JOURNEY OF THE SHAMAN

This seems to be one of those "love it or hate it" type albums. It's interesting that most of the negative reviews focus on how much they sound like ELOY and PINK FLOYD. For me ELOY did come to mind but only because of the accented vocals and those spoken word passages. Now this guy doesn't have as heavily an accented voice as the guy from ELOY thankfully but it's there. What I love about the Psychedelic genre is that it's not about complexity or virtuoso playing, it's about creating emotion and a mood while being inventive. And these guys have succeeded. I also like the story line and the fact that they don't mind letting loose with some rocking passages. We get three long tracks between 12 and 18 minutes.The band who is from Turkey "Is named after mountain of Nemrut, which is the place embracing the Middle of the Ground and the place that Mitos passes while going to the Underground". Mitos is the Shaman of our story here.

"Part I" opens with atmosphere as gentle guitar comes in. Drums and a heavier sound arrive around a minute. Spoken words come in then vocals after 2 minutes. I like the guitar that follows.The organ floats in the background. A change 6 minutes in as we get a calm then an uptempo section takes over. Nice bass after 6 1/2 minutes as it settles briefly. Riffs follow as the drums pound. Another calm before 9 minutes then spoken words after 10 minutes.Vocals are back as it picks up. Soaring guitar before 14 1/2 minutes. Beautiful stuff. Heavier guitar and drums end it.Nice.

"Part II" opens with thunder and rain. Drums and guitar then take over. So good. Water sounds and picked guitar 3 minutes in. Atmosphere then spoken words join in.Vocals 5 minutes.The guitar kicks in at 7 1/2 minutes and the organ follows as the drums pound.They "rock out" to the end.

"Part III" is spacey to start, very atmospheric.The guitar comes in after 1 1/2 minutes with cymbals. Cool sound here. It's building. Spoken words join in before 4 minutes. A change after 6 minutes.This is great. Heavy riffs after 7 1/2 minutes. Nice. Some prominant bass before 10 minutes then organ before the vocals arrive. Catchy stuff. A change before 14 minutes and we get a great sound as a result with the guitar playing over top. A calm with nature sounds after 15 1/2 minutes then this laid back guitar with atmosphere takes over. Spoken, almost whispered vocals join in to end it.

This is very well done and they should be proud.