voice. The highlight track for me is the nearly 12 minutes of "Forgiven", another same sized epic monster that is drenched is sensual forgiveness, elevated by a melody that seizes the heart and captures the soul, with a thunderous vocal performance from Sartori. The Gregorian chant-inspired Latin prayers are right down my alley, as she swoons and croons with absolved mastery. The sophisticated piano ripples, the potent lungs pleading, both densely championed by choir orchestrations and a fiery guitar exhortation that explodes into the ether. This is worth the wait and the purchase alone. The vaporous elegance of "The Night's Dance" offers another triumphantly gorgeous melodic line that can only slay this reviewer into kneeling at the shrine. Ian Jones wraps the perfect orchestrations with impeccable detail, his steady bass in complete harmony with Allen's sturdy drum support. Accessible and melodic prog does not get better than this! The futuristic inspired "Say Goodbye Tomorrow" is a melancholic rambler, certainly doom-laden as it is a cry for a fragile universe where one must search for "the truth behind the lies", steadfastly resisting the endless negative narrative and 'bringing life to a new day". Its not just complaining but actually finding resolve and solutions. The breezily sorrowful "Don't Forget My Name" is another attractive emotional roller coaster, with lyrics that delve in memories, shadows, eternal sunrise, tears falling like rain, whispers in a daydream and an echoing "please don't forget my name. Tight playing, sensorial impact, meaningful music in a simple, organic song. And the megalodon-sized 25 minutes+ Goliath title track which stamps the crimson waxed seal on this perfect album, without any question the most mature production in the Ian Jones canon of releases. During the running time, all those ingredients that make Karnataka a melodic prog institution are up front and centre. Sartori's suave delivery swerves between the bewitching Irish pipes that provide a dreamy and misty Celtic imagery, a cinematographic soundtrack where each instrument serves to impact the nodes and caress the soul with waves of beauty and passion. Luke Machin once again proves why he is one of the most sought-after axe slingers in Progland, combining immaculate technique with delirious feeling. He and Dave Bainbridge (ex-Iona and solo) are my current guitar darlings that crown the list of favourite musicians. The low-key piano driven second section is utterly dense with emotion, leading to a tectonic over-arching crescendo of soft and yet intense delight by our guitarist, a series of gut-wrenching solos to blow one's right head off, a sonic guillotine that leaves no splash or drivel. Another plunge, another elevation, synthesizers ablaze, bass dancing in full embrace and the ride continually invites endless pleasure. 80 minutes of melodic adventure of the very finest quality. An easy top 5 release for 2023. I am sure that lazland (www.lazland.org) will concur in complete agreement, please check out his impending and surely glowing review. Yes, folks, its that delicious.

5 faraway hymns

The British band's fifth album since their 1998 debut. A symphony-lite band that is heavier than like-categorized IONA and MOSTLY AUTUMN (to which they have many similarities), I'm not sure how much "folk" is in their music (other than their occasional making space for Troy Donockley's Irish instruments). Perhaps they are in need of re- categorization.

1. "All Around the World" (11:30) very solid symphonic prog--on the heavy side (as opposed to the Folk)--with an excerpt of one of Greta Thunberg's most famous speeches as its centerpiece. Lead (and background) vocalist Sertari has a style and approach quite similar to that of IONA's Joanne Hogg (and am I mistaken that the lyrics feel a bit as if they are also in the spiritual/ Christian realm of inspirational?) (18.5/20)

2. "Sacrifice" (6:30) sounds like a theme song to some warrior television series like Vikings or Game of Thrones. One of Ian's anthemic vehicles for Sertari to belt out another inspirational message. Too much like the showtunes of Miriam Stockley or Sarah Brightman and the like. (8.66667/10)

3. "Look to the East" (6:45) trying to sneak into the realm of Noa Gruman's SCARDUST. In the end, it's just a little slower, plodding variation on the anthemic showtune created for Sertari to belt out over like the song before. (13/15)

4. "Forgiven" (11:49) another bombastic, somewhat plodding (straight-timed) inspirational Christian-based song. Overall, this is one of my favorite songs on the album: it's well constructed and contains some clever ideas. (22/25)

5. "The Night's Dance" (5:29) another vehicle for Sertari and Ian's Christian expression. (8.666667/10)

6. "Say Goodbye Tomorrow" (6:01) more straight-time music that has more in common with AM radio oriented classic rock than prog. This is probably my favorite vocal song from Sertari--her voice has less of a thank-you-god/grateful feel to it and more of a commoners/Heather Findlay I-am-human feel--however the music does nothing to excite or reward my proggy sensibilities. (8.75/10)

7. "Don't Forget My Name" (6:30) back to the numinous performance and the Andrew Lloyd-Weber music. Sorry: just not my cup of tea. (8.66667/10)

8. "Requiem for a Dream" (25:13) bird & outdoor noises open this before ominous synth chords, wind, fire, and distant explosion sounds join in and supplant those of Mother Nature. Programmed drums, synth harp, and vocalise take over in the second minute before Sertari steps forward to begin singing the song's lyrics. ADIEMUS/Miriam Stockley again come up big time--even moreso when Troy Donockley's Uileann pipes join in. A heavier, semi-power chord driven palette takes over at 4:30 while the singing, pacing, and melodies remain pretty much the same. I like the TONY BANKS/GENESIS section in the middle of the long instrumental passage from 7:00 to 8:30. The ensuing calm of synth washes, heartbeats, Irish whistles and Uillean pipes is very pleasant as is the gentle piano/synth passage from 9:40 to 10:15. When Sertari's Emilia Derkowska (QUIDAM)-like vocalise enters, it's very powerful--and could have gone on like a Clare Torey "Great Gig in the Sky"--but, instead, turns back into worded lyrics to set up another emotional instrumental passage that contains some very powerful steel slide guitar play. At 12:27 the full band (and arpeggiating orchestral banks) kicks back in to support more of Sertari's powerful singing. More emotional guitar, this time straightforward Dave Bainbridge-like, then more vocals (this time infused with an entirely separate, continuous Sertari vocal line going on in the background), and then another break for Irish tea and coffee at 15:15. This morphs quite gradually into a militaristic IQ-like motif containing some voice samples before emerging as another heavy instrumental passage in the 19th minute. "Glockenspiel," bass, and guitar power chords are quite effective here. A close-up whispered, "Are we dreaming" steps in at 19:13 to open the door to another very beautiful THE GATHERING with ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN passage. (As a matter of fact, the similarities of Sertari's performance here to that of Anneke and her "Big Sleep"/If?then?else-like performances is striking.) Back to bare-bones piano support around 20:15 while Sertari continues "dancing in the rain," but then she is joined by Troy Donockley's Uillean pipes and the rest of "the band's" rock rhythm section, eventually yielding to Troy's Irish folk instrument play, but then returning to the repeated "dancing in the rain" chorus for nearly the entirety of the song's final three minutes. (It actually ends with about a minute of Sertari's close-up voice whispering "tick . . . tock . . . " over and over.) Nice prog epic and easily my favorite song on the album. This is one epic that I will listen to over and over--and look forward to doing so with great anticipation each time--for a long time. (48/50)

Total Time 79:47

I'll give Ian some credit for he is surely due: he can play a very effective lead guitar solo, and he creates great theatric (bombastic) music for his vocalists to sing over; as a matter of fact, I cannot imagine any of the vocals present on this album to be nearly as powerful or dramatic without Ian's ADIEMUS-like music. (A little nod must here be given to Adiemus music composer, Karl Jenkins.) Unfortunately, this is just not the kind of prog that I enjoy--especially when an entire 80-minute album is put in front of me; one song at a time. Oh: and big respect to Sertari and her wonderful vocal and arranging talents.

A-/five stars; a flawed but excessively perfected adventure into bombastic symphonic rock that is brought to overall high esteem due to its three exceptional epics; the rest of the songs I could live without, but I have to give credit where credit is due: There is no argument that Ian and Sertari have crafted 48 minutes of eminently engaging prog. A minor masterpiece of progressive rock music. Check it out for yourselves!