ZANTEA CHRONICLES: THE NIGHTMARE AWAKENS

The triumph of good over evil that Forbidden Myth posits in its mythological "Zantea Chronicles : The Dream Dominator" has a less comforting and more sombre second part three years later with "Zantea Chronicles: The Nightmare Awakens" (2024), an album that in its 70+ minutes traces the perilous mission of "Derolt", a banished and renegade tanner, guided by the lord of the abyss "Vosar" to free the inanimate and evil queen "Jahat", confined in an eternal stone prison.

From the intriguing atmosphere that suspenseful synthesizers and melancholic classical piano chords build in the desolate "Overture of Rage", keyboards drive the story of "The Nightmare Awakens" like the imperishable seventies hammonds and the dazzling Wakemanian minimoog in the descriptive "The Puppet", or Bob Katsionis' sprightly synthesizer in the wooded robustness of "The Screaming Paradise" and where, on the other hand, Antonis Adelfidis' raspy guitar recreation of the Hohner Clavinet, also of great incidence in the rushing "The Petrified Forest" and in the hypnotic half-time of "The Most Precious Gift" (further nuanced by Dimitra Preari's beautiful vocal performance), add a great vitality and forcefulness to the themes.

The final section of the work is marked by the misty ritual to awaken "Jahat" in "Back from the Death", who once freed ends the life of "Derolt" (what else could be expected from such an evil character...) and claims revenge in the epic and dramatic "Jahat Arisen", a piece sustained by the unrelenting percussion of the consistent The Swede (as in the whole album) and that leaves the door open for a third chapter of the saga.

"Zantea Chronicles: The Nightmare Awakens" is a very good album, and although placing some instrumental bridges between the transitions of the tracks might have helped to a greater fluidity and sense of unity being a conceptual work, it is solidly sustained by the very solid musical and narrative staging of the band led by Adelfidis.

3.5 stars

In 2024, Antonis Adelfidis (acoustic & electric pianos, Hammond organ, combo organs, Mellotron, Hohner clavinet, digital & analogue synthesizers, Rheem Kee bass) returned to the world of Zantea. Again we have no bass or guitars, and George Katsanos (acoustic piano, Minimoog, theremin, tape effects) and The Swede (drums) are back on board, this time joined by Bob Katsionis (synth solo on "The Screaming Paradise"), Nikos Tzouannis (acoustic piano solo on "The Sword of Doom") and Apostolis Tsiolis (synth solo on "Take a Sip!"). Three singers return to reprise their roles from the debut album, George Katsanos (Ovaris), Moss "The Boss" Kordakis (Vosar) and Dimitra Preari (Nantou), while Irini Tiniakou takes on a new role, and in total there are nine singers involved this time instead of eight.

Although this is a direct continuation from the debut, with a similar style and approach, there is no doubt that this is a major step forward in all areas. The cover art is far more polished and aligned with music of this quality, and the same goes for the production and performances contained within. There is an improved use of space, the bass has been pulled back slightly in the mix, and overall this is a very different album indeed. With the debut the attention is drawn mostly to the novelty of having multiple layers of keyboards and less on the actual music, yet here it is a very different approach indeed. When the keyboards crunch, they really do, and there is never the feeling of something being missing, something which was far more prevalent with the debut.

This is a very different approach to progressive rock than we normally hear, and given the change between the two releases it will be fascinating to see what we get when Antonis next takes us to Zantea.