AMAROK

The inspiration for this new album came from the music from the Balkans, and from Greece to Anatolia (Turkey). Listening to El Ojo Del Mundo I am carried away to wonderful ethnic music, embellished with a wide range of instruments and topped with very passionate native vocals, what a voice from Marta Segura. She colours the music very strongly with her contributions, especially in Sota La Pluja (sultry violin and hypnotizing percussion), Cançó D'Amor (dreamy atmosphere, sparkling flute, and fascinating sound of the kanun, a Middle Eastern harp) and Luna Y Sal (flashy synthesizer soli, mellow flute, and a tight percussion).

The long composition Saraswati is a 3-part suite, based upon Hindu symbolism. It contains a slow rhythm, strong female vocals, blended with flute and violin the interplay is sparkling. In the second part an atmospheric interlude with didgeridoo and percussion, then violin joins, captivating ethnic prog. El Vals De Las Libélulas is a short piece featuring omnipresent flute, along the kanun.

The epic track on this album is La Sexta Extinción (close to 18 minutes), it delivers lots of changing atmospheres, fine work on flute traverse, hypnotizing percussion, and in the second part soaring keyboards, a catchy beat and atmospheric parts, pretty adventurous prog folk. The song Gibra'ara 2021 features wonderful dreamy vocals, in a slow rhythm, gradually the vocals turn into more emotional, embellished with flute and violin. Finally the titletrack El Ojo del Mundo (close to 12 minutes), the most obvious blend of Old School prog and folk. It starts mellow with flute, then a slow rhythm that contains the distinctive Hammond organ, and a tight beat. Then swinging bass runs, flute, synthesizer, and a jazzy trumpet, what a varied eclectic sound.

My rating: 3,5 star.

If you are up to a captivating blend of prog and ethnic, with the emphasis on the latter, this is an interesting album to discover.

"Quentadharkën", translating to "Song of the defeated darkness", is a testament to the band's artistic ambition and musical prowess. AMAROK creates a rich sonic tapestry by employing a diverse array of instruments, including acoustic guitars, oboe, violin, piano, didgeridoo, tabla, saxophone, organ, and percussion. Arabic and Turkish musical flavors are infused through saz, kanun, santur, autoharp, violin, and oriental percussions. Marta Segura's vocals shine throughout, drawing comparisons to the ethereal quality of Teresa Salgueiro (of the Portuguese group Madredeus).

The album is structured into three suites: 'Tierra Boreal', 'La Espiral', and the titular 'Quentadhärken', accompanied by four standalone tracks. Among these, the standout piece 'Hsieh' commands attention with its expansive length and intricate composition. 'Quentadhärken,' the album's centerpiece, unfolds across five movements, weaving a narrative of love, conflict, and redemption, traversing realms of shadow and light.

While the album's additional cuts may disrupt the flow, the core music of "Quentadharkën" remains exceptional, showcasing AMAROK's refined and mature approach to progressive rock. Overall, "Quentadharkën" is a highly recommended listening experience, demonstrating the band's mastery of their craft and ability to push musical exploration's boundaries.

The previous studio-album Sol De Medianoche from Spanish prog band Amarok (not to confuse with the Polish Amarok) appealed very much to me, I consider it as a captivating and adventurous blend of jazz, prog and ethnic music, topped with a wide range of instruments, including lots of exotic woodwind, string and percussion instruments. This successor entitled Canciones De Los Mundos Perdidos is not a new studio-album but a reissue ((Luna Negra, Musea, 2008) from their second studio effort from 1995, including 4 bonustracks. The band was not pleased with the results in 1995, due to a lack of time and lots of stress. To me this reissue sounds as a very pleasant blend of folk and Seventies symphonic rock (elements of 70-77 Genesis and Hackett solo), very melodic and harmonic.

The opener Prologo is a good examplex how Amarok sounds on this reissue: first a swinging rhythm with percussion and celestial female vocals with a xylophone solo, then the atmosphere turns into dreamy with soaring Mellotron violins, twanging acoustic guitar and wonderful work on the violin.

The other 14 tracks also deliver lots of variety (moods, tempo, instruments).

Mellotron violins with piano, an interlude with warm violin and Glockenpsiel with Mellotron choirs in Danza Y Lamento.

Acoustic guitar, a bagpipe sound and flashy synthesizer runs in Bolero.

Dreamy with hobo (frequently used on this album), high pitched vocals and a sparkling harpsichord solo in Homenaje A J.H.T. Tolkien.

The 12-string acoustic guitar, Spanish guitar and congas in Esqui De Fondo (first bonustrack).

And the lush sound of 12-string guitars with beautiful vocals and again the distinctive sound of the Glockenspiel (just listen to Mike Oldfield his legendary Tubular Bells album) in the final composition Solo Faltas Tu (the 4th bonustrack).

In general the atmosphere is dreamy or laidback but, at some moments more powerful and bombastic, like in the alternating second bonustrack Los Bosques De Irati (church organ sound with 12-string guitar and Mellotron choirs, blended with Spanish guitar, wow!), the third bonustrack El Ciclo Del Tiempo (Glockenspiel and swirling synthesizer runs in the vein of Rick Wakeman) and the up-tempo song El Vuelo Del Pelicano (sensitive electric guitar with echoes from Steve Hackett and fluent work on keyboards).

What a wonderful, elaborate and adventurous blend of folk and symphonic rock, and the 4 bonustracks are "no fillers, but all killers!".

The first track combines virtuoso playing on violin, flutes and percussions/drums. Vocals, that I have not considered particular in case of Amarok, are used more sparsely - so that the listener has time to enjoy the vast array of folk instruments. Female vocals sung in Spanish suit this folk music very well, though.

Delicate classical music influence can be heard on tracks like "Encantamiento" and jazz moments came into prominence too, hear a long track "TIerra Boreal" with a lot of music changes.

What I like about that record, in particular, are maturity of the musicians, their compositions and various folk influences combined with traditional classical music.

This production by Amarok comes across as something of a water-shift creation, where the main album presumably indicates the kind of material we can expect to hear from the band in the future: delicate and relatively unobtrusive compositions that blend elements from folk music into a dampened, sophisticated take on vintage-era symphonic art rock. The bonus CD comes across as something of farewell to the kind of material the band explored in the past, partially due to the marked difference in style on those compositions, partially due to the descriptions given this material in the booklet of this double-CD release. Both CDs are quality productions though, and, first and foremost with the main CD in mind, I'd recommend those, who tend to enjoy bands such as Camel, to give this outing a check.

Highlights:

2. The beginning of La Ultima Expedicion reminds me of Deep Purple's with their mix of keyboards and electric guitars. Vocals are dominant later in the song with some spatial sounds as well 8/10. 3. Encantamiento: string and wind instruments galore, along a nice melody. 7/10 5. La Espiral: feels like listening to Asturias or other classic guitar song. Later turns really folky. 8/10 13. Bocins de l'emporda: A mix of instruments (piano, guitar, and others), going along in a nice melody. Feels too overwhelming, with too many instrument mix 7/10. 14. Venus Antigua: Nice piano solo at the beginning, and a folky melody throughout the song with emphasis on the flute. 8/10.

This is a very OLDFIELD-ian kind of dreamy Progressive Folk album, which heavily relies on percussion, keyboards and acoustic instruments, supported by the crystalline voice of Ceron, creating ethereal, spacey soundscapes and bordering dangerously with New Age Music.Half sung, half instrumental, the tracks are rather minimalistic with good use of ethnic instruments, like marimbas, bongos and acoustic percussion, covered by Santamaria's proggy keyboard textures.I dislike his performamce on a very weak digital piano, which sounds pretty fake, but the rest of his performance is quite nice and sensitive with orchestral flavors and a fair dose of imaginative melodies.With Ceron sounding a bit like ENYA, the music becomes absolutely pastoral, outlandish and atmospheric, containing some strong Celtic inspirations.Not much of a rock component in here, but some tracks are provided with drums and more pronounced keyboard themes, even flirting with soft Symphonic Rock, led by Santamaria's tricky plays.And at the very end part of the album's atmosphere is left side, replaced by a couple of short, Folk-inspired but trully memorable tunes with intense synthesizers and Lounge acoustics.

ENYA on stage with MIKE OLDFIELD.Quite simplistic description, but this is what ''Els nostres petits amics'' is all about.Ethereal, folky musicianship with good arrangements and fascinating vocals.Recommended.

Album highlights: the work of the bass and woodwind players; the guitar and keyboard work; the interesting symphonic and deeply layered song constructs. Favorite songs: the 'medieval jazz'y "Encantamiento" (2:56) (9/10); the KING CRIMSON-plays-French-MIKE OLDFIELD-like epic, "Tierra Boreal" (9:02) (9/10); the gorgeous vocal on the GENESIS 'medieval Arabic,' "La Espiral" (7:54) (9/10); the moving little LE GRAND/LA GOYA/RAMPAL-like "Alumbrado" (1:38) (10/10); the acoustic-based, jazzified, GENESIS Selling England by the Pound-like "Los Origenes" (5:04) (8/10); the STEVE HILLAGE-meets-STEELY DAN-like "Los Hechos" (3:08) (9/10); the KOTEBEL-like "La Batalla" (4:18) (8/10); the delicate ALAN STIVELL-meets- SPIROGYRA-like "Final" (4:42) (8/10); the wonderful woodwind-dominated folk song, "Coda" (4:06) (10/10), and; the funked-up YUGEN-like, "Laberintos de Piedra" (5:22) (8/10).

A 4/4.5 star effort: Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection.

"Hsieh" picks up a minute in with sax, drums and bass. Flute replaces the sax as they trade off for a while. They keep mixing things up in this song. Violin comes and goes. Vocals 4 1/2 minutes in and i'm not a fan although she sings fine. Best part of the song is 6 1/2 minutes in when the guitar shows up. "La Ultima Expedicion" features organ and an epic sound early then the synths and a beat take over. Vocals a minute in as it settles. A spacey calm before 3 1/2 minutes when the vocals stop. It kicks in with vocals before 4 minutes. "Encantamiento" sounds like we are in China. Very Eastern sounding. "Tierra Boreal" is much better. A good beat and rhythm with sax and flute helping out. Organ then leads before 1 1/2 minutes then it settle a minute later. Sounds like mellotron then accordion after 5 minutes followed by vocals a minute later. Guitar before 8 minutes. This is better. Vocals return to end it.

"La Espiral" is Chinese sounding then the vocals come in at 2 minutes. Not a fan. Accordion too then it kicks in before 6 1/2 minutes followed by guitar. "Alumbrado" has piano, flute and mellotron sounds. Mellow stuff. "Los Origenes" opens with acoustic guitar as cymbals and piano join in. An electric guitar solo follows then back to piano. It settles late with mellotron. "Los Hechos" is mellow with vocals. "La Batalla" opens with piano and sax then it kicks in with vocals. I like the instrumental break that follows then the vocals return before 3 1/2 minutes with piano and violin. "Final" is laid back with vocals, flute and more. Not a fan. "Coda" is led by synths and percussion after a minute followed by organ then a Celtic vibe. Vocals return after 3 minutes.

For fans only in my opinion. Not a fan of this album at all. Highly recommended to fans of Folk though.

Amarok are a band from Spain whose music offers a vast quantity of elements, here we can listen a mixture of symphonic prog with folk rock and even some jazzy tunes that together produce the own and particular Amarok sound. Now after six years of the original concert, they took the decision of releasing this album with a particular story, because (according to the booklet) this was meant to be a DVD but due to some bad luck the video data disappeared. However, the audio was still saved and Robert Santamaría (Amarok's leader) decided to give it a chance and releasing it as a CD, in order to give their fans a taste of their live sound.

Fortunately I was able to see them twice in Mexico, when they came two years in a row in a festival called FestivAlternativo, held in the city of Querétaro. Since then, I was amazed by their good vibes, their enthusiasm and more important, by their music. They did a great work, all the musicians were first-class performers so the concerts were a complete success; of course, I got interested in their music and acquired some of their albums. That relationship with our country is now stronger than ever, because this "Gouveia 2005" album was produced by Mexican label Azafrán Media, so their music can be found in my country in an easy way.

Well, as I mentioned this album was recorded in 2005 as a part of Gouveia's festival held in Portugal. The performance consisted of nine songs that bring a total time of 66 minutes. The show opens with "M'Goun" taken from their 2000 album "Tierra de especias". Here we can begin to understand their style, which is that wonderful mixture of musical genres taking the folkish elements as the most important and representatives. I like the Spanish style of this song, complemented by the cool guitar riffs and the symphonic keyboards at the end of the track. Flute, piano and sax are also important here.

"El mestre de la caverna" continues with that folkish and symphonic style. The vocals in Spanish give their own style, I always prefer bands and musician singing in their native language, it brings with it the cultural background. In this song the wind instruments play a wonderful role, putting the necessary nuances and textures, it can be better appreciated after minute four, with a beautiful instrumental passage.

"Quentadharkën" is the longest track and probably the one that clicked with me when I saw them, that's why I immediately bought the album with the same title. This is a 15-minute odyssey to the realm of Amarok, here we can find several structures fractured and made into one, instrumental passages that are very visual, the images fall down as leaves so we can build our own story; there are changes in time and mood, in moments the music becomes more emotional, in others it brings beauty and peace, mainly due to the winds (sax and flute), which are perfectly complemented by piano or keyboards, and the mandatory guitar. When I listen to this piece I have a wonderful trip to all the Amarok states, because the music changes very often, offering a diversity of passages and a salad of sounds, with some nice lyrics performed by a great female voice. Excellent!

To follow with the same album they played "Hsieh" which is a wonderful song with a mystical sound and that inherent folkloric touch. The guitar work is excellent though what we perceive more are the winds and drums. The music has a kind of medieval tune mixed with a Canterbury-esque style, and the always predominant European roots. The first four minutes are completely instrumental, and then the voice enters with a flamenco flavor in moments; then the music continues for some minutes until it vanishes. The next song is "Mujer Luna", a shorter piece but full of cadence and richness of sounds. The folk is present with a mid-east flavor here; the rhythm is catchy, so one can even sing it without a problem.

In "The Last of the Lasts" the band introduced a man called Jebediah Springfield, who they know in the Prog Day Fest in 2004, and he accompanied them to Gouveia in order to tell a story. He speaks for a couple of minutes while soft music is being prepared, then he stops and the music continues in a joyful way; I honestly imagine it as the background of a Hobbit party. "La Espiral" is a great song once again with a mid-east flavor; here we can enjoy a delicious flute accompanied by the great voice and wonderful percussion, I am afraid there is a table here. The last two minutes are emotive and more intense, with great keyboards and electric guitar that bring the rock element and a heavier sound.

"La última expedición" is a wonderful song that has a fusion touch in its sound, mainly in the first minute due to the keyboards, bass and drums. Later it changes a little bit with the entrance of the vocals, however, the essence is still the same and the song develops an exquisite example of symphonic fusion prog, if that genre exists. The performance finishes with "Laberintos de piedra" which is one of the most dynamic and exciting songs of Amarok, in my humble opinion. It starts again with that jazzy sound created by winds, but later they add constant drums, vocal games, cool bass lines and funky guitars, making a challenging mixture that give as a result a very solid song. This is a great epilogue to a great concert, here everything is happiness.

What a great show, memories were brought back while listening o it so now I want to see them again sometime soon. Well, if you don't know them, I recommend you to listen to them, you will not regret.

Enjoy it!